It’s a misconception that
olives are fattening. If you have a serving
of 25gm a day, you can benefit from the cholesterol-lowering
and cancer-preventing qualities of oleic acid.
But black olives are healthier than the green
ones because they contain less salt, more iron
and fewer calories, writes Raquel Castello
of Spain Gourmetour.
Table olives are not only good to eat but
also have excellent nutritional qualities. The
oil they contain is mostly made up of unsaturated
fatty acids, especially oleic acid, which, like
olive oil, helps prevent cardiovascular diseases.
They are also very easy to digest because of
their fiber content and contain a good proportion
of minerals such as calcium, iron, potassium,
magnesium, phosphorus and iodine.
Olives are widely believed to be fattening;
however, 100gm of green olives have 154 kcal
and the same amount of black olives has 143,
compared with 564 kcal from 100gm of potato
chips or 557 kcal from 100gm of fried corn kernels,
according to a study carried out in 2006 by
the Fat Institute in the Spanish town of Sevilla.
Dr Carmen Gomez, President of the Spanish
Association of Basic and Applied Nutrition,
says, “Black olives contain less salt,
more iron and fewer calories – about 25
kilocalories per serving, compared with 40 in
green olives And not all green olives are the
same. Generally speaking, Manzanilla contain
more salt and more vitamin E, and Hojiblanca
more fibre.”
Dr. Gomez recommends about 25gm of olives
a day. “The amount can be decreased for
overweight people or for those with high blood
pressure, or increased for people needing a
higher energy and mineral intake, such as athletes,”
she says.
These nutritional aspects are perhaps not
very well-known, but the same cannot be said
about the gastronomic qualities of olives. In
Spain they are the standard ingredients in tapas,
whether served alone or in combination. A Gilda,
named after the eponymous heroine of the North
American movie, is a famous appetiser comprising
an olive, an anchovy and a chili pepper on a
stick, excellent at any time of the day. Plenty
of other tapas include olives – from Russian
potato or tomato salad to anchovies in vinegar
to canapés. And where would the classic
Martini be without the addition of an olive?
Olives have become something of a cultural
emblem and appear in many traditional Spanish
dishes – in Andalusian fish and meat stews,
salads, with eggs, in the Catalonian and Majorcan
cocas or flat cakes, in gazpacho, in stuffings
and in certain cold cuts, such as Italian bologna.
But Mediterranean cuisine in general also offers
many dishes in which olives are essential, such
as French tapenade (a paste made from black
olives, anchovies and capers), Greek salad (in
which the two definitive ingredients are feta
cheese and olives), and pizza and pasta in Italy.
In Turkey and the Middle East, too, olives are
irreplaceable.
They may be used as an accompaniment to dress
up a dish, from starters to desserts, or to
provide a contrast with their bitter, acid,
sweet or salty notes. Many contemporary cooks
have focused on olives in their creations. A
good example is Ferran Adria, widely acknowledged
as the world’s most inventive chef. In
his 2005 menu, he offered the “spherification
of olives.”
These looked like olives but burst in the mouth
to reveal their true nature, releasing a pure,
delicate, delicious olive juice – the
result of culinary technology working magic
with Spanish olives.
Like him, many other chefs, including Dani
Garcia, have given added dignity to the table
olive, featuring it in ice-cream, sorbet, jam
cream and chips, bringing out its flavour and
personality.
(Source: Spain Gourmetour, May-August
2007. Go to www.spaingourmetour.com.)
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