Anyone who loves Italian olive salad will appreciate the care that Jerry Szkoruda and his staff take while making theirs. Jerry invited us to Jay’s Market Place in St. Petersburg to watch them create it. For 17 years, Szkoruda has been making and selling Italian olive salad as well as dirty martini olive juice and salad dressings.

His inspiration came from the muffuletta sandwiches he ate while visiting New Orleans. Szkoruda came home and started experimenting. Once he got the recipe just right, he started bottling and selling his new Italian olive salad at the weekly St. Petersburg market.