Remojón Granadino

Remojón Granadino is Granada's salad, Andaluz but not coastal in spirit: winter oranges, desalted bacalao, black olives, onion, and olive oil brought together cold. It is sharp, sweet, salty, and plain. That is why it works. No lettuce, no little decoration pretending to be lunch. This is what Granada makes when the oranges are at their best and the cupboard still has salt cod.

The method that decides it is the bacalao. Soak it long enough to tame the salt, but don't wash the life out of it. You want flakes that still taste of the sea, because the orange is sweet and needs that edge. Slice the onion thin and soak it briefly in cold water if it is fierce; that costs the dish nothing and saves it from tasting raw all the way through.

If you're far from Granada, no hace falta haber pisado España. Portuguese or Italian salt cod works well, because it is the same honest preservation. If you cannot find it, use unsmoked cooked cod salted lightly at the end, but know what changes: the salad will be softer and less deep. Make this with winter oranges that are heavy for their size and bright under the peel. Pésalo, no lo adivines. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.

In the Margin beside this one, I keep one warning: season after the cod and olives are in the bowl. Salt first and you punish yourself twice.