I finally got around to asking this question today. The answer: A red pepper. That’s it? Yup. “Pimento” is the Spanish word for pepper. The sweetness of the red pepper is meant to counter-act the bitterness of the olive… This knowledge disappoints me.
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I love olives, but was always curious what that little red thing was in the middle. I knew it was called pimento but had no clue it was a pepper. This knowledge excites me…
While sitting here eating a skewer full of olives I found myself wondering, “what the hell is a pimento anyway?”
I Googled “the hell is a pimento” expecting an onslaught of results. Nope, I got just one URL. To this page. Now I have my answer.
Thank you! ;)
I was considering a regular feature called “What The Hell Is That?”, posts about odd food ingredients. My other posts about that subject get a lot of hits from search engines: What’s Potassium Sorbate Doing In My Jam?, Red 40, Modified food starch.
Just to clarify a little bit. A pimento is actually a heart shaped pepper readily found in the mediteranean region. Although it is red in colour, it is not exactly the same as a red ‘bell pepper’ that is more familiar to you and I. :) Other than that, you are correct: “Pimiento” is spanish for pepper, and they are put into olives to counteract the bitterness that occurs after the pickling process.
Thanks man, this is the first link in the search I did… It’s been bugging me for a while.