Mark Thorson wrote:

>
> It's true that the French salt-cured olives I can
> buy at Whole Foods are a completely different thing.
> And you can learn to recognize the really good ones,
> which are more delicate, and only pick out those ones
> when buying from their olive bar. They are very
> salty, but I'd never soak them.
>
> But the canned are a very convenient component of
> salads and wraps. I don't go to Whole Foods every
> day, and when I do, I usually don't buy olives.
>
> You didn't like olives until you had them from an
> olive bar. I've always liked olives, even from cans.


Not exactly. For a long time olives never appealed to me. I probably
never tried one. One day in my mid 20s <?> I had the munchies and tried
one and decided they weren't so bad. Then I discovered that the olives
sold at a local deli were incredible. I got hooked on them and have been
buying and eating them ever since, but I buy them only at olive bars or
in delis. I never buy canned or bottled olives. They are IMO a very poor
substitute.