Real olives from a Middle Eastern grocery

The other day, I was on my way to pick up some (real) Greek yogurt at Giado World Foods, southeast corner Dobson and Elliott in Chandler, when I remembered that I also wanted to get some olives for a company dinner.

Luckily, I also remembered that Giado’s has a lovely selection of excellent Middle-Eastern style olives.

These olives are not too much like the ones available at the popular supermarket “olive bars.” To me, those seem to be heavy on the extra-marinated olives and olive salad presentations.

Nothing wrong with these (and they are very practical from the supermarket’s view, since the addition of more oil and some vinegar assures nearly unlimited shelf life).

But that little addition of more spices and a little vinegar, tasty as it can be, can sometimes mask less-than-stellar olives.

Not so at Giado’s. There are dried, cured black olives, slightly smoky, a little bitter and a little chewy.

There are large, purple/black kalamatas. There are plain, cracked green olives.

And there are the spiced olives. There were two kinds the day I was there, one with preserved lemon, onion and hot peppers, and the other just with preserved lemon.

I bought kalamatas, and both of the spiced green variety.

They’re wonderful. The kalamatas are tender, fruity, not too salty. The green olives with preserved lemon have a nice, bright citrus note, while those with the hot pepper have the same great citrus hit, seem a little saltier, with a slow heat that comes just at the top of your throat.

Even better? These olives come at just the right price. The kalamatas are $4.99 a pound, while the green olives come in around $3.50 a pound. Compare that with the $8.99 per pound at your local supermarket.