Marinated Cerignola Olives with Chef Tony Mantuano

Divya Gugnani: Hi. Divya Gugnani and we're here at Chelsea market for Sunday Supper, a benefit for the James Spear Foundation and Robert Bolton Houses. They’ve gathered 40 of the country’s finest Chefs. So let’s go behind the burner and meet one of them. Hi. I’m here with Tony Mantuano, chef partner of Spiaggia. Tell me Tony, what are you making? Tony Mantuano: We're doing two things today. The first thing we're doing is I’m marinading genuine olives. Divya Gugnani: Okay. Tony Mantuano: And then we're also marinading three different kinds of mushrooms upstairs. Divya Gugnani: These olives look enormous. Tony Mantuano: It’s like a chicken wing. This is the same olive just in three different steps of maturation. Divya Gugnani: No way! Tony Mantuano: Yes. So the green ones are really ripe or not really ripe, but just the opposite where the black ones are really ripe. So, the greens are the freshest and this one, which is sort of red and then the darkest ones, just like wine or just like cheese, an olive is organic. So, it’s always changing. So, if you rinse them really well and give them a little bath of some great extra virgin olive oil, and then here, we have some toasted fennel seeds and some chili peppers, they last just like cheese. This thing is gonna last for weeks and months as long as you refrigerate them once you add the olive oil. One thing that I always like to tell people is never refrigerate your tomatoes. Divya Gugnani: Oh my God, that’s a good tip. Tony Mantuano: Other fresh tomatoes, leave it out on the counter, let it ripen even in the winter time, sometime you can get a good tasting tomato if you leave it out or in the winter time, you can cut that tomato in half and put it on a really slow oven, like 250 degrees and let it dry. Divya Gugnani: I love that. That’s great. Thank you so much for having us. Tony Mantuano: You’re welcome. Divya Gugnani: Stay tuned to behind the Burner where we give you the tips, tricks and techniques that are lighting the culinary world on fire.