the fleshy morsels I had forgotten about the other night when I mistakenly claimed I hadn’t been eating Italian food. Grown in Puglia, the southeast heel of the boot, these olives contain 85% pulp, according to La Bella di Cerignola.it (see pic from site). The website also reveals that the variety likely came from Spain in the fifteenth century.

The first time I tried a cerignola was while riding a bus to Villa Cimbrone (perched in Ravello on the Amalfi coast), shortly after Alain had bought a plastic sack of them at a local grocer. While he insisted that the fleshy green olives would be buttery and mild, I feared they’d be salty like their pimiento-filled Spanish cousins. Except for the famed coq au vin from the countryside that put us on the BRAT diet, he’s always been right about food choices, and gardens. Check out this patio and head to the website’s photo gallery to see more ……