What is an Olive?

Olives, like peaches and plums, are botanically classified as a drupe, a fruit containing a hard pit that has one or more seeds on the inside. Other common drupes include cherries, mangos, and even coconuts. '

Olive trees do best in warm, dry climates, and thrive particularly well in the Mediterranean basin: southern Europe, Turkey, and North Africa. The tree's olives and resulting oil were good for eating at least a thousand years ago, and still carry the same benefits today. After olives are picked at certain stages of development (green or black), they're pickled, cured, or even dried before consumption.