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Traditional Provençal Tapenade With Capers, Anchovies, and Tuna Recipe

Daniel Gritzer
Published: Last Updated:
Traditional Proven\u00e7al Tapenade With Capers, Anchovies, and Tuna Recipe

A traditional tapenade based on the original 1880 recipe. [Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

Unlike the modern version of tapenade, which features the olive more prominently than the other ingredients, this recipe is based on the original, created by a chef named Meynier at the Marseilles restaurant La Maison Dorée in 1880. It's made with equal parts olive, caper, and briny fish, like anchovies and oil-packed tuna—hence the fact that tapenade takes its name from capers (tapeno in Provençal) and not olives.

Why It Works

  • The higher ratio of capers and fish to olives produces a spread with a deeply savory, balanced, and briny flavor.
  • Tuna not only adds flavor, but also creates a protein-rich paste that helps form a more stable emulsion.

Read more: A Tale of Two Tapenades (and How to Make Them)

  • Yield:Makes about 1 cup
  • Total time:10 minutes with food processor, 25 minutes with mortar and pestle

Ingredients

  • 2 ounces pitted black olives (about 3/4 cup), such as Niçoise or oil-cured olives
  • 2 ounces drained capers (about 1/3 cup)
  • 1 ounce drained oil-packed anchovy fillets (about 8 fillets)
  • 1 ounce drained oil-packed tuna (about 3 tablespoons)
  • 2 loosely packed teaspoons fresh oregano, marjoram, or thyme leaves (optional; see note)
  • 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard (optional; see note)
  • Extra-virgin olive oil, as needed
  • 1 teaspoon Cognac (optional; see note)

Directions

  1. 1.

    If using a food processor: In the processor work bowl, combine olives, capers, anchovies, and tuna; add herbs and mustard, if using. Process, scraping down the sides, until a finely chopped paste forms. With the processor running, drizzle in just enough olive oil to loosen to a spreadable paste, about 2 tablespoons. Process in Cognac, if using. Serve.

  2. 2.

    If using a mortar and pestle: Roughly chop olives, capers, and anchovies, then add to mortar with tuna. Add herbs and mustard, if using. Tap, crush, and smash with pestle until ingredients have been reduced to a thick paste (a little chunkiness is okay). Using pestle to blend, drizzle in just enough olive oil to form a spreadable paste, about 2 tablespoons. Work in Cognac, if using. Serve.

This Recipe Appears In
A Tale of Two Tapenades (and How to Make Them)

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Daniel Gritzer Culinary Director

Daniel cooked for years in some of New York's top American, Italian and French restaurants - starting at the age of 13, when he began staging at the legendary restaurant Chanterelle. He spent nearly a year working on organic farms in Europe, where he harvested almonds and Padron peppers in Spain, shepherded a flock of more than 200 sheep in Italy, and made charcuterie in France. When not working on, thinking about, cooking and eating food, he blows off steam (and calories) as an instructor of capoeira, the Afro-Brazilian martial art.

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