If you’ve been reading our blog for a while, you’ll know that we’re big Jacques Pépin fans. His recipes have never let us down!
This tapenade recipe, from Chez Jacques, Traditions and Rituals of a Cook, was simple to make and absolutely delicious. It’s an unusual twist on the straight olive version. Pépin mentions that in the south of France, tapenade is often known as the “butter of Provence”…
For this recipe, I used a mix of Kalamata olives and these shriveled dried black Italian olives (which are normally pan-fried or roasted). Both were bought whole and pitted before use.
- 300g (1½ cups) pitted olives
- 2 tablespoons capers, drained
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
- 8 anchovy fillets, in oil
- 3 dried figs, quartered
- 8 mint leaves
- freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Note: As my figs were very dry, I began by soaking them in hot water first.
Place all the ingredient into a food processor and pulse until well combined. Pépin prefers his tapenade fairly coarse, but I made mine a little finer. The figs and mint add an extra dimension to the salty olives and anchovies.
Serve on slices of toasted sourdough, with a cold glass of wine.
. . . . .
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
We love tapenade, and this one is a lovely twist on a classic. I think this might made a very nice snack between meals!
Misk, I’ve been smearing it on everything from sourdough toast to boiled eggs! :)
Celia this is a fantastic recipe – my taste buds are dancing about with excitement at the combination of flavours! Another must try recipe.
Have a happy day.
:-) Mandy
Mandy, I hope you like it – the addition of the figs, mint and capers really appealed to me. Surprisingly, I didn’t find it overly salty!
This is one of my all-time fave things to eat :)
Cin, lookee! It’s got olives and anchovies! :)
I am also Jacques Pépin fan, and this tapenade recipe looks great!
Hi Biana, thanks for stopping by! We’ve been Jacques fans for a long time now – in fact, I think his “Today’s Gourmet” cooking show might have been the first I ever watched (twenty years ago)!
Very nice, Celia, it looks absolutely delicious!
Thanks FF! It’s been adding a kick to lots of dishes – last night I dolloped some onto the mushroom risotto we were having for dinner!
I’ve never heard of this author – always love to get a new cook book recommendation. Interesting use of mint in the tapenade and totally agree that you have to buy the olives whole and then take the stones out for the best taste. Lovely.
Sally, he’s a French chef in Connecticut! Used to be personal chef to Charles de Gaul (I think). We find his recipes really reliable, and that’s important for us – if Jacques says to add a teaspoon of salt, then that’s exactly the amount it needs. We own several of his cookbooks, and this particular one was remaindered, so I picked it up for a song. :)
Tapenade is one of my favorites… nothing tastes just like that. I love the addition of capers!! Yumm!
It was so many competing flavours that I wasn’t sure it would work, but it really does! I’m making some more today! :)
Hey there! I absolutely love digging into that with a bowl of chips! Good work!
Thanks for stopping by! Good luck with your new blog!
I love tapenade and this one does look marvellous, a great change from my olive and parmesan one!
C, I’ve never made tapenade with parmesan, now there’s an interesting idea! Thanks..
Oh freakin yeah. What a gorgeous combo of flavours. Perfect balance. Can’t wait to try. Mmmm
Anna, we’ve found it really versatile – it’s been on everything these last few days.. :)
Mmm- you’ve got a little bit of food heaven smeared on that bread.
Would this be an appetizer, lunch or part of dinner?
Heidi, last night I had it smeared on sourdough ciabatta slices as a nibbly with a glass of white. Then a dollop went into my mushroom risotto. Jacques suggests a variety of uses for it, including as a coating for grilled fish! :)
This looks very tasty. Ideal accompaniment to a glass of bubbly.
Meg, you’re so right! When I said “glass of white” in my reply to Heidi, I should have said “glass of Piper Heidseck”, which is what we actually had it with last night.. ;-)
There’s no way I would have thought to use the figs, what a great idea! I guess the sweetness just smooths out the saltiness?
I really should check your posts after breakfast, I could so go some tapenade on some crusty free bread right now :-)
Becca, that’s exactly what I had for breakfast! I added a boiled egg as well, just so I could say it really was breakfast! :)
Oh, I love the idea of the addition of the figs and I have some dried ones in the kitchen waiting for a role in life. I also have a jar of gorgeous locally produced capers whose flavour is just amazing – I’m ready to go!
A, have fun with this! It will go well with all the Moet you still have in the house! :D
I want to come to your house if you’re having Piper Heidseck on a school night…sigh…note I’m the only person commenting on the alcohol and not the food…I’m not obsessed I’m not obsessed I’m not obsessed
Darling, where are you? The bottle’s open… :)
Oh I LOVE that you added the figs for a little sweetness. I need to try this! Sounds delicious :)
Nic, I wish I could take credit, but I made Pepin’s recipe exactly as written! It’s definitely worth trying though! :)
Now, that sounds interesting!
