Bicicleta Murciana (Ensaladilla sobre Rosquilla)

Bicicleta murciana is Murcia's bare rosquilla: ensaladilla rusa piled high on a crisp bread ring, with no anchovy, no boquerón, and no tuna hiding inside this version. Put an anchoa on top and you've made a marinera. Put a white boquerón on it and you're in another order. The bicicleta is the one that goes without, plain as that, and it needs the crunch of the rosquilla as much as it needs the cold salad.

The method that decides it is not clever. Cook the potatoes in their skins until tender, dry them warm, and fold in the mayonnaise only when everything is cold. Hot potato drinks the sauce and turns pasty; wet potato softens the bread before you even sit down. The salad should mound, not slump. Assemble at the last minute, and the rosquilla stays crisp under your teeth.

Far from Murcia, look for rosquillas de pan in a Spanish shop. If you can't find them, use a small hard bread ring, or a thick toasted slice of barra at a pinch, knowing the barra turns it into something closer to a montadito. Good, but less Murcian. No hace falta haber pisado Murcia. Pésalo, no lo adivines, chill it well, and put the salad on the bread only when hands are reaching for it. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.