Many consider tapenade as a easy olive unfold, however when one Marseille chef tracked down the unique recipe, he uncovered a surprisingly totally different dish than what most are accustomed to right this moment. In 1880, La Canebière—Marseille’s primary drag—was lined with elegant cafés. Probably the most luxurious was La Maison Dorée, the place Chef Meynier (whose first identify by no means made the historical past books) is claimed to have created the now-canonized mix of olives, capers, and anchovies. He dubbed it “tapenade” for the tapenas, or “capers” in Provençal, which locals have been cooking with for at the very least 2,600 years, and which gave the unfold its signature zing. However few French meals lovers know that Meynier’s inaugural recipe referred to as for tuna, cognac, and English mustard. Maybe most intriguing of all, it was served deviled model, in a hard-boiled egg.
Tapenade caught on so quick that, regardless of Meynier’s recipe showing in La Cuisinière Provençal (the area’s Pleasure of Cooking equal), it was misplaced in a sea of much less pungent, and notably eggless, variations. The unique could have been forgotten altogether if Chef Noël Baudrand—who runs Le Capucin restaurant within the very area the place La Maison Dorée as soon as stood—hadn’t dusted it off and put it on the menu. “I’m proud to be reviving the historic recipe,” he mentioned.
Tapenade has lastly come full circle, and nonetheless feels at house 144 years later. The unique recipe requires each oil-packed and salt-cured anchovies, however they can be utilized interchangeably. For those who’re working with salt-cured anchovies solely, rinse and dry them earlier than continuing with the recipe.
Components
- 1⅔ cups brined capers, drained
- 1¼ cups oil-cured black or niçoise olives, pitted
- ½ cup olive oil-packed tuna, flaked
- 1 Tbsp. plus 2 tsp. ready English-style mustard, equivalent to Colman’s
- 1 Tbsp. cognac, plus extra to style
- ½ tsp. freshly floor black pepper, plus extra
- 6 oil-packed anchovy fillets
- 4 salt-cured anchovy fillets, pin bones eliminated
- 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- Crostini or baguette slices, for serving
- 12 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and halved lengthwise (non-compulsory)
Directions
Step 1
In a meals processor, pulse the capers, olives, tuna, mustard, cognac, black pepper, and each sorts of anchovies to a really coarse paste. Utilizing a silicone spatula, scrape down the perimeters of the bowl. With the machine working, steadily add the oil till integrated. (Don’t overmix; the tapenade ought to be coarse but spreadable.) Add extra cognac and black pepper if desired. Scrape right into a serving bowl, cowl with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at the very least 2 days to let the flavors marry. Serve with crostini, or spoon into hard-boiled eggs (see under).
Observe: To serve in hard-boiled eggs, switch the boiled yolks to a small bowl and organize the whites on a serving platter. Utilizing a teaspoon or a piping bag, mound the tapenade into the egg white halves so the filling reaches ½ inch above the flat floor of the whites. Garnish with finely grated boiled egg yolks. (Reserve any remaining tapenade and boiled yolks for one more use.)