Thanks Lee! :)
What? No chocolate in it?
Hmmm. That’s not a crazy suggestion, actually. A little unsweetened chocolate might be a nice addition. Thanks Cosmo! :)
Very interesting combination of flavours – sweet, salty, bitter…mmm. I must make this soon. Tara loves tapanade (no surprise there as she has loved olives since she was a baby)….she would roll around in a bowl of tapanade if she could….like a little pig in mud!
SG, Tara would love this! Do you have any olives left from the kilos you bought last time we were out? :)
mmm this tapenade combination does sound very interesting!
Anyway Celia, I stumbled across this blog when I was looking for jamming supplies in Sydney and I was just wondering besides the two websites you directed us to in your post (on pectin I think), do you have any recommendations for any retailers selling in smaller quantities? I don’t mind if they’re a tad more expensive since I’m probably getting a dozen or less jars..thanks!
Hi Janine, thanks for stopping by!
Before we were buying jam jars in bulk, I used to buy them in packs of 10 from Herbie’s Spices in Rozelle (the same ones as we’re still using now). It might be worth giving them a call to see whether they’re still available? Also, you could try Essential Ingredient and Chefs’ Warehouse, I think both have canning jars, although I’m not sure of the pricing on them.
Thanks for the reply Celia! I’ll drop by both places to check them out :D
Oh btw, just another questions about chocolate supplies – I was wondering if you knew what types of cocoa powder are available in Chef’s Warehouse or Essential Ingredient besides Lindt? Is that the cheapest available? :) Thanks!
Janine, I don’t shop at Essential Ingredient any more (I find them massively expensive), but at Chefs they have Callebaut Dutched cocoa. I think it works out about the same as supermarket cocoa, but I like the flavour better! Personally I’m not a huge Lindt fan – I always buy Callebaut products in preference, although I’d use Michel Cluizel if I could find a way to source it economically! :)
great, thanks for the heads up celia! :)
This combination is fascinating. I love the combination of salty and sweet, but never would have thought of figs in a tapenade. We’ll have to give this a try.
Thanks for stopping by! Hope you enjoy this – the figs really do cut the saltiness. The mint leaves make a difference too! :)
I love olive tapenade. I have it nearly ever night but mix it with hommus. I’ve never tried it with figs before. Sounds like an interesting addition. I shall add them to the next batch. Thanks Celia.
Claire, I’ve never heard of mixing tapenade with hommus! Thanks for the suggestion!
I really like the idea of figs in tapenade, that little bit of sweetness and extra crunch. A good recipe for Christmas
Tania, the fig seeds do add a little crunch – it’s very appealing! :)
the figs must lend such an interesting flavour! and the mint …. I am going to try this :)
Tandy, I think you’d like it, it’s similar to your tapenade recipe!
(Tandy’s recipe is here: http://tandysinclair.com/2011/07/01/olive-tapenade/)
That sounds lovely. On the must make list!
Thanks Lizzy! Hope you enjoy it!
Oh I like the addition of figs to a tapenade! It must lend it a lovely sweetness :)
It’s not an obvious sweetness, but as Becca says, it tends to smooth out the salty kick a little. The mint makes a difference too! :)
I’ve never heard of Jacques Pépin. I’ll have to check his books out.
Maz
Maz, we really enjoy his cooking videos – have a look on YouTube, there’s a few of them available.
Will do!
Maz
He is my new best friend! Love him! I want to try his bread in a pot recipe.
Just popping in – it all sounds delicious!
Thanks love! We’re onto our second batch now.. :)
Love love love tapenade, and my husband teases me about my fig obsession so this recipe is going right to the front of the line. I may have to break out the last of our dry rose even though we have snow flurries threatening.
Lynn, hope you like this – I’m completely hooked on it! A dry rose sounds like the perfect accompaniment! :)
What a cool & alternative tapenade with the dried figs in it!! that’s lovely! i made it yesterday & I love its taste a lot, Celia!
Yummie!
Sophie, thanks for trying this out! I’m so glad you loved it! :)
Nice, i love the sweet salty balance, my obsession with Thai flavours might see something spicy and a bit of acid go into a version of this too.
Barton, it could take a hint of chilli, I think.. :)
I made this last night. Fantastic recipe. added a bit more mint but no other changes. only complaint was that it was so good i ate too much and spoiled my dinner!
Nina, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I’ve managed to overeat it before the main meal as well – it’s very moreish! :)
Wow, very creative!!