tapenade and pesto

All I really had left to prepare for tomorrow's luncheon (a luncheon that got delayed twice) was tapenade, pesto, and bread. I decided to work on the tapenade and pesto first since prep didn't involve much more than throwing ingredients into my food processor and blitzing to the desired texture. Both of these turned out surprisingly well, but in the photos below, they might look superficially similar despite being totally different animals. Look closely, and you'll see major differences. With the tapenade, I had already resigned myself to the idea that the tartness of the olives would keep this condiment from becoming a fan favorite, but when I tasted the results, I was shocked by how fresh and delicious it was. Score one for tapenade! It might still crash and burn at the luncheon, but I'm a fan. The pesto was also a revelation. I didn't put in as much basil as I usually do, but the result was amazing. I also blitzed the pesto less than I usually do, resulting in a rough, rustic texture that resembled that of the tapenade. Tasted fantastic. I had two hits on my hands.

Most of you readers are probably familiar with pesto, and I've shown off my pestos any number of times on the blog, but tapenade—which I've unwisely attempted before without a real recipe—might be new to you. Tapenade is a French Provençal condiment consisting mostly of olives, usually two distinct kinds. Into the mix, you add capers, parsley, lemon juice, olive oil, and fresh garlic. The parsley does a lot of heavy lifting in terms of freshness. The olives and capers keep everything earthy, but the parsley, with the help of the lemon juice, really brightens the flavors. The olive oil helps to unify the texture of everything. If you visit the Wikipedia entry for tapenade, you'll see something that looks pretty thoroughly puréed, but the recipe I followed insisted on not puréeing, hence the rustic look you see below. I should make tapenade more often: it's very keto.

Here's the tapenade (pronounced "toppin' odd"/ˈtæpənɑːd):

I'm roughly following the template for a muffuletta, a classic Italian-style deli sandwich invented by an Italian living in New Orleans. Ideally, the muffuletta is supposed to have an olive salad as a condiment. This salad contains olives plus elements of a giardiniera—a pickling of bell peppers, cauliflower, carrots, celery, and cornichons (little pickles).

Here's the pesto, with the cheese and nuts shining through (while looking weirdly rice-like, as if this were a risotto) since I went easy on the basil:

Both of these taste amazingly good. I can't wait to slap them on sandwiches at lunch. Just in case, though, I'm bringing along mustard and mayo for people with more conventional tastes. European condiments aren't for everybody.

Expect pics of sandwiches sometime Tuesday afternoon or evening, Seoul time.