"When a person goes to a wedding and comes back home, their relative will ask, 'was the bride beautiful? Yes, and were the olives good?'"
So goes the tradition, according to , an Italian man who has dedicated his life to making and selling olive ascolane - as did his father, and his father's father.
A speciality of Le Marche, in Italy, olive ascolane is olives stuffed with meat, then crumbed and fried.
So when Italian chef Giorgio Locatelli and British art historian Andrew Graham-Dixon visit the region in Italy Unpacked (now on Food Network and then ) visiting Migliori and tasting his olives is a must on their foodie itinerary.
"To make olive ascolane, Ze Migliori stuffs the olives with meat, and his son Augusto deep fries them in breadcrumbs to create this simple but richly flavoured snack," says Locatelli.
"The most important thing is to use the right type of olives. Tenera Ascolana. You have to taste these olives because they taste different."
Tenera means tender, and the olives have a sweet, delicate flavour.
Andrew Graham-Dixon and Giorgio Locatelli in Italy Unpacked. Source: Italy Unpacked
"It’s tender and very crispy at the same time and it has a fantastic flavour," says Locatelli.
"These olives really make the difference."
The stuffing is made from beef and pork, cut into little pieces and then cooked like a ragu.
The olive is cut open in a spiral shape, and the stuffing placed inside. The olive is then put back together, dipped in flour, egg and then breadcrumbs, before being deep fried until it is "tenera e croccante" - tender and crunchy.
The origins of olive ascolane goes back many centuries, and by a cook working for a noble family who use up the roast meat from a lavish banquet.
The new dish became incredibly popular, particularly at special occasions like weddings, as Locatelli can attest.
"I remember I went to a wedding - I must have been 18 or something like that - they had these," recalls Locatelli.
"I tell you what. It was the first time I'd had them. I just went on and on and on. I never had nothing else to eat but the olive ascolane. I couldn’t! When I discovered them I was like my god this is incredible."
And they seemed to have found another fan.
"I can see why," says Graham-Dixon.
"E buonissimo (it’s delicious), it’s beautiful what is surprising about them is how delicate the taste is. You’ve got this sort of sweetness in the olives and then you have and then you’ve got this saltiness."
If you want to try them without going to Italy, one place that serves olive ascolane in Sydney is in Darlinghurst and Bondi.
Watch Italy Unpacked on Food Network Australia then on . Or watch the first episode here:
