tapenade

Provençal tapeno means caper, from Latin capparis, which came from Greek kapparis, which possibly came from Arabic or further east. The caper — the pickled bud of Capparis spinosa — was central to Mediterranean cooking for thousands of years before the olive paste that bears its name was codified.

The recipe for tapenade appeared in codified form in 1880, created by Meynier, chef at the Maison Dorée restaurant in Marseille. His recipe combined olives, capers, anchovies, thyme, and olive oil pounded together. Capers gave the dish its character — the sharp, briny, slightly floral note — and gave the dish its name. That modern tapenade is primarily thought of as an olive paste is a shift in emphasis that would puzzle Meynier.

Capers grow wild throughout the Mediterranean — in wall crevices, on rocky slopes, in the ruins of Greek temples. The plant thrives in heat, drought, and poor soil. The buds must be harvested by hand before they open; if they flower, they are useless. This labor-intensive harvesting made capers expensive but consistently present in Mediterranean diets from antiquity to the present.

Tapenade spread from Provence to international cuisine in the late 20th century as French cuisine — particularly the lighter, vegetable-centered cuisine of the south — became fashionable. By the 2000s, tapenade appeared in grocery stores worldwide. The caper's name, preserved in the paste it flavors, became a global food word.