FINDS : How Green Is Your Secret?

There’s no secret why Aki and Leslie Tanaka’s olives taste so good: It’s their garlic-herb mixture, plain and simple. Under their Ciara label (they pronounce it like “sierra”), the Tanakas process 300 to 400 pounds of olives a week in a variety of styles that have that one thing in common.

The Tanakas--they’re father and daughter--take various kinds of already cured olives and marinate them. In particular, their picholines are almost compulsively delicious. Even people who don’t think of themselves as green olive fans will find it hard to keep from dipping into the bowl. They also make a Sicilian olive using colossal green California olives, a Moroccan oil-cured and a pitted Kalamata.

The company just kind of evolved, Leslie Tanaka says. “My dad’s been in the food business for 20 years, selling mostly Mexican foods. We got into the gourmet market and got involved with someone who did Greek appetizers. We just saw a need and kind of filled a niche.”

* Ciara olives are available from Bristol Farms in South Pasadena, Palos Verdes and Woodland Hills; Farmers Market-Atrium in Fashion Island; Erewhon in Los Angeles; Al Dente in Los Alamitos; Wally’s in Westwood; Follow Your Heart in Santa Barbara and Santa Monica Co-Op.