Chef Margarida
Caracóis à Portuguesa
Há caracóis! The signs appear in May and all of Lisbon knows summer has arrived. Tiny snails in spiced broth, sucked from shells at plastic tables, washed down with imperial after imperial.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Azeitonas Temperadas
Created by
The marinated olives that sit on every tasca table in Portugal, swimming in garlic, herbs, and enough azeite to make you reach for bread before you've even ordered. This is how we begin.
Appetizers & Snacks
Portuguese, Alentejo
Make Ahead
Dinner Party
15 min
Active Time
0 min cook•15 min total
Yield6-8 servings
Before there's food, there are olives. Before the first course arrives, before the wine is poured, before anyone has even looked at a menu, someone puts a bowl of azeitonas temperadas on the table. That's how it works in Portugal. That's how it's always worked.
Avó Leonor kept a jar of these in her kitchen at all times. A clay pot tucked in the cool corner near the window, olives floating in azeite with whole garlic cloves and sprigs of dried oregano. She'd fish them out with a wooden spoon for anyone who walked through her door. Visitors, neighbors, the postman. Everyone got olives.
This isn't a recipe so much as a ritual. You take good olives. You bathe them in good oil. You add garlic, herbs, maybe a curl of lemon peel. Then you wait. The waiting is the work. The marinating transforms plain preserved olives into something you can't stop eating, something that makes you reach for bread to soak up the oil, something that makes you pour another glass of wine because what else would you do?
At Mesa da Avó, these are on the table before guests sit down. No explanation needed. Everyone knows what to do. Pão, azeite, azeitonas, sempre. Bread, olive oil, olives, always. This is how we begin.
Olive cultivation in Portugal dates back over 3,000 years, brought by Phoenician traders to the Alentejo plains. Tempering olives in oil and aromatics was a preservation technique long before refrigeration, allowing families to keep olives edible through the hot summers. The tradition of serving marinated olives before meals likely comes from ancient Roman convivium customs that never left the Iberian Peninsula.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
mixed Portuguese olives
Quantity
500g
extra virgin olive oil (azeite)
Quantity
1 cup
garlic cloves
Quantity
6
smashed
bay leaves
Quantity
2
dried oregano
Quantity
1 tablespoon
dried thyme
Quantity
1 teaspoon
lemon peel
Quantity
2 strips (about 5cm each)
pith removed
dried chili or piri-piri flakes (optional)
Quantity
1 small chili or 1/2 teaspoon
black peppercorns
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
coarse sea salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| mixed Portuguese olives | 500g |
| extra virgin olive oil (azeite) | 1 cup |
| garlic clovessmashed | 6 |
| bay leaves | 2 |
| dried oregano | 1 tablespoon |
| dried thyme | 1 teaspoon |
| lemon peelpith removed | 2 strips (about 5cm each) |
| dried chili or piri-piri flakes (optional) | 1 small chili or 1/2 teaspoon |
| black peppercorns | 1/2 teaspoon |
| coarse sea salt | 1 teaspoon |
Equipment Needed
- •Clean glass jar with lid (1 liter capacity)
- •Cutting board and heavy knife for smashing garlic
- •Small serving bowl
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the olives
Drain the olives from their brine and rinse them briefly under cold water. Pat them dry with a clean kitchen towel. If using olives with pits (as they should be, for better flavor), leave them whole. The pits protect the flesh and keep the olive firm during marinating.
Olives with pits have more character than pitted ones. Yes, your guests will have to work a little harder. That's fine. Provide a small bowl for the pits and let them be. - 2
Smash the garlic
Place the garlic cloves on your cutting board and press down firmly with the flat of your knife until they crack open. Don't mince them. You want whole smashed cloves that will infuse the oil slowly and look beautiful in the bowl. Avó Leonor said the garlic should be big enough to pick out and eat on its own. She wasn't wrong.
- 3
Combine everything
Place the olives in a clean glass jar or ceramic bowl. Add the smashed garlic, bay leaves, oregano, thyme, lemon peel, chili if using, and peppercorns. Sprinkle the salt over everything. Pour in the olive oil, making sure all the olives are submerged. The oil should cover them completely. If it doesn't, add more.
- 4
Let time do the work
Cover the jar and let it sit at room temperature for at least 24 hours before serving. Better: 3 days. Best: a week. The longer they sit, the more the flavors marry. Give the jar a gentle shake once a day to redistribute the aromatics. The oil will become fragrant, the garlic will soften, and the olives will transform from ordinary to irresistible.
Patience is the only technique in this recipe. Don't rush it. The olives will tell you when they're ready by how easily you eat the whole bowl. - 5
Serve properly
Bring the olives to room temperature before serving if stored in the refrigerator. Spoon them into a shallow bowl with plenty of the infused oil. Serve with crusty bread for soaking up the oil. The garlic cloves are edible and delicious. The bay leaves are not. Make sure there's a small dish for the pits. This is the first thing on the table and the last thing to be finished.
Chef Tips
- •Use the best olives you can find. Portuguese galega olives are ideal, but any quality olive with character will work. Avoid bland California black olives. They have nothing to give.
- •The oil becomes the prize. After the olives are gone, use the infused oil for bread, for salads, for drizzling over grilled fish. It keeps for weeks in the refrigerator.
- •Some grandmothers add a strip of orange peel instead of lemon. Some add fennel seeds. Some add a splash of white wine vinegar. All are correct. Make it your own after you've made it the traditional way once.
- •If you want heat, a single dried malagueta pepper or a pinch of piri-piri flakes adds warmth without overwhelming. Alentejo isn't about fire. It's about depth.
Advance Preparation
- •These must be made at least 24 hours ahead. They improve dramatically over 3-7 days.
- •Stored in the refrigerator, covered in oil, the olives keep for up to 1 month. Always bring to room temperature before serving.
- •The infused oil can be strained and used separately for cooking or dressing salads.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 105g)
Calories
370 calories
Total Fat
40 g
Saturated Fat
6 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
34 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
1115 mg
Total Carbohydrates
5 g
Dietary Fiber
2 g
Sugars
0 g
Protein
1 g
Where cooking meets culture.
Culinary guides, cultural storytelling, and the editorial depth that makes cooking meaningful.
Discover Culinary ExplorerMore from Chef Margarida's Appetizers and Snacks
Browse the full collection
Chef Margarida
Chamuças Portuguesas
Crispy triangles of spiced meat wrapped in golden pastry, carrying the flavors of Goa across the ocean to every Portuguese tasca and family gathering. Colonial history you can eat.
Chef Margarida
Chouriço Assado
The theater of the tasca: chouriço set ablaze in its clay vessel, aguardente flames dancing blue and orange until the casing splits and the smoky fat runs. This is how we gather.
Chef Margarida
Cogumelos Recheados com Chouriço
Mushrooms stuffed with chouriço and baked until the cheese bubbles and browns, the kind of petisco that disappears from the table before you've finished pouring the wine. Tasca food for your home.