Dinner SOS: A Speed Round of Listener Cooking Questions

AS: I'm like, “This is dinner in most places.”

CM: Yeah. This is it. This and a glass of wine.

AS: This is crazy. Yeah.

CM: Okay. Number one is gordal.

AS: Gordal, and whatever. I'm sure this is going to change in five years. But also, I'm obsessed with the Arbequina. I don't know if I'm pronouncing it correctly, but they're-

CM: Yeah. That sounds right.

AS: … these tiny little olives, and these are ones that we've been buying in bulk. So we've got a gallon jar in our basement fridge, and you put out a little dish of those, and there are like 40 olives in just a little quarter cup, and they're delightful. They're very tart, very tangy, and just kind of fun to eat because they're so small.

CM: Love. Okay.

AS: And I think that I love a Cerignola.

CM: Those are big and green. Right?

AS: They're big and green. And I feel like, to me, they have a lot of the pleasure of a Castelvetrano in their mildness, but are just a little bit brighter and sharper. They're a little bit more of a vinegary edge, but whatever. To answer this caller's question, and I think I've totally just monologued for so long, I've forgotten most of it.

CM: No, no, no. This is great background. Yeah. So clearly, their way in is Castelvetrano, but what's that next stepping stone that you want to draw them towards through the gateway?

AS: I mean, I think that, to me, when I started to really fall in love with olives was when I started buying, and I think that this person is there, is when you start buying one type of olive, and you move away from the, “I don't want a mixed bowl of olives if I'm going to the olive bar. I want to keep them separated so I can really appreciate them.”

And it's not to say that I wouldn't use multiple types in a recipe or ever mix them, but I feel like the caller knows that they like Castelvetrano because they've been eating those specifically, and they know what they like about them. And so, I think that the kind of next step is go to the olive bar and get two or three types.

Keep them separate. Serve them separately. Eat them separately, and take a moment with them. What do you like about each one? And maybe you don't like them. Maybe you buy three and you only like one of them, but you're like, “Okay. So now I've got Castelvetrano, and then I've got this other type that I actually really like and can be a part of my rotation and a part of my olive life.”

CM: I want to check out gordal now too.

AS: Yup. Oh, yeah. They're fun.

CM: All right. Our last question comes from Lauren. “My husband and I are a folk music duo. We travel a lot playing concerts. When we have a Friday night at home, we like to listen to good music and eat a good meal, just the two of us. I cook most every night of the week, even when we're traveling, a lot of soups, stews, rice, beans, curries, vegetarian one-pot meals. But when it comes to Friday night, my husband often says, ‘I want something fun.' I know then it's not the night to make lentil soup. We both love a lot of different food types, and I'm a very proficient home cook. We do have a few restrictions. No dairy or shellfish, and we don't eat much meat. Without those things, sometimes it's difficult to fulfill the fun brief. Can you help me?”