Center with a mound of oil-cured olives.

It calls for fresh mozzarella and oil-cured black olives.

You can, if you wish, make your own by pureeing pitted oil-cured olives with a little olive oil.

Also near the cheese shop are olive bars with a variety of brine-cured and oil-cured olives, as well as other relishes.

The first hint of what's to come is a charming country basket of superior French bread and a glass bowl of oil-cured olives.

If possible, include some oil-cured olives, which really come to life when marinated.

Use the best oil-cured olives you can find to make the olive-caper sauce and, if possible, buy salted capers instead of those packed in vinegar.

A little riskier, because most people don't favor them for nibbling, are the shriveled, glossy black oil-cured olives (which keep nearly forever in the refrigerator).

I like to cook with oil-cured olives because they swell beautifully and explode with flavor.

The base is almost always black olives in brine, which are better for this sauce than oil-cured olives.