Chef Isabel
Asadillo Manchego
Asadillo Manchego is La Mancha's roasted pepper salad: red peppers, tomato, olive oil, garlic, and cumin, pounded plainly and served with egg, warm or cold.
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Esgarraet Valenciano
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Esgarraet is Valencian: roasted red peppers and desalted salt cod torn into strips, dressed with raw garlic and olive oil, then left to rest until the oil tastes of everything.
Salads
Spanish
Make Ahead
Picnic
Budget Friendly
30 min
Active Time
45 min cook•12 hr total
Yield4 servings
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.
Esgarraet belongs to the Valencian table, especially around Valencia city and the surrounding horta, where roasted vegetables, preserved fish, garlic, and olive oil meet in simple cold dishes made ahead for bread and company. Its name comes from the Valencian verb esgarrar, to tear, because both the pepper and the bacalao are pulled by hand into ragged strips rather than cut neatly. Salt cod mattered because preservation let fish travel inland and wait in the larder, ready to be soaked back to tenderness when the market offered good peppers.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
large red bell peppers
Quantity
4, about 800g total
salt cod fillet
Quantity
200g
soaked and desalted
garlic cloves
Quantity
2
very thinly sliced
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
100ml, plus more if needed
black olives, preferably Valencian or Aragón style (optional)
Quantity
8
fine salt (optional)
Quantity
only if needed
rustic bread
Quantity
to serve
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| large red bell peppers | 4, about 800g total |
| salt cod filletsoaked and desalted | 200g |
| garlic clovesvery thinly sliced | 2 |
| extra virgin olive oil | 100ml, plus more if needed |
| black olives, preferably Valencian or Aragón style (optional) | 8 |
| fine salt (optional) | only if needed |
| rustic bread | to serve |
Equipment Needed
- •Rimmed baking tray
- •Mixing bowl with cover
- •Shallow serving dish
Instructions
- 1
Desalt the cod
If your bacalao is still salted, rinse off the surface salt and soak it in cold water in the refrigerator for 24 to 36 hours, changing the water 3 or 4 times. Taste a tiny flake before you use it. It should be savory and clean, not mouth-puckering. If it tastes flat, you soaked too far, and a small pinch of salt later will bring it back.
A thick piece of salt cod needs longer than a thin one. Pésalo, no lo adivines, but also taste it; salt cod tells the truth better than a clock. - 2
Roast the peppers
Heat the oven to 220°C. Put the peppers on a tray and roast for 35 to 45 minutes, turning once or twice, until the skins blister and darken in patches and the flesh has collapsed. You want soft, sweet pepper with real roasted edges, not barely warmed pepper pretending.
- 3
Peel and save juices
Put the hot peppers in a bowl and cover for 15 minutes so the skins loosen. Peel them with your fingers, remove the seeds, and save any pepper juices from the bowl, straining out seeds and skin. Don't rinse the peppers under water; you wash away the sweetness you just made.
- 4
Tear by hand
Tear the peeled peppers into long strips with your fingers and put them in a shallow dish. Pat the soaked cod dry, check for bones, and tear it into thin flakes and strips. This rough tearing matters because the oil clings to the ragged edges. Cut it with a knife and the dish turns too tidy for itself.
- 5
Dress and rest
Add the sliced garlic, the saved pepper juices, and the olive oil. Fold gently so the cod stays in pieces, then press everything down so the oil touches it. Cover and refrigerate at least 6 hours, better overnight. The resting is the dish: the pepper sweetens, the cod seasons the oil, and the garlic loses its sharp elbow.
- 6
Serve with bread
Bring the esgarraet close to room temperature before serving so the olive oil loosens and shines. Taste before salting; the cod may have done the work already. Add the olives if using, spoon a little more oil over the top, and serve with bread for the oil left behind. Tal como se hace allí.
Chef Tips
- •Use red peppers that feel heavy for their size and roast them until they slump. Pale, watery peppers give you a watery dish. Sourcing wins here, as it often does.
- •Don't add vinegar. The sweetness of roasted pepper, the salt of the bacalao, raw garlic, and olive oil are the balance. Vinegar pulls it toward another salad.
- •Ready-soaked bacalao is useful, especially far from Spain, but taste it before dressing. If it's too salty, soak it a few more hours. If it's bland, season carefully at the end.
- •Serve it with plain rustic bread, not crackers. The oil is part of the dish, and bread is how you finish it properly.
Advance Preparation
- •Desalt the cod 24 to 36 hours ahead, depending on thickness, keeping it cold and changing the water several times.
- •Make the finished esgarraet the day before serving. It is better after a night in the refrigerator and keeps well for 2 days.
- •Take it out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before serving so the olive oil loosens and the pepper tastes sweet again.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 265g)
Calories
435 calories
Total Fat
28 g
Saturated Fat
4 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
23 g
Cholesterol
25 mg
Sodium
760 mg
Total Carbohydrates
29 g
Dietary Fiber
5 g
Sugars
8 g
Protein
16 g
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