Esqueixada de Bacalao

Ingredients

• 400 g thick salt cod loin, desalted
• 3 ripe but firm tomatoes, about 400 g
• 1 small sweet onion, halved and very thinly sliced
• 1 green Italian pepper, deseeded and finely sliced
• 80 g black Aragón olives, stoned
• 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
• Black pepper
• Salt, only if needed

Before you cook

• Desalt the cod in a bowl of cold water in the fridge for forty-eight hours, changing the water every eight hours.
• Drain the cod, pat it completely dry with kitchen paper and pull out any bones and skin.
• Slice the onion paper-thin and soak it in iced water for ten minutes to soften its bite, then drain it well.
• Cut the tomatoes into generous two-centimetre cubes.

Steps

1. Tear the desalted cod with your fingers along the grain into strips about four centimetres long, letting them fall into a wide shallow dish.
2. Scatter the tomato cubes over the cod, spreading them so the salad stays loose rather than packed.
3. Add the drained onion, the sliced green pepper and the black olives.
4. Pour the olive oil and the sherry vinegar over the top and grind on plenty of black pepper.
5. Turn everything through with your hands, lifting rather than stirring, so the cod strips stay whole.
6. Cover the dish and chill it for at least two hours so the tomato releases its juice into the oil.
7. Taste before serving and add a pinch of salt only if the cod has come out mild.
8. Bring the dish to the table cool but not fridge-cold, with plenty of bread to catch the juices.