Taggiasca is a type of olive grown in Ponente, the western part of Liguria, Italy.
The tree is a cultivar; it can only be propagated by cuttings, not by seed.
The tree starts bearing fruit after its third year. The trees are self-pollinating.
Some Taggiasca trees over 600 years old still bear fruit.
Its small olives are very similar to Niçoise Olives, which are grown a few kilometres away across the border into France. They are mostly used for oil, having 23 to 26% oil content. They yield a pale green oil which mellows and settles into a straw yellow colour.
When the olives are made into table olives, they are let ripen to black. They are then soaked first in fresh water for 40 days, then put into brine along with herbs such as bay laves, rosemary and thyme.
History Notes
Developed near the town of Taggia by Benedictine monks.