One day after class (I was studying abroad in Paris), a staff member from the school was running a table full of food samples. Each food sample was supposed to be from a different part of France. The whole idea behind the event was to widen the students’ knowledge of French culture beyond that of Paris – which has vast differences. I remember sampling sparkling cider from Normandy, canelés from Bordeaux, nougat from Montélimar, and many other delicious goodies. The first time that I ever had tapenade was on this day. While tapenade isn’t from any particular region in France, I think they just included it because it was so…French? Afterall, I decided to go out of my way to make tapenade because of my Paris withdrawals. I was really craving a good baguette and tapenade to go with it, and thus, this recipe was birthed.

Anyways, each food sample on the table was labeled not only with its name and origin, but also with its key ingredients (in case of allergens). The key ingredients for the tapenade that day was anchovies and olives. As someone who has liked olives since their diaper days, the realization that there aren’t many people who like olives didn’t dawn on me until fairly recently. I may have been in denial of this sad statistic, but it was confirmed when I witnessed the tapenade looking alienated by the students. Perhaps it was also the mushed anchovies in the tapenade that further decreased its appeal. Anywho, if you’re reading this, I’m assuming that you, reader, don’t mind olives at the very least. This recipe does, afterall, contain olives. In fact, it is 80% olive and entirely forgoes both anchovies and capers, essential ingredients in a traditional recipe. If you didn’t catch it, that was my disclaimer that this recipe is not traditional or authentic.

While I usually strive to make food as authentic as possible, I did not feel it was necessary this time around because I wanted something fast, simple, and easily attainable. While I did say that I like olives, it isn’t something that I usually have in my pantry. I don’t usually have capers or anchovies either. When I set out to the grocery store, I had a budget and felt too lazy to carry three heavy jars back home (especially since I walk to and from the store). If you, reader, are afraid of anchovies, then fret not, because while I would like to include anchovies in this recipe, I couldn’t afford it (or capers), but found that the recipe was still tres bien~!

Serve with some bread or plain crackers. I even made a salad using tapenade as a dressing!