black olives – pitted

Black salt-cured olives with Provençal thyme

Black olives from Olives Arnaud, harvested fully ripe, pitted and dry-cured in salt the Greek way, then marinated with thyme from Provence. Wrinkled, savory, robust. Not a green-picked olive darkened later, but one that gained its color on the tree.

Pitted black olives from Olives Arnaud in Provence are the counterpart to the green fruit. First, they ripen on the tree, then they lie in dry salt until they lose water and develop their wrinkles. The list of ingredients remains limited to four lines: olive, salt, sunflower oil, and 0.4% thyme. That is the whole story.

Why this olive is truly black

Many black olives on the market are picked green and darkened with ferrous gluconate; in this jar, there are no colorings on the list.

Arnaud calls the process à la grecque, the Greek way. The fully ripe fruit is placed in dry sea salt and ripens there for months instead of swimming in brine. The salt draws out moisture, the skin wrinkles, and the fruit flesh becomes dense. You can see it in the jar even before you twist the lid: deep-dark, glossy fruits, interspersed with the fine thyme leaves that were added during marination.

This also explains the numbers on the label: 4.65 g of salt and 29.3 g of fat per 100 g, significantly more than in a brine-cured olive. There are no additional ingredients, just less water. And because the ripening takes time, this olive is the most elaborate in our range.

Dark, dense, with a fine bitter note

In the mouth, it is soft and meaty, with a deep flavor of ripe olive and a fine bitterness that only fully ripe fruit provides.

Anyone who only knows mild brine-cured olives will need a moment here. After that, you rarely want to go back, because the salt hasn't masked anything, but rather intensified everything.

The thyme spreads a herbaceous layer over it and takes the edge off the intensity. It comes from Provence and has held the protected geographical indication "Thym de Provence IGP" since 2018, grown in the garrigue—those stony hills that smell of resin in the summer. The black olive pairs well with everything that tastes of the south: lamb shoulder, oven-roasted tomatoes, goat cheese, a piece of fougasse.

If you crush a handful with a fork and add olive oil, you have the start of a tapenade in two minutes. If you want something faster, the ready-made black olive tapenade from Brittany is on the shelf. Once opened, the jar will keep for about two weeks in the refrigerator, provided it is served with a spoon and not touched with fingers.

At home in Provence since 1947

Behind the jar is a family business that Marius Arnaud founded in 1947 in the village of Fontvieille, in the heart of Provence.

His son André was 17 at the time, his brother Louis joined later, and by 1956 the small confectionery was already supplying Provence and Paris. The business is now in its third generation, with Philippe and Pierre Arnaud continuing it today. They now work in Tarascon between Arles and Avignon, and the house's olive oils carry the protected designation of origin Vallée des Baux de Provence.

We have had this olive on our fresh counter for over fifteen years, and it has remained a quiet favorite. If you want to try the whole range, add the mixed olive selection with five varieties or browse through our Mediterranean antipasti with bell peppers, capers, and pickled onions.

Net weight 130 g