Salt Cod Salad (Esqueixada de bacalao)
RFT editor Bobbie Hasselbring tries salt cod salad on pan tomate. Delicious!
Geographic Location: Barcelona Spain.
Editor’s note: salt cod doesn’t sound appetizing and if you’ve ever seen the thin, dried cod, it doens’t look appealing. But don’t be fooled. Prepared properly, salt cod is one of the great foods of the world (it must be, it’s been around for thousands of years) and it’s neither fishy nor overly salty. You’ll love it.
Esqueixada de bacalao recipe courtesy Chef Juame Brichs (see our profile of this chef and a review of his extraordinary cooking class.)
Salt Cod Salad
Serves 4
2 ripe tomatoes
14 ounces (400 grams) salt cod (the thick part of the fillet without bones)
1 onion
Green and black olives
Olive oil and vinegar to taste
To prepare
- Desalt in cold water (for best results, do this three days ahead: place cod in container of cold water and refrigerate for 36 hours, changing water at least once per day.)
- Shred cod.
- Cut onion into bite-sized pieces.
- Grate tomato (use a cheese grater with holes; discard skins)
- Mix all ingredients together.
- Place on plate and season to taste with olive oil and vinegar.
- Serve with bread or bread with tomato (pan con tomate).
Allowing the Salt Cod Salad to rest for a while enables the flavors to marry and produces an even more flavorful dish.
Hand shredding the salt cod is best.
Using a cheese grater for the tomato makes a soft texture that blends with all the other flavors.
Olives add a salty-briny contrast to the sweet-salty cod and sugary tomatoes.
Serve on tomato bread (tomato "smushed" onto toasted bread that's been drizzled with olive oil.)
