Why Is Pimento The Go-To Stuffing For Olives?

Pimentos (or pimientos, if you have an extra "i" you need to stash somewhere) are mild peppers you've mostly likely encountered stuffed inside an olive. Pimentos have other uses — they can be mixed with cheese to make a delicious spread, called simply pimento cheese, and loved by Southern housewives and "Better Call Saul"'s Mike Ehrmantraut alike – but their role as the go-to olive filling is certainly their most famous. They're so ubiquitous that, growing up, you may have assumed olives naturally had a red pit inside. 

But when did this match made in culinary heaven start, and why? We have an answer for the former question — 18th century France — and although we don't have a clear-cut answer for the latter, we can hazard a good guess. It has to do with the fact that olives, in their natural state, taste absolutely awful, and that even after being prepared properly, it's nice to have something to complement the strong flavor.

The thing about olives is that, in their natural state, they are bitter. Like, disgustingly bitter. The jar at the supermarket is only palatable because the olives were cured in some sort of solution, usually brine, before being rinsed off, just to be extra sure that none of the bitter compound oleuropein remains. But even after the brining, olives have a pretty strong flavor, so people decided to stuff them with something to cut through the salty sting.

Pimentos, with their sweet, fruity, yet still complex flavor, made for an ideal olive stuffer from the start. The practice started in the French province of Provence in the 18th century, and it was easy to see why it caught on. But why does it remain the default stuffer in a world that now has so many other options, such as almonds, anchovies, and blue cheese? Is it habit? Is it because those little circles of red are so aesthetically pleasing? Or is the taste just that excellent? As is often the case, it's probably some combination — and we certainly aren't complaining. (Though the advent of vodka-stuffed olives has given us something to think about.)