A green olive cream is not a tapenade. This common mix-up is a good chance to set things straight. Tapenade, a Provençal dish, contains black olives, anchovies, capers, garlic and oil. La Chinata's green olive cream, on the other hand, has two main ingredients: green olives of the Manzanilla Cacereña variety and extra virgin olive oil. Three if you count the salt. It is the opposite of tapenade — fewer elements, more purity.

The result is a translucent, pale green, lightly creamy condiment with a concentrated olive flavour that recalls the olive blossom more than the brine. It is a product you keep coming back to.

How it is made

La Chinata, based in Plasencia (Cáceres) in Extremadura, works with the Manzanilla Cacereña olive from the north of the province of Cáceres. For the cream, green olives are selected (picked in autumn, before full ripeness). They are pitted by hand, finely ground, then emulsified with their own extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt. No additives, no preservatives. The natural green colour comes only from the olive flesh — no added chlorophyll, no colouring.

Five everyday uses

  • On toast — warm country bread. A thin layer of butter, a spoonful of olive cream on top, finish with flaky sea salt. The contrast is striking.
  • With grilled fish. Sea bream, sea bass, pollack baked in the oven. One spoonful per fillet, placed alongside, as you would a compound butter.
  • As a tartare base. Chop raw salmon or tuna and mix with a spoonful of olive cream, chives and lemon juice. The tartare holds together and is full of flavour without any added oil.
  • On simple pasta. Linguine al dente, two spoonfuls of cream, finely grated parmesan, flaky sea salt, pepper. The residual heat of the pasta does the cooking.
  • In a vinaigrette. One spoonful of cream, one spoonful of sherry vinegar, one egg yolk — whisk. A thick vinaigrette, perfect for bold salads (rocket, baby spinach).
The chef's corner · Hector speaks
The classic mistake: using too much

Green olive cream is concentrated. The first time, the temptation is to spread it thick, the way you would hummus. That is the mistake. One teaspoon is enough to flavour a whole slice of bread. Too thick, and the olive drowns everything. Too thin, and you lose the point. The rule: you should be able to see the bread or the food through the layer. Transparency is the sign of the right dose.

Pairing with other Iberian products

  1. With Iberian bellota ham. A fine drizzle over a slice of ham. The sweet-salty ham contrasts with the green freshness of the olive.
  2. With aged Manchego cheese. A spoonful on a cube of Manchego — the fat of the cheese absorbs the green notes of the olive, and its noble bitterness comes through.
  3. With an Espinaler tin. A sardine laid on a slice of bread already spread with green olive cream. Salt, fat, green, salt again — the briny note holds.
2
Ingredients: olive + oil (+ salt)
1 tsp
Enough per slice
3 months
Keeps once opened, chilled

Storage

Once opened, green olive cream keeps for three months in the fridge, in its original jar, with a thin film of extra virgin olive oil over the surface (to prevent oxidation). Take it out twenty minutes before use — the cream firms up in the cold. At room temperature it becomes smooth again.

A good olive cream is the olive without artifice — no brine, no fermentation. Just the fruit.Orígenes
The chef's corner · Hector speaks
My ideal Sunday

A slow brunch. Toasted country bread, green olive cream on one slice, farmhouse butter on the other. Fried eggs with La Chinata spray olive oil. Iberian charcuterie. Spanish coffee. A glass of dry Cava. An hour at the table, almost nothing to prepare, and the whole soul of Iberian cooking on one board. It is exactly what I look for, from Carril to the Sierra de Gata: absolute simplicity, absolute quality.

What to remember

La Chinata green olive cream is a precious condiment that turns simple dishes into refined ones. Three ingredients, artisanal production, long keeping. Always keep it chilled, use it with restraint, and pair it with other Iberian products for combinations that are both simple and noble.

Find it in our La Chinata range. Delivery in Switzerland in 3 to 7 working days, free returns within 14 days.