Memecik Olives
The main oil olive of south-west Türkiye: a full-bodied, fruity, peppery oil.
The Memecik is one of Türkiye’s most important oil olives, grown across the south-western Aegean provinces of Muğla and Aydın. It is a vigorous, dual-purpose variety: pressed it gives a robust, fruity, peppery extra virgin with good structure ; cured it makes a respectable table olive. Together with the Gemlik, it carries much of Turkish olive growing.
- Origin
- Muğla / Aydın, Aegean · Türkiye
- Type
- Oil & table
- Colour
- Green to black
- Flavour (oil)
- Fruity, robust, peppery
- Role
- Leading Aegean oil olive
- Companion
- Gemlik (table star)
- Best for
- Robust oil, table olives
The Aegean’s oil olive
If the Gemlik is the face of the Turkish breakfast table, the Memecik is the workhorse of the Turkish oil press — a productive Aegean variety giving a fresh, fruity, peppery oil with enough bitterness and backbone to mark it as the real thing. Türkiye is a top-tier olive nation, and oils like this are why.
Turkish oil is far less known abroad than the Italian, Spanish and Greek names, which means a good Memecik extra virgin is often excellent value. As ever, look for the variety named, an Aegean origin and a recent harvest date.