Olive it! Event feedback - plus non attendees - chance to win olive hamper worth £60! NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

This is the feedback thread for the 20 MNers who attended a tapas masterclass recently thanks to the team at Olive it!"

Olive it! is a culinary concept that aims to bring a sparkle to traditional olives by incorporating them into your cooking in new and exciting ways. The team there say "we were delighted to welcome MNers to our olive cooking course with celebrated Spanish chef, Omar Allibhoy. During the class, selected MNers experienced hands-on tuition from the ‘master of tapas’ himself. Omar took the MNers on a culinary journey exploring the exciting flavours of the Mediterranean and taught them how to make a selection of beautiful and mouth-watering dishes that will impress friends and family".

Take a look at our website for recipe inspiration.

Non attendees for a chance to win an olive hamper with an Olive it! recipe book, olives and apron (worth £60) please share on the thread your favourite type of olive/ favourite prep method for olives or the best way you include olives when entertaining or preparing tapas.

Attendees please share on this thread your responses to the following questions - do add any photos taken at the event too!

Q1 What was the most interesting thing you learnt about olives at the event? Please share this on the thread. Did it change your perception of olives?

Q2 What did you think of the recipes made on the day? Would you try them at home? If so, which ones and why/ when? What recipe did you like the most?

Q3 What did you think about Omar Allibhoy’s knowledge of olives?

Q4 If a friend, relative or acquaintance asked your advice about eating olives, to what extent would you recommend eating them?

Q5 Has the event encouraged you to experiment with olives in different ways?

Q6 Do you intend to eat or continue to eat table olives?

Q7 Finally, would you like to make any comments about the event or suggest any ways it could be improved?

thanks for the feedback!

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

I love olives marinated in bay, fennel, Rosemary, garlic and then tossed in lemon zest. Green or black, in brine or fresh, YUM!

Non-attendee

It took me a long time to make myself like olives, but now I really like them. Greek salad is the best thing to do with them, but I like chilli spiced ones in pasta Arabiatta too.

Thanks again for an absolutely brilliant day - it was tremendous fun and a real treat to be included.

Sorry for the delay in providing feedback: I have been flat out sorting out dc3s birthday party for this weekend!

Q1 What was the most interesting thing you learnt about olives at the event? Please share this on the thread. Did it change your perception of olives?

Omar shared lots of really interesting information about olives: I had no idea that Spain was the biggest producer of olives and olive oil! He also explained that green and black olives were the same fruit, at different stages. Best of all, I learnt that olives are (relatively) low calorie, and much healthier than I had thought: only 35 cals/ 7 olives!

Q2 What did you think of the recipes made on the day? Would you try them at home? If so, which ones and why/ when? What recipe did you like the most?

All the recipes were great fun: it was great to be challenged by making something completely out of my comfort zone - and caramelised olives with goats cheese custard definitely met expectations! My favourite recipes were the marinades and the romesco sauce : I'll definitely be making these again.

Q3 What did you think about Omar Allibhoy’s knowledge of olives?

Amazing - and his enthusiasm was brilliant :) His energy and passion were absolutely inspirational!

Q4 If a friend, relative or acquaintance asked your advice about eating olives, to what extent would you recommend eating them?

I've always loved olives, but now I would definitely recommend them as a healthy food and have already been waxing lyrical to anyone who will listen about the brilliant things you can do with them.

Q5 Has the event encouraged you to experiment with olives in different ways?

Yes :) Although the caramelised olives will have to wait a bit....

Q6 Do you intend to eat or continue to eat table olives?

Definitely - but from now on I will be serving them with interesting marinades rather than straight from the tin.

Q7 Finally, would you like to make any comments about the event or suggest any ways it could be improved?

It was brilliant...another few hours would have been even better (!) but apart from that I really can't think of any way in which it could have been improved.

Thank you for a stimulating and fun experience, and for the really lovely goody bag (which has already been put to good use!)

As an almost attendee I'm jealous of those of you who got to attend.

One thing I do with olives is I get a jar, pop a clove of garlic in the bottom and fill with sliced olives, sliced mushrooms and peppers and then fill with olive oil.

Leave for a week and then eat with crusty bread to dip in the oil.

Non-attendee
Olives baked into savoury scones are delicious, like finding treasure with your taste buds!

Thank you so much for selecting me.

Q1 What was the most interesting thing you learnt about olives at the event? Please share this on the thread. Did it change your perception of olives? I hadn't realised that so many olives are produced in Spain and that all olive varieties are green, purple & then black as they ripen. I thought it was interesting that the olives we eat are picked by hand rather than shaken off the trees as those which are pressed are. I was pleased to learn they are lower in calories than I'd thought.

