Throuba Thassos olive ✦

Olive throumba de Thassos

What it is

Throuba olives debitter on the branch rather than in the barrel: a harmless fungus, Phoma oleae, colonises the ripening fruit and hydrolyses the bitter glycoside away, so they can be eaten straight from the tree. Picked already wrinkled, they meet nothing afterwards but coarse salt, for two to three months.

In the kitchen

It arrives drier and saltier than any brined olive. Leave it an hour in olive oil with a ribbon of orange zest — the oil relaxes the wrinkles and the salt stops shouting.

Goes with

Olive oil Orange Thyme Feta Oregano Bay leaf Lemon Rosemary

Same species

Agrumato lemon oil Olive Cracked olive of the Vallée des Baux Castelvetrano olive Bella di Cerignola olive Gaeta olive

Something wrong here, or missing? Tell us