Perello Gordal Picante Green Olives Review: big, meaty olives with a mild chilli kick

I bought this 4-pack of Perello Gordal Picante Green Olives because I kept seeing people rave about them and I was tired of the usual cheap supermarket jars. I’ve eaten a lot of olives over the years, from the budget tubs in brine to the fresh ones you scoop from deli counters, so I had a decent idea of what I was looking for: large, firm olives with good bite and not drowning in harsh salt or vinegar. These Gordal olives are sold as “the fat one”, so I expected them to be big and fairly meaty, and that part is definitely true.

Over about two weeks, I went through one full tin on my own and shared a second tin with friends during an apéro-style evening. That gave me time to try them in different ways: straight from the tin, drained and rinsed a bit, and mixed into a simple cheese and charcuterie board. I didn’t cook with them, because they’re clearly meant for snacking, not for hot dishes or pizza.

The first thing that stood out was the texture and size. Compared to standard small green olives from the supermarket, these look almost oversized, closer to the olives you get at Spanish tapas bars. The chilli is there, but it’s more of a gentle tingle than anything serious. If you’re used to hot food, you won’t find these spicy; if you’re sensitive, you’ll just notice a bit of warmth at the end.

Overall, my first impression was pretty positive: good bite, nice brine, easy to snack on. They’re not life-changing or anything like that, but they’re definitely a step up from basic store-brand olives. With that said, they’re also not perfect and there are a couple of points that bug me, especially around the ingredients and the price when you compare them to fresh deli olives.

On to the important part: how they actually taste. The main thing I noticed is the texture – these olives are big and fleshy, with a nice firm bite. They’re not mushy at all, and they don’t have that rubbery feel you sometimes get from cheap jarred olives. When you bite into them, there’s a clear snap to the skin and then a dense, meaty interior. If you like olives that feel substantial and not like small salty bullets, you’ll probably enjoy this aspect.

Flavour-wise, they lean more towards salty and savoury than sour. The brine has a slight tang, but it’s not as sharp as some vinegar-heavy olives. The chilli is present but pretty mild. After a few olives, you get a gentle warmth at the back of your throat, nothing more. I’d say most people who can handle mild salsa will be totally fine with these. If you were expecting fiery olives, you’ll be disappointed; if you wanted a bit of character without burning your mouth, they hit that target.

Compared to standard supermarket green olives (the small ones in brine), these are definitely more enjoyable. There’s more going on, and you can eat quite a few without getting bored. Compared to good deli olives marinated with garlic, herbs and real chunks of chilli, they’re a bit behind in terms of depth and freshness. You can tell they come from a tin: the flavour is consistent but a bit one-note after a while, and the flavour enhancers give a slightly “snack food” edge, similar to seasoned crisps.

One tip: I found they taste better if you drain them and let them sit for 10–15 minutes before serving, or even give them a quick rinse if you find the brine too salty. I did that for the second half of the tin and liked them more. Overall, I’d rate the taste as solid and very snackable, not mind-blowing. They’re the kind of olives you put out with drinks and people keep picking at without thinking too much, which is basically their job.

On the value side, you have to look at a few things: the amount of actual olives you get, the taste, and what you could buy instead for the same money. With 4 tins at 150 g drained each, you’re getting about 600 g of olives total. That’s a fair amount, enough for several apéro evenings or to share with a group a few times. The taste and texture are clearly better than the cheapest supermarket olives, so you’re not just paying extra for the brand name; there is a real step up in quality.

That said, compared to fresh olives from a decent deli counter, the price can feel a bit high, especially when you remember you’re also paying to ship a lot of brine and metal. In my local area, I can get good quality marinated olives by weight for a similar price per kilo, sometimes less, and those don’t come with flavour enhancers and preservatives. On the other hand, they don’t keep as long, and you can’t just stash them in a cupboard for months like you can with these tins.

If you live somewhere without easy access to good olives, this 4-pack is actually pretty solid value: long shelf life, consistent quality, and easy to store. For people in cities with good supermarkets or Mediterranean shops, it becomes more of a convenience versus freshness choice. Personally, I think the price is acceptable for what you get, but it’s not a bargain. You’re paying a small premium for the brand, the import, and the stability of the product.

So my verdict on value is: good, but not outstanding. If you like having reliable, tasty olives on hand for guests or for regular tapas nights, this pack makes sense. If you’re on a tight budget or very focused on clean ingredients, you can probably do better by hunting down local deli options or simpler jarred olives without the extra additives.

Smell is often overlooked with olives, but it matters. I’ve opened jars before that hit me with a strong vinegar or slightly off, fermented smell that made me hesitate. With these Perello Gordal olives, the smell is pretty clean and straightforward. When you crack open the tin, you mainly get a salty, slightly tangy brine smell, with a light chilli note. Nothing aggressive, nothing that makes you think they’ve been sitting around too long.

After transferring them to a bowl, the smell becomes milder. If you put your nose close, you can pick up the olive aroma and a sort of savoury background probably linked to the flavour enhancers. It’s not cheesy or funky like some heavily fermented olives; it’s more like the smell you get from a decent tapas bar bowl, but toned down. People who are sensitive to strong food smells shouldn’t have an issue with these.

