Picudo Olives
L’olive aromatique de Cordoue — une huile douce, parfumée et complexe (DOP Baena et Priego).
The Picudo — named for the small beak-like point (pico) on its fruit — is a prized aromatic olive of Córdoba, in the heart of Andalusia. It gives a sweet, fragrant, notably complex oil, with notes of ripe fruit, apple and exotic spice, lower in bitterness than the robust Picual. It is a key variety in the celebrated Baena and Priego de Córdoba DOP oils.
- Origin
- Córdoba · Spain
- Type
- Oil olive
- Colour
- Green to black
- Flavour (oil)
- Sweet, fragrant, complex
- Notes
- Ripe fruit, apple, spice
- Reputation
- Baena & Priego DOPs
- Best for
- Fragrant, complex finishing oil
The aromatic Andalusian
Andalusia is mostly the land of the powerful Picual, so the Picudo is a fragrant change of pace: sweeter, softer, more aromatic, with an almost exotic complexity of ripe fruit and spice. It rarely stands alone — it is usually the perfumed top note in the great Córdoba DOP blends, lifting the more structured Hojiblanca and Picual into something rounded and aromatic.
The Baena and Priego de Córdoba DOPs are among Spain’s most decorated oils, and the Picudo is a big reason why — it brings the aromatic complexity. Look for those DOP names if you want to taste Andalusia at its most fragrant rather than its most fierce.