Chef Isabel
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Esqueixada Catalana de Bacallà
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Esqueixada is Catalan summer cooking at its plainest: desalted bacallà torn by hand, never cooked, then dressed with ripe tomato, onion, pepper, black olives, and enough good oil to carry it.
Salads
Spanish
Quick Meal
Outdoor Dining
Make Ahead
25 min
Active Time
0 min cook•24 hr 55 min total
Yield4 servings
Esqueixada is Catalan, and its name tells you the work: bacallà salat, salt cod, desalted and torn by hand. Not boiled, not flaked with a knife, not hidden under sauce. Tomato, onion, pepper, black olives, and good oil meet the cod cold, and that plainness is the point. This is not empedrat with beans, and it is not xató with escarole and its sauce. Esqueixada is the raw torn cod salad, tal como se hace allí.
The method that decides it is the desalting and the tearing. Soak the cod cold, changing the water, until a little flake tastes cleanly salty instead of fierce. Then dry it well and pull it apart with your fingers. A knife cuts it flat and mean; your hands follow the flakes, so the pieces stay tender and the olive oil gets around them. Cook the cod and you have made another dish.
If you are far from Catalonia, look for thick salt cod at a Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, or good fish shop. Bacalhau or baccalà will do the job if it is true salt cod. Pre-soaked desalted cod is allowed when it comes from a good counter, but it will be milder and softer, so taste before you add any salt. Fresh cod is not the substitute. It has not been cured, and curing is the backbone here.
Make it when the tomatoes are ripe enough to eat over the sink. The tomato juice and olive oil become the dressing, so poor tomatoes give you a poor salad, no matter how carefully you tear the cod. My Margin note for this one is small: do not over-desalt. A little salt left in the bacallà is what makes the whole bowl wake up.
Esqueixada belongs to Catalonia and takes its name from esqueixar, to tear, the way desalted bacallà is pulled apart by hand before it is dressed. Salt cod became a foundation of the Catalan larder because curing carried fish inland and through fast days, long before fresh fish could travel easily. It shares the Catalan salt-cod table with empedrat, xató, and bacallà amb samfaina, but its particular character is raw torn cod, summer tomato, onion, pepper, olives, and oil with no cooking at all.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
salt cod (bacallà salat)
Quantity
400g
desalted in cold water for 24 to 36 hours
ripe tomatoes
Quantity
500g
cored and cut into rough 2cm pieces, juices kept
sweet onion
Quantity
150g
very thinly sliced
red pepper
Quantity
100g
seeded and cut into thin strips
green pepper
Quantity
80g
seeded and cut into thin strips
black olives
Quantity
70g
preferably Aragón or Empeltre-style
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
90ml, plus a little more to finish
wine vinegar (optional)
Quantity
1 tablespoon
fine sea salt (optional)
Quantity
only if needed
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| salt cod (bacallà salat)desalted in cold water for 24 to 36 hours | 400g |
| ripe tomatoescored and cut into rough 2cm pieces, juices kept | 500g |
| sweet onionvery thinly sliced | 150g |
| red pepperseeded and cut into thin strips | 100g |
| green pepperseeded and cut into thin strips | 80g |
| black olivespreferably Aragón or Empeltre-style | 70g |
| extra virgin olive oil | 90ml, plus a little more to finish |
| wine vinegar (optional) | 1 tablespoon |
| fine sea salt (optional) | only if needed |
Equipment Needed
- •Large non-reactive bowl
- •Colander or fine sieve
- •Clean kitchen towel
- •Sharp paring knife
Instructions
- 1
Desalt the bacallà
Rinse the salt cod under cold running water to remove the surface salt. Put it in a bowl, cover with plenty of cold water, and refrigerate for 24 hours for thinner pieces or up to 36 hours for a thick centre piece, changing the water three times. Taste a small flake before you stop: it should taste cleanly salty, not harsh. Pésalo, no lo adivines, and taste it too.
Keep the cod cold while it soaks. This is a raw salad, so the fish needs the fridge, clean water, and a good supplier. - 2
Tear by hand
Drain the cod well and pat it very dry. Remove any skin and bones, then tear the flesh by hand into rough strips about 1cm wide. Do not cook it, and do not chop it with a knife. Esqueixar means to tear, and that is the step that decides the salad: the cod follows its natural flakes, stays tender, and takes the oil properly.
- 3
Prepare the vegetables
Put the sliced onion in a bowl of cold water for 10 minutes if it bites too hard, then drain it well. Cut the tomatoes and keep every drop of their juice. Slice the red and green peppers thinly. This is a raw salad, so the vegetables have nowhere to hide; if the tomatoes are not worth eating plain, wait for better ones.
- 4
Dress and rest
Combine the torn cod, tomatoes and their juices, onion, peppers, and olives in a wide bowl. Pour over the olive oil and the vinegar if you want that sharper edge, then toss gently with your hands or two spoons. Rest it covered in the fridge for 30 minutes so the tomato juice and oil make the dressing around the cod.
- 5
Taste and serve
Taste before serving and add salt only if the cod has been soaked too far. Bring the salad out of the fridge 10 minutes before eating; cool is right, icy is dull. Finish with a thin thread of olive oil and serve with bread for the juices. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
Chef Tips
- •Buy salt cod in a thick piece if you can, not little dry scraps. The thick piece desalts more evenly and tears into soft flakes instead of stringy shreds.
- •Pre-desalted cod is useful, especially far from Spain, but taste it before you begin. If it tastes flat, the fishmonger soaked it too far; you may need a little salt at the end.
- •Make this when tomatoes are good. In the colder months, a Catalan table is better served by xató with escarole and salt cod, or by escalivada, than by pretending a hard tomato can carry a raw salad.
- •The salad is best after 30 minutes of rest and still very good after a few hours. Overnight, the tomato softens and gives off more water, so keep long storage for leftovers, not for your best bowl.
Advance Preparation
- •Start desalting the cod 24 to 36 hours ahead, depending on thickness, and keep it refrigerated the whole time.
- •The vegetables can be cut 2 hours ahead and kept covered in the fridge, but keep the tomatoes and their juices together.
- •Assemble the salad up to 4 hours ahead. Taste again just before serving and finish with a little fresh olive oil.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 380g)
Calories
420 calories
Total Fat
28 g
Saturated Fat
4 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
24 g
Cholesterol
65 mg
Sodium
990 mg
Total Carbohydrates
12 g
Dietary Fiber
4 g
Sugars
6 g
Protein
32 g
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