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Ensalada Malagueña
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Ensalada Malagueña is Andalucía by way of Málaga: boiled potato, sweet winter orange, desalted salt cod, egg, green olives, and good olive oil, a cold salad where the balance does the cooking.
Salads
Spanish
Outdoor Dining
Make Ahead
Budget Friendly
25 min
Active Time
25 min cook•24 hr 50 min total
Yield4 servings
Ensalada Malagueña belongs to Málaga, and the thing that makes it itself is the meeting of boiled potato, sweet orange, salt cod, and green olives under a firm hand of olive oil. It isn't a lettuce salad. It is a composed winter salad, filling enough for lunch, bright enough for a hot table outdoors, and very much from the Andalusian south.
The method that decides it is the cod. Desalt it fully, then taste it before it ever reaches the bowl. If it is still harsh, the orange cannot save it; if it has gone flat from too much soaking, the salad loses its backbone. You want it cleanly salty, flaked through the potato, with the orange cutting it and the oil bringing everything together.
If you are far from Málaga, no hace falta haber pisado España. Use good salt cod sold in thick pieces, or a reliable desalted bacalao if that is what you can find. Aloreña olives are the local green olive here; if you cannot get them, use cracked green olives with a little bite, not black olives from a tin. Make it when oranges are sweet and heavy. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
Ensalada Malagueña comes from Málaga and its inland and coastal kitchens, where salt cod from the preserved larder met the winter orange groves of the province. The local Aloreña de Málaga olive gives the salad its proper bitter-green bite, balancing the sweet orange and the soft potato. It belongs to the same Andalusian habit of making a meal from preserved fish, oil, bread, potatoes, and what the season gives.
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Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
salt cod
Quantity
300g
desalted over 24 hours, skin and bones removed
waxy potatoes
Quantity
600g
scrubbed
large eggs
Quantity
3
sweet oranges
Quantity
3 large, about 600g total
peeled and sliced
green olives, preferably Aloreña de Málaga
Quantity
120g
pitted if you like
spring onion or mild white onion
Quantity
80g
thinly sliced
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
90ml
vinagre de Jerez or white wine vinegar (optional)
Quantity
1 tablespoon
fine salt (optional)
Quantity
only if needed
freshly ground black pepper (optional)
Quantity
to taste
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| salt coddesalted over 24 hours, skin and bones removed | 300g |
| waxy potatoesscrubbed | 600g |
| large eggs | 3 |
| sweet orangespeeled and sliced | 3 large, about 600g total |
| green olives, preferably Aloreña de Málagapitted if you like | 120g |
| spring onion or mild white onionthinly sliced | 80g |
| extra virgin olive oil | 90ml |
| vinagre de Jerez or white wine vinegar (optional) | 1 tablespoon |
| fine salt (optional) | only if needed |
| freshly ground black pepper (optional) | to taste |
Equipment Needed
- •Medium saucepan for potatoes
- •Small saucepan for eggs
- •Shallow serving platter
Instructions
- 1
Desalt the cod
Put the salt cod in a bowl, cover with plenty of cold water, and refrigerate for 24 hours, changing the water 3 times. Taste a tiny flake before you use it. It should be pleasantly salty, not biting. Pésalo, no lo adivines, and taste it too; this is the step that decides the salad.
If your cod is very thick, give it 36 hours instead. If you bought already desalted bacalao, still taste it, because some pieces arrive too salty and some arrive almost bland. - 2
Cook potatoes and eggs
Put the potatoes in a pan of cold salted water, bring to a gentle boil, and cook until a knife enters the center cleanly, about 20 to 25 minutes depending on size. In another small pan, boil the eggs for 10 minutes, then cool them in cold water. Drain the potatoes and let them cool until you can handle them, then peel and cut into thick slices.
- 3
Flake the cod
Drain the cod well and pat it dry. If it is thick and tender after soaking, flake it raw into small pieces, tal como se hace allí in many homes. If you prefer it milder, or if your cod feels very firm, poach it for 2 minutes in barely simmering water, then drain and flake it. The poached version is softer and less assertive.
- 4
Prepare the oranges
Cut away the peel and white pith from the oranges with a knife, then slice the fruit into rounds or half-moons, catching any juice. If the oranges are sour or dry, wait for better ones. This salad needs winter oranges with sweetness in them, or the cod and potato sit there like strangers.
- 5
Build the salad
Arrange the potato slices on a shallow serving plate. Scatter over the flaked cod, orange slices, sliced onion, and green olives. Peel and quarter the eggs and tuck them around the plate. Spoon any orange juice over the top, then dress with the olive oil and the vinegar if using.
- 6
Rest and serve
Let the salad rest at room temperature for 20 minutes before serving so the potato drinks in the oil and orange juice. Taste before adding any salt; the cod and olives may have done the work already. Finish with black pepper if you like. Serve cool or at room temperature, never fridge-cold.
Chef Tips
- •Make this when oranges are in season, heavy in the hand and sweet enough to eat on their own. A dry orange gives you no help here, and this is not the dish for forcing summer fruit into winter clothing.
- •Aloreña de Málaga olives are right for this salad: cracked green olives with a lively bitterness. If you cannot find them, choose good green olives in brine, not black olives, and not stuffed cocktail olives.
- •The cod should taste cleanly salty after soaking. Too salty and it bullies the orange; too bland and the salad turns soft. Taste a flake before you assemble, because once it is in the bowl you are only pretending to be in charge.
Advance Preparation
- •Start desalting the cod 24 hours ahead, or 36 hours ahead for very thick pieces, changing the water several times.
- •The potatoes and eggs can be cooked up to 1 day ahead and refrigerated uncut. Bring them back toward room temperature before assembling.
- •Assemble the salad up to 4 hours ahead, but keep the final olive oil dressing for the last 20 minutes so the oranges stay bright and the potatoes do not turn heavy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 450g)
Calories
555 calories
Total Fat
30 g
Saturated Fat
5 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
24 g
Cholesterol
180 mg
Sodium
1100 mg
Total Carbohydrates
47 g
Dietary Fiber
7 g
Sugars
13 g
Protein
26 g
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