Green olive falafel sauce?

We went for lunch last week in a Mediterranean restaurant. In general the meal was pretty amazing but there was this one particular sauce for the falafel that seemed to be made of green olives that blew my mind and had me and my wife fighting for the last bits. But I've never seen this sauce before (at least that I can remember), so was wondering if anyone knows what it is? Is it standard? What kind of olives were they likely to be?

The texture was thickish, like tapenade, although very different flavor profile. I don't know if the restaurant had a particular national heritage at work in how they do all the dishes, although I believe the owners/cooks are from Israel.

Because I love green olives and I have been waiting for someone to answer, and nobody has, I dug around a little. Naturally I couldn't find a recipe specific for falafel, but a sauce is a sauce, and there is one that Martha Stewart says she swiped from Mario Batali, as a pasta sauce. Besides the green olives the sauce uses bread crumbs and anchovies, garlic and red pepper flakes, and that's about it. If you're too vegetarian for anchovies someone suggested crushed capers as a substitute.

Also -- the video is supposed to give a better idea of how the recipe is constructed than the written recipe.

http://www.marthastewart.com/315793/spa ... live-sauce

I think I like this second one better because the olives are minced (Martha leaves them whole) and the recipe is amusingly written. This second one also uses a TON of garlic.

http://www.food.com/recipe/unbelievably ... asta-29634

Thank you, Frank! Since green olives are favorites here too, I have been waiting to see an answer. This is promising.

Garlic and green olives are great. We enjoy garlic stuffed green olives in a basic lager with a little of the brine added. We first saw green olives, albeit with pits, served in draft beers at a Mexican restaurant.

Because I love green olives and I have been waiting for someone to answer, and nobody has, I dug around a little. Naturally I couldn't find a recipe specific for falafel, but a sauce is a sauce, and there is one that Martha Stewart says she swiped from Mario Batali, as a pasta sauce. Besides the green olives the sauce uses bread crumbs and anchovies, garlic and red pepper flakes, and that's about it. If you're too vegetarian for anchovies someone suggested crushed capers as a substitute.

Also -- the video is supposed to give a better idea of how the recipe is constructed than the written recipe.

http://www.marthastewart.com/315793/spa ... live-sauce

I think I like this second one better because the olives are minced (Martha leaves them whole) and the recipe is amusingly written. This second one also uses a TON of garlic.

http://www.food.com/recipe/unbelievably ... asta-29634

Thanks. I've used olives in all kinds of ways for pasta dishes, but never thought to mix them with cream!

Have you ever had mouhamara? (...spelling is loosey-goosey on this one) It's a chunky paste of red peppers and walnuts. Yummy stuff.

Not sure whom you are asking Jeff -- but Louise has made it many times. One of my muslim students told me that the word simply means "red"! I am not positive what it has to do with olives tho?

I am thinking about those green olives in a can from Trader Joe's. I bet they would be nice in a sauce...

a chunky paste of red peppers and walnuts

Sounds good.

I was asking Rahsaan.

Frank, it's got nothing to do with olives; I was merely reminded of another surprising thick Middle Eastern sauce.

Ah. One of the nice things about muhammara is that the flavor turns out kind of sweet -- I think Louise's recipe includes some pomegranate syrup. But we haven't used it as a sauce, mainly as a dip in parallel with hummus or babaganouj.