Alorenña de Málaga Olives
L’olive verte fendue de Málaga — fraîche, croquante, parfumée au thym, au fenouil et à l’ail.
The Alorenña de Málaga is the cracked green table olive of the province of Málaga, in Andalusia — and the first Spanish table olive to win a protected designation. Each olive is split (cracked) and cured fresh in brine flavoured with thyme, fennel, garlic and pepper, giving a crisp, mildly bitter, intensely herbal olive eaten young. It is the cousin in spirit of the French cracked olives of the Baux.
- Origin
- Málaga, Andalusia · Spain
- Type
- Table olive
- Colour
- Green
- Speciality
- Cracked, fresh-cured
- Cured with
- Thyme, fennel, garlic, pepper
- Flavour
- Crisp, herbal, mild
- Best for
- Tapas, eating young
The herb-cured cracked olive
Like the Provençal Salonenque, the Alorenña is defined by a method as much as a fruit: picked green, cracked so the brine and aromatics soak in fast, then cured for just weeks rather than months with a fistful of Mediterranean herbs. The result is fresh, crunchy and fragrant — the classic olive of a Málaga tapas bar.
Because it is cured fresh and lightly, a true Alorenña doesn’t keep like a long-brined olive — it is meant to be eaten young, ideally within months. That short, seasonal life is the point. Look for the “Alorenña de Málaga” protected name and the visible crack in each olive.