Shop our Olives Range Online
Olives are the one thing on a grazing board that people notice when they are wrong. A watery brine, a flabby texture and a flat salty finish drag the whole plate down. The olives here are chosen to be eaten straight from the jar rather than cooked into something, led by Kangaroo Island Olives, who grow and cure in South Australia and make the kalamata, smoked kalamata and Mediterranean styles that go into a large share of our savoury hampers.
Around them sit the things olives need to earn their place: extra virgin olive oil for dipping and finishing, black olive tapenade, preserved lemons and crackers. Order by 12pm on a weekday and it goes out the same day.
Kalamata, smoked or Mediterranean
Kalamata is the default table olive for a reason. Cured whole, deep purple-black, firm instead of mushy, with a wine-like tang that holds its own beside a strong cheddar or a hard sheep's cheese. Kangaroo Island Olives pack theirs at 185g, which is about right for a board of four to six people without half a jar going soft in the fridge afterwards.
Smoked kalamata is the jar to reach for when the rest of the plate is mild. The smoke supplies the savoury weight that a chilli or a sharp mustard would otherwise have to carry, so it works next to fresh cheeses, bread and cold-smoked fish rather than fighting them.
Mediterranean olives are the mixed jar: green and black together, different sizes, different cures, so you get range without buying three jars. They are the practical choice for a long grazing table where nobody is reading labels, and the one to take if you are only taking one.
What to put around them
- Something crisp. Valley Produce Company mini artisan crackers are built for this job, and their seed crisps come in a kalamata and sun-dried tomato version that doubles down on the theme.
- Something to dip in. Kangaroo Island Extra Virgin Olive Oil comes in 250ml, 500ml and 750ml, so you can keep a small bottle on the table and a larger one in the kitchen.
- Something spreadable. Belazu Black Olive Tapenade does the work of an olive without the pits, and The Regimental Condiment Company make a roasted red capsicum tapenade that reads sweeter.
- Something sharp to cut through it. Belazu Preserved Lemons, or the Ottolenghi Kalamata Olive and Harissa Sauce if you want the olive note carried into something hot.
Olive oil worth putting on the table
A finishing oil and a cooking oil are different purchases. Belazu Early Harvest is pressed from fruit picked young, so it is grassy and peppery at the back of the throat and belongs on bread, burrata and soup rather than in a hot pan. Crete Gold is rounder and more forgiving. The Kangaroo Island oils sit between the two and make the sensible everyday bottle. If the oil is a present rather than a restock, Belazu do an oil and vinegar set and a bottle with a pourer in a gift box, and Borgo de Medici pack an Antipasto Toscana olive oil set.
The same olives, in a gift box
Kangaroo Island olives go into a large share of our savoury gourmet hampers, usually sitting next to Valley Produce Company crackers, Hunter's Gourmet black truffle potato chips and Kangaroo Island Produce Co honey popcorn. If the olives are for someone else rather than your own pantry, start with the food and wine hampers, where the antipasto end of the range lives. Each one is hand-packed with care into a premium box with a gold ribbon, with a free personalised gift card tucked under the bow. For the rest of the savoury shelf, see condiments and crackers.
Which olives work best on a cheese board?
Kalamata next to hard, salty cheese. Smoked kalamata next to soft or fresh cheese, where it adds the savoury note the cheese lacks. If there is already cured meat on the board, a Mediterranean mix stops the whole plate becoming one long salty note.
Can I buy the olives that come in your hampers on their own?
Yes. Kangaroo Island Olives are stocked here in their own right, as jars and as extra virgin olive oil, so you can restock a favourite from a hamper without buying the whole hamper again.
What does early harvest mean on an olive oil label?
The fruit was picked while still green, which gives a more bitter, peppery, distinctly grassy oil with a short bright finish. Later-picked fruit makes a milder oil that suits cooking, where those top notes would be lost to the heat anyway.
Does an olives and oil order ship free?
A gourmet food order over $100 ships free, tracked with Australia Post. Hampers are counted on their own, because each is packed and posted as a separate parcel, so a hamper needs to clear $100 by itself rather than pooling with the rest of the cart. Full detail sits on the delivery page.
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