Q2 What did you think of the recipes made on the day? Would you try them at home? If so, which ones and why/ when? What recipe did you like the most?. I liked the Romesco sauce which was simpler to prepare than I would have thought and I'm sure I'll make that again as I know it goes really well with calcots & spring onions. I thought that the way we made the custard using goats cheese to thicken it was very interesting and the marinades for the olives really enhanced the flavours. We have a friend over tonight & I think I'll marinade some of my tins.

Q3 What did you think about Omar Allibhoy’s knowledge of olives?. It was extensive & very impressive.

Q4 If a friend, relative or acquaintance asked your advice about eating olives, to what extent would you recommend eating them?. I have been really effusive about olives since Wednesday - have been to two drinks parties & a few other places and talked them up.

Q5 Has the event encouraged you to experiment with olives in different ways? yes as I think adding them to a salad is a really good way of adding nutrients easily

Q6 Do you intend to eat or continue to eat table olives? definitely yes

Q7 Finally, would you like to make any comments about the event or suggest any ways it could be improved? like some of the other attendees I would have liked to have had a hand out of the recipes we prepared to take home.

I really enjoyed the day, meeting up with some really interesting women and cooking made it a great day out. KathrynMN was lovely and the staff at l'attelier des chefs were very friendly. .

What are table olives?

i didnt attend.

i love serving olives with falafel and a feta salad

I love making tapenades with olives, including nuts and a hard cheese like manchego. so easy as it is just a matter of whizzing them round in the blender with olive oil and seasoning.

Non-attendee, although it sounds amazing and I wish I had known about it. It's making me hungry just reading about it!

I love pretty much all olives. I have them in salads, on pizza, on their own, in bread, and I sneak minced up black ones into beef stifado and my olive-hating DH loves it!

I'm definitely going to check out tinned olives from reading this thread and I would be over the moon to win the hamper.

Non attendee.

Unfortunately im the only one that likes olives in our house so if I want anyone else to eat them I have to disguise them in pasta sauce or chicken and tomato style dishes.

I must admit I prefer them fresh with a great glass of wine or in a nicoise salad. just the perfect pick me up after a hard day at the office.

Love olives on pizza. Other than that, usually just gave them as a side. Like the ones with herbs / garlic. DH wont eat them, but 2 year old DD cant get enough, they have to be hidden to get her to eat anything else

I didn't attend.

I quite often add olives to meals - I make a good chicken stew with tinned tomatoes and olives, and I add them to my Bolognese sauce instead of chicken livers. I like them with fish too - I use them instead of capers in lots of recipes. I used to make tapenade a lot, but haven't for a while - I should do it again.

I buy tinned olives for cooking - usually I get green olives stuffed with either lemon or garlic, or plain black olives - and I buy herby marinated green or black olives from the deli counter for snacking.

Non attendee.
I love olives & had a massive craving for queen olives when I was pregnant!
They taste best in a good quality oil with loads of yummy herbs!

I LOVE Castelvetrano olives.
They are a beautiful bright fresh green and so buttery and nutty. The only olive I ever want to eat. Heaven. Nom nom.

Non Attende

I love big green queen olives... So juicy!
I add them to my chicken Cesar salad for extra bite and colour. They are also great in pasta dishes

I like to put olives in potato salad. tint new potatoes, black olives and chive flowers look and taste fabulous together

NON tester
my family have gradually come over to the Olive side, after a holiday in Sardinia where they had a chance to try different kinds.
Typically they chose all the expensive ones.
They are an excellent way to add a savoury kick to many dishes, such as pastas, instead of adding salt

I love green olives with a gin and tonic . I don't buy the ready 'marinated' expensive olives - I just mix some olive oil and crushed garlic into a bowl of olives ( cheap from Aldi) and hey presto!

I adore olives..in everything. Greek Salad, pesto, olive bread & just out of the jar. My absolute fav is Tapenade

Non attendee:

I like olives in Spanish Mince - basically mince cooked with onion, grated apple, raisins, garlic and halved green olives.

Very cross with myself today as I accidentally bought whole rather than pitted olives, making the recipe a bit of a nightmare.

Non-attendee:

I'm a very recent convert to olives. I hated them, but couldn't understand why (I love similar things) so I kept trying them every now and then, kept hating them until one day last year when I suddenly loved them . I've heard others saying they've done the same, didn't like olives at all until suddenly they swung the opposite way. So it's worth persevering, those who would like to eat olives [smiles].

Now I try to put them into everything. Salads, pasta sauces, on pizza, straight into my mouth...

I love olives and feta as a side dish/ snack. Yum!!

Or I use them in Greek salad a lot

Non attendee: I love using olives in many recipes asides from a delicious greek salad, I put green and black olives into pasts bakes and cous cous salads, also risottos and my summer veg lasagne