Marinero Murciano con Boquerón en Vinagre

Marinero Murciano is Murcia's own bar-counter bite: a crisp rosquilla de pan carrying cold ensaladilla and a boquerón en vinagre, the white anchovy cured in vinegar, laid across the top. Its neighbour is the marinera, which uses salted anchoa. Change the fish and the bite changes. This one is lighter, sharper, and cleaner at the end.

The method that decides it is not clever. Keep the ensaladilla cold, thick, and well drained, then build the marinero at the last moment. Warm potato and loose mayonnaise soak the bread ring, and then you have a tired little raft instead of the clean crunch Murcia expects. Boil the potatoes in their skins, let them dry, fold the mayonnaise in only when cool, and chill the salad until it holds its shape.

No hace falta haber pisado España. If you cannot find a Murcian rosquilla, use a firm rosquilleta, picos camperos, or a narrow piece of toasted barra, and know what changes: the flavour comes close, but the ring and its snap are not quite the same. Buy boquerones en vinagre already prepared if you can; they should be bright, sharp, and clean, not woolly or harsh.

In my Margin for this one I keep three words: dry salad, dry fish, dry bread. Pésalo, no lo adivines. About 70g of ensaladilla per rosquilla is enough, because the boquerón must sit on top, not disappear into a hill of potato.