Hojiblanca Olives

Hojiblanca Olives are medium to large plump olives that ripen to a light purple with firm flesh. They would be almost completely round but for a pointed end. Inside, there is a large, rough pit.

About 15% of the olive trees grown in Spain are Hojiblanca. The tree is large and cold hardy. The fruit ripens at the end of November, but is hard to harvest because it clings to the branches.

The olives can occasionally be used for table olives, but because they don’t pickle particularly well, they are mostly used for oil.

Their oil yield is low, 14 to 19%, but it is a good quality oil that stores well. Because the yield is low, but the flavour is good, the oil is used in higher quality oils. Experts like the range of flavours within the greenish-gold oil from first taste to aftertaste. The tree has not really spread to other countries owing to the low oil yield.

Grown especially to the south of Córdoba, east of Seville, and north of Malaga.

Cooking Tips

Hojiblanca oil is good for frying.

History Notes

Native to Andalucia, Spain.

Language Notes

“Hoji” means leaf in Spanish; “blanca” means white; so the name Hojiblanca means “white leaf”. This refers to the underside of the leaves, which is whitish or silvery.