Esgarraet Valenciano

Esgarraet is Valencian, and its name tells you the method: esgarrar means to tear. Roasted red peppers are peeled and pulled into soft strips, salt cod is torn the same way, and both sit under good olive oil with raw garlic. That torn texture is what makes it this dish and not just a pepper salad with fish on top.

The part that decides it is the resting. Eat it the minute you mix it and it tastes separate: pepper, cod, garlic, oil. Give it a few hours, better overnight, and the roasted pepper sweetens the oil while the cod salts it from underneath. The garlic stays raw, yes, but it softens in the oil. Don't be clever with vinegar. Esgarraet doesn't need it.

If you're far from Valencia, buy good salt cod fillets and desalinate them yourself, changing the water until they taste pleasantly salty, not harsh. If you can only find ready-soaked bacalao, use it, but taste before adding any salt because some is bland and some is still fierce. No hace falta haber pisado España. You need red peppers worth roasting, cod that has been soaked properly, and enough olive oil for bread to have work to do.

My Margin beside this one is short: "make it yesterday." That is the whole kindness of the recipe. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.