History and Tradition
The stuffed olives had their name from the town of Ascoli Piceno. They are composed of green olives in brine stuffed with a soft compound meat.
They represent a gastronomic specialty of Ascoli territory and they are one of the most representative recipes of the Piceno. They are often accompanied by other fried foods like Spignoli, meats, vegetables (the mixed fried food includes artichokes, zucchini and lamb chops) and fried cream.
Benedetto Marini, an historian from Ascoli, as result of his research, gave the birth date of the recipe of meat stuffed olives in the year 1800. At the time, the chefs who served the families of the local nobility, agreeing among themselves, invented the stuffed olives to consume significant quantities and varieties of meat they had available, due to the increase of the taxes levied on farmers.
Giacomo Puccini and Gioacchino Rossini were great admirers of Ascolana olives. Giuseppe Garibaldi was able to taste them, either in brine and the stuffed ones, on January 25, 1849, during his short stay in Ascoli. The general was impressed and he tried to cultivate the seeds of ascolana olives in Caprer but he failed in attempt.
(Source: wikipedia.org)
