Zhooshing it up: From olives to olives dust to dust

 Olive dust brings a great salty and umami flavour to almost any dish

I have always enjoyed a good tweaking, and zhooshing I find quite irresistible. Nothing fully achieves for me without a bit of added finesse, so I find myself doing a lot of zhooshing these days to make my food become more appealing. "Throw it all in a blender and zhoosh it until it's creamy smooth", should be my mission statement.
  It was the first time we´d let ourselves out since lockdown.It was the thespians birthday and we were sitting with friends on the open terrace of Cha com agua salgada catching up on much missed conversation.I had selected for my starter the smoked duck breast, an all time favourite, so a dish I often select.When the the plate was put in front of me I noticed some tweaks to the way the dish was presented.It was accompanied by a pepper coulis and a twist on the classic marinated Algarvian carrots. A post pandemic pinch of olive dust nestled next to the salad and was a flourish that I would be keeping in my backhead until I got home.
Olive Dust 
This is a simple recipe to make.It can easily be multiplied and makes good leftovers. Store in a tightly sealed container in the pantry.
Don´t be tempted to store it in the refrigerator which is too humid.Olive dust is so versatile and brings a great salty and umami flavour to almost any dish. You can sprinkle this on something as simple as a hard-boiled eggs or a salad (above), but the dust also works well on top of more complex recipes like pasta dishes or soups.

Servings: 16. Serving size: 1 tablespoon
Cooking time: approximately 3 hours
2 cups medium Black olives 
Preheat the oven to 250°F.
Spread the olives on a sheet pan.
Place the pan in the oven.
Cook for three hours.
Remove from the oven and let stand on the counter until cool.
Place the dried olives in a blender or mini-chopper.Pulse until the olives are the consistency of fine gravel.