Tapenade (Olive Spread from Provence)

The world has seen plenty of tapenade, but maybe it hasn’t been said often enough that tapeno in Provençal means “caper,” and that the texture of tapenade should be smooth, whether from a mortar or food processor (the earliest recipe we have passes the paste through a sieve). I once thought tapenade — tapenado in Provençal — must be an ancient food, but…