Many recipes for tapenade use a Nicoise olive that use an oil cured black or green olive, and that gives one taste, but I always use the black shriveled sundried olives even though you spend a half hour pitting them, as it gives a much more concentrated flavour. Another (in my view) necessary component of tapenade is anchovy - you need that salty umami hit. (I always waver between lying when someone asks if there are anchovies, or just telling the truth and letting them deny themselves because of an irrational preconception that they can't eat them.)
