Provençal French · Côte d'Azur · mezze

Black Olive Tapenade

tapenade noire

Cultural authenticity●●●●●5/5

Tapenade takes its name from 'tapeno' — the Provençal word for caper — which tells you something about how central that little ingredient is. This is the classic spread of the Côte d'Azur: briny olives, anchovies, capers, and olive oil pulsed together into something deeply savory and completely addictive. Set it out with a baguette before dinner and watch it disappear.

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Prep

15 min

Cook

0 min

Total

15 min

Servings

Difficulty

Easy

gluten-freedairy-freepescatarian

What you need

Ingredients

Kalamata olives, pitted
1 1/2 cups
200g
Substitution · hard-to-find
Original: Niçoise olives. Niçoise olives are small, earthy, and slightly bitter — the real thing. Kalamata are a fine stand-in; if you can find them, Castelvetrano won't work here (too mild and buttery). Kalamata is your best bet at any US grocery.
oil-packed anchovy fillets
6 fillets (about 1 oz)
28g
capers, drained
2 tbsp
17g
garlic, peeled
1 clove
5g
fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp
1g
extra-virgin olive oil
3 tbsp
45ml
fresh lemon juice
1 tsp
5ml
freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp
0.5g

How to cook it

Steps

01
2 min
Drain the olives well and pat them dry with a paper towel — excess brine will make the tapenade watery. Drain the capers too.
02
5 min
Put the olives, anchovy fillets, capers, garlic, and thyme into a food processor. Pulse 8 to 10 times in short bursts — you want a rough, textured paste, not a smooth purée. Scrape down the sides as needed. Tapenade should have character; if you can see individual bits of olive, you're on the right track.
03
3 min
With the processor running, drizzle in the olive oil through the feed tube. Pulse once or twice more to combine. Add the lemon juice and a few grinds of black pepper, then pulse one final time. Taste — the anchovies and capers bring plenty of salt, so you likely won't need any.
04
2 min
Transfer to a small bowl or jar. Tapenade is best served at room temperature, so if you're making it ahead, pull it from the refrigerator about 20 minutes before serving. It keeps refrigerated for up to two weeks with a thin layer of olive oil poured over the top.

Chef notes

Notes & variations

No food processor? A sharp knife and some patience work fine — chop everything together on a board until you have a rough paste, then stir in the olive oil. This is actually the traditional method and gives you great control over texture.
Some Provençal cooks add a small splash of cognac or a few fresh basil leaves. Both are good. Cognac adds a faint warmth; basil makes it brighter and more summery.
Serve on sliced baguette, with hard-boiled eggs, alongside crudités, or smeared under the skin of a chicken before roasting. It does a lot of jobs.
Do not add pine nuts or sun-dried tomatoes — that's a different spread. Tapenade is about the olive, the caper, and the anchovy working together. Keep it simple.

Per serving