Insalata Vastasa

Vastasa. The word means rough, coarse, vulgar. In Sicily, it described the class of people who worked with their hands: laborers, fishermen, farmers. The salad that bears this name makes no apology for its origins. It is honest food assembled from what grows in any Sicilian garden and costs almost nothing.

This is not a composed salad meant to impress. The potatoes are sliced thick. The onion is raw. The tomatoes are cut into wedges, not arranged. You dress it and you eat it. In the Sicilian summer, when the heat makes cooking unbearable, this is dinner. With good bread and perhaps some cheese, it is enough.

What you keep out is as significant as what you put in. No olives, though some would add them. No capers, though they grow wild on the island. No basil, no parsley. Oregano and nothing more. The potatoes must absorb the dressing while still warm. The salad must rest before serving. These are not suggestions.