Our diminutive critic is back! Prodigious young Amelie, 9, finally follows up her hugely successful debut column ‘The Olive Diaries’ with a trip to world-famous Borough Market. And here are her top two tips:
1. Oliveology Greek Kalamon Olives with Orange and Herbs, £5 for a small tub
These are the first-fruit flavoured olives I have ever tried. I tried the apple one first but it was too sour for me. Then I tried the orange flavoured olives. They are medium-sized and plump, dark red with a stone in the middle. They smell very orangey. They are a bit bitter, and leave your mouth with quite a sweet, orangey taste. They don’t taste salty at all and are very juicy. They had an unusual taste that I liked, which reminds me of Christmas. These would be good all on their own.
The man that was helping me talked directly to me, not to my mother. He told me they were organic olives without any salt. They are healthy because they are unpasteurized and that gives them a stronger flavour. These olives come from Sparta (in Greece). I am going to try the oil as a salad dressing in my school packed lunch this week.
Verdict? I would give this olive 7.5 out of 10
2. Borough Olives, Green Olives with Basil and garlic £3.20 for a small tub
When I went to the stall it had thousands of kinds of olives and it was tricky to choose which one to try first. I only tried two because it was so packed and busy; it was hard to even talk to the market traders.
But the olives I brought home with me are to die for!
They are very meaty, a little bit salty and quite sweet. You cannot taste the garlic but you can smell it. You can taste the basil. They are pale green with dark green herbs on them. Quite big, very juicy, smooth, very soft and they have a stone in the middle. The olives have a mild flavour but the herbs give it a kick of. They remind me of a summer’s day. They would go well with pasta, feta cheese, roule cheese and cherry tomatoes.
Refreshing!
The Verdict? I would give this olive 8 out of 10.
And there you have it. Borough Olives is the clear winner for our young epicurean.
