If you’re buying jars of olives, the tiny eggplant-hued niçoise olives are delicate tasting and all-purpose. Black, wrinkled, salt-cured Greek olives are also delicious. I also like the mossy little French lucques or picholine olives. Greek kalamata olives may be the only jarred olives you can find and they are usually fine. If none of those are available, buy any olive in a jar, not a can. If you can only find green cocktail olives, buy them. Unless you’re deeply committed to their bright red pimentos’ pickliness, remove the garish things before you begin cooking with the olives.
