About
Taggiasca is the little olive of western Liguria, the same fruit the Riviera presses for its oil. Anfosso mill that oil at Chiusavecchia and pack the table olives beside it. Sweet and soft in the mouth rather than salty and sharp, with the almond note the variety is known for.
Chiusavecchia sits in the hills behind Imperia, inland from the western Ligurian coast, and Taggiasca is the variety that grows there. It is a small olive and the flavour runs mild and sweet rather than bitter. The same fruit makes the gentle oil the coast is known for. In brine the list is short. Water, salt and lactic acid, nothing else, so the olive is what you taste.
The Anfosso family has milled oil at the same address since 1945 and the brothers Alessandro and Alfredo run it now. The house is known for its Riviera Ligure protected oil and its Taggiasca monocultivar, with olives, pesti and patés made alongside.
Use them with warm potatoes, grilled fish or bitter greens. A jar, focaccia and a wedge of cheese is a whole lunch.
Producer note
Olio Anfosso is a third generation mill at Chiusavecchia in the province of Imperia, making Ligurian oil since 1945. Brothers Alessandro and Alfredo Anfosso run it, and the table olives and preserves come out of the same place.
Pairs with