Learn how to make these stone fruits a star.

After harvesting, olives are packed in salt and dry-cured or brine-cured, which can change their texture, flavour and appearance. Dry-cured olives are wrinkled and mildly bitter. Brine-cured olives are plump, juicy and somewhat fruity.

The green or black colour of olives indicates ripeness, not variety, says Costco member and food author Hannah Howard. “In general, the darker an olive, the riper it was when it was harvested,” she says.

Ripe olives have a fuller, richer flavour, while green olives tend to be saltier and more piquant. For a brinier flavour, consider using green olives in cooking. Green olives also fare well on cheese boards, where they do justice to their equally salty, savoury counterparts.

Black olives work well in dishes that require subtle earthy notes. Mushrooms and cooked meats are natural complements.

As for variety, kalamatas are a deep purple, salty, meaty olive, while light black Greek table olives are preserved in vinegar or olive oil. Buttery, mild, bright green Castelvetrano olives are named for the area of Sicily from which they come. Olives from Spain are often stuffed with red capsicums called pimentos. Howard calls these “classic martini olives” and adds that olives can be stuffed with garlic, jalapeños and more.

Olives are eminently versatile, says Suzy Karadsheh, Costco member and CEO and founder of The Mediterranean Dish, a food and lifestyle website (themediterraneandish. com). She uses them with everything from chicken to baked fish.

“You can chop them up and add them to your bread dough,” she says.

But don’t feel confined. Use olives in a starring role as the central ingredient in pesto, olive salad, tapenade or even atop flatbread. As Karadsheh says, “Olives are a wonderful flavour-maker.”