Olive

Olea europaea

An olive is a fruit that tastes bitter when raw. Cooks cure or ferment olives.

Plant-based
Gluten-free
No listed allergens

About the plain ingredient, not packaged products; general information, not medical advice. Details

Category: Fruit
Part used: Fruit
Family: Oleaceae
Cooked most in: Europe, The Americas, Asia
Top country: France
Dishes: 11 in the catalogue
Energy: 116 kcal per 100 g

Photo: Juan Emilio Prades Bel · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

In the kitchen

How to use olive

Typical ways to cook or use it

Cure
Ferment

Preparing it

Cure and ferment raw olives to reduce their bitterness. Curing options include lye, brine and packing in salt.

Flavour

Taste and texture

Taste, raw profile of olive

Sweet0

Sour0

Salty0

Bitter4

Umami0

Nutrition

What 100 g of olive holds

Per 100 g, canned. Averages from USDA; real values vary by variety, season and growing conditions.

Protein 5%Fat 61%Carbohydrate 34%of the macronutrients by weight

Nutrition per 100 g of olive, canned
Energy	116 kcal · 485 kJ
Protein	0.84 g
Fat	11 g
of which saturated	2.3 g
Carbohydrate	6 g
of which sugars	0 g
Fibre	1.6 g
Sodium	735 mg
Cholesterol	0 mg

Nutrition per 100 g of olive, canned: minerals and vitamins
Potassium	8 mg
Calcium	88 mg
Iron	6.3 mg
Magnesium	4 mg
Zinc	0.22 mg
Vitamin C	0.9 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)	17 µg

Source: USDA FoodData Central (food 169094), public domain. Minerals and vitamins are listed only where USDA measured a non-zero amount.

Around the world

Where olive is cooked

11 dishes in the catalogue use olive. Here is where they come from.

Dishes by continent

Countries whose dishes use it most

Counts are catalogued dishes from each country that list olive among their ingredients.

Origins

First cultivated: -6000/-4000

The 1700s · Americas
Spanish colonists introduced the olive to the Americas.
1908 · Japan
Olive trees were introduced to Shodo Island in Japan.

On the table

Dishes made with olive

8 of the 11 catalogued dishes that use it, spread across the countries they come from.

Hallaca
Venezuela
Sardenaira
Italy
Esqueixada
Spain
Gilda
Petatou
France
Argentinian pizza
Argentina
Zeytoon parvardeh
Iran
Pizzarello
Italy

Dish lists come from Wikidata; a dish counts when its recorded ingredients include olive.

Good to know

Diet and allergens: olive in detail

These notes describe the plain ingredient. Packaged and prepared products vary, so read the label; for allergies and medical diets ask a doctor or dietitian.

Allergens: None of the 15 listed allergens foundChecked and not found: soy, eggs, fish, milk, lupin, wheat, celery, sesame, mustard, peanuts, molluscs, sulphites, tree nuts, crustaceans, gluten cereals.
Animal origin: No animal ingredients foundChecked and not found: egg, fish, meat, dairy, honey, insect, gelatin, poultry, bone char, shellfish, other animal, animal fining, animal rennet.
Gluten: None
Alcohol: None
Caffeine: None
Pork: None

Family

Related forms

Made from it: olive oil (extracted, pressed)