Escalivada Catalana

Escalivada is Catalan, from the old verb escalivar, to cook in embers, and that tells you almost everything. Red peppers, aubergine, onion, and often a tomato or two are roasted whole until the skins blister black and the flesh collapses into itself. Then you peel them warm, tear them into strips, dress them with good olive oil and salt, and leave them alone. That smoke is the dish.

The method that decides it is the char. You don't cube the vegetables first and you don't roast them politely until only soft. Whole vegetables protect their own juices while the outside burns enough to perfume the flesh underneath. Peel too cold and the skins cling. Peel too clean and you wash away the good dark taste. Work warm, with your hands if you can bear it, and keep every roasted juice that runs out.

If you have a grill, use it. If you don't, a very hot oven and the broiler get you there, with less smoke and a little less edge. No hace falta haber pisado Cataluña. Choose heavy peppers, shiny aubergines, and onions with tight skins, and don't drown them in vinegar or garlic. A little is allowed in some homes, but the base is oil and salt. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.