ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Jerry Szkoruda knows his culinary strengths.
The owner of Jay's Marketplace in St. Pete is celebrating 20 years of making two things really, really well: Italian olive salad (for sandwiches, burgers and hot dogs) and dirty martini olive juice (for cocktail hour).
In fact, that's all he sells in his store and online.
"I wanted to make something that nobody did here," Szkoruda said. His secret-recipe olive blend includes kalamatas, queens and manzanillas. "And this is what I found, and I knew how to do it."
Szkoruda started selling his gourmet olive items at St. Pete's Saturday Morning Market—but they proved so successful he soon went brick and mortar, too, a place to sell and create his concoctions.
"My snowbird customers, they come down here and find this stuff. Then when they get back up north, they need it, so they order it online," he said.
Szkoruda has since developed an international following, recently shipping his goods to New Zealand, Alaska and Finland.
The best part of his job? Knowing that his popular creations are part of people's lives, especially around the holidays.
"It's good for a cook's ego," he said, smiling.
For more on Jay's Marketplace, go here.
