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Royal de Cazorla Olives — illustration

Royal de Cazorla Olives

Une rare grande olive sombre des collines de Cazorla, à Jaén — une spécialité régionale à double usage.

The Royal de Cazorla is a rare and prized olive of the Cazorla and Segura hills in Jaén, the great olive province of Andalusia. Unusually large and dark, almost black-red when ripe, it is a regional speciality cured as a fine, soft, sweet table olive, and also pressed into a sweet, low-bitterness oil. A scarce, local treasure in a land otherwise ruled by the Picual.

Origin
Cazorla, Jaén · Spain
Type
Table & oil
Colour
Dark red-black
Size
Large
Flavour
Soft, sweet, mild
Status
Rare regional speciality
Best for
Fine table olives, sweet oil

Jaén’s hidden olive

Jaén is an ocean of Picual, so the Royal de Cazorla is a delightful exception — a large, dark, soft olive grown only in the Cazorla and Segura mountains, cured into a tender, sweet, mild table olive that locals prize. Its oil is sweet and gentle, low in bitterness, more a regional curiosity than a commodity. Scarcity keeps it special.

Worth knowing

Because it is grown in tiny quantity in one corner of Jaén, a real Royal de Cazorla is a regional find — worth seeking out if you travel there, both as a soft table olive and as a sweet local oil. Don’t expect to see it on an export shelf.

Substitutes

GaetaA soft, mild dark table olive.
EmpeltreSpain’s mild black oil-and-table olive.
NyonsA sweet, soft French black olive.
In the kitchen: a soft, sweet dark table olive to eat whole, and a gentle local oil — a taste of Jaén beyond the Picual.