Over a couple of days in the fridge (I kept the leftovers in a sealed container), the smell didn’t change much. They didn’t develop any weird metallic or stale odour, which is sometimes a risk with tinned products once opened. The brine stayed clear and the olives kept that same light chilli and salt aroma. That reassured me about the product’s stability after opening, even though the ingredient list is a bit crowded.

So, on the fragrance side, my opinion is simple: it smells fine, does not get in the way, and doesn’t feel artificial in the nose, even if the recipe is obviously engineered. If you’re expecting strong garlic, herbs or anything very aromatic, you won’t find that here. These are more neutral in smell, which can be a good thing when you’re serving them alongside other foods and don’t want one item to dominate the whole table.

The product comes as 4 tins, and in my case they were securely boxed, as advertised. The outer box was simple cardboard, nothing fancy, but it did the job: no dents, no leaks, no drama. Each tin is standard metal with the updated Perello design, which looks fine on the shelf but nothing that screams premium. Honestly, for olives, I care more about the integrity of the tin than the artwork, and here everything arrived in good shape.

The size of each tin (350 g gross, 150 g drained) is a bit of a double-edged sword. On one hand, it’s convenient for hosting: one tin is enough for a small group, two tins cover a bigger apéro. On the other hand, you’re paying to ship and store a lot of brine. If you compare it with a glass jar where you can see exactly how many olives you’re getting, these tins feel a bit opaque until you open them. Not a scam or anything, just something to keep in mind when you think about value.

Once opened, you can’t reseal the tin, obviously. I ended up transferring the leftovers into a glass container with a lid, along with some of the brine. This is standard with tins, but it’s less convenient than a screw-top jar if you’re someone who likes to snack on a few olives over a week. The label doesn’t give you a resealing solution, so you need to have your own containers ready if you don’t plan to finish the tin in one go.

On the plus side, the packaging feels robust enough for online ordering. I’d be comfortable ordering these again without worrying about half the tins arriving dented. For gifting, they’re okay if the person is into food, but it’s not exactly a fancy present – more like a practical gift for someone who likes tapas. So, packaging: functional and solid, but not particularly convenient once opened, and a bit heavy on brine versus actual olives.

Before even tasting them, I checked the ingredients list, and that’s where my enthusiasm dropped a bit. These olives are not just “olives, water, salt, chilli”. You get: green olives, water, chilli, flavour enhancers (E621 – monosodium glutamate, and E635 – disodium ribonucleotides), citric acid, antioxidant (ascorbic acid, E300), and preservative (potassium sorbate, E202). There’s also a note that they may contain traces of almonds and fish, and that the chilli contains sulphites. So yes, they are very much a processed product, not some super clean, minimal-ingredient thing.

In practice, what does that mean? If you’re someone who tries to avoid flavour enhancers like MSG or E635, these won’t suit you. Personally, I don’t freak out about MSG, but I know people who actively avoid it. Also, if you have allergies to sulphites, nuts, or fish, you need to take the “may contain” warning seriously. This is not the kind of product you serve blindly to someone with heavy allergies without checking.

On the positive side, the preservatives and antioxidant are probably why these olives keep their colour and crunch so well in the tin. I opened one tin, ate half, then left the rest in the fridge in a plastic container for a few days. They kept their texture and didn’t go mushy or weird, which you don’t always get with simpler, less treated olives. So the ingredients do their job, but you pay for that in terms of how “natural” the product feels.

Personally, I would have preferred a shorter list: olives, water, salt, chilli, vinegar or similar. But I get that this is a mass-market, shelf-stable product imported from Spain, and they need it to survive long shipping and storage. If you’re used to buying jarred olives from big brands, this ingredient list won’t shock you. If you’re used to fresh olives from a deli with basic brine only, this will feel like a step away from that, more in the direction of snack food than simple preserved produce.

On paper, this bundle sounds generous: 4 tins of 350 g gross weight, 150 g net drained each. In practice, that means you get a decent amount of olives, but less than you might think at first glance. Once drained, each tin gives you roughly a cereal bowl full of olives, which is fine for a couple of apéro evenings or one big gathering. Don’t be fooled by the 350 g number – a lot of that is just brine.

The label says these are Gordal olives, imported from Spain, and they’re pitted and ready to eat. That part is accurate. I didn’t find any stones left inside, which is important when you’re serving them to guests who might not pay attention when they bite. The chilli is from guindilla in the marinade, but visually you don’t see big pieces of chilli floating around. The brine has a slightly orange tint and a mild spicy smell, but it doesn’t scream “hot”.

In terms of how they look on a plate, they’re pretty solid. Large, bright green, and fairly consistent in size. If you’re putting together a board with cheese, cured meats and nuts, these look better than the small wrinkly olives you get in budget jars. They give that “tapas bar” vibe without any effort. I did notice a few olives with small skin blemishes, but nothing alarming – that’s normal for real olives and not the hyper-standardised stuff.

One thing to know: the brand doesn’t really shout luxury when you see the tin, but the overall impression once you open and plate them is good. If you care more about what they look like in the bowl than the branding on the tin, you’ll be fine. Just be aware that for the price, there are fresh deli options that can look just as good or better if you have a decent supermarket nearby with an olive counter.