tapenade

Tapenade (; ) is a Provençal name for a spread, condiment and culinary ingredient consisting of puréed or finely chopped olives, capers, and sometimes anchovies. The name comes from the Provençal word for capers, (). It is a popular food in the south of France, where it is generally eaten as an hors d'œuvre spread on bread, with fish, in salads, and sometimes used to stuff poultry for the main course.

==History of similar dishes== thumb|Tapenade in a Mortar and pestle|mortar Olive-based dishes can be found in ancient times. For example, in Columella's De re rustica and epityrum from Cato the Elder were Greek dips adopted by the Romans that included olives but also many ingredients like celery, leeks, rue, mint, wine and vinegar.