Xató Catalan

Xató is Catalan, especially of the Garraf and Penedès coast, and it is not just escarole with a red dressing poured over it. The dish is bitter winter escarole, esqueixat bacallà, salt cod torn by hand, tuna, anchovies, olives, and a thick xató sauce made from dried ñora peppers, toasted nuts, garlic, bread, vinegar, and olive oil. That sauce is what makes it xató and not a neighbour's salad.

The method that decides it is the pounding. Soak the ñoras until they soften, scrape out their sweet red flesh, then work it with garlic, toasted almonds and hazelnuts, fried bread, vinegar, and oil until the sauce turns rough, thick, and spoonable. If you blend it smooth as cream, it loses its hand and its character. A little texture belongs here.

No hace falta haber pisado España. If you can't find escarole, use curly endive or frisée, and know the bite will be sharper and lighter. If ñoras are missing, use dried choricero pepper; it gives a deeper red and a little less sweetness, but it keeps you in the right kitchen. Use real salt cod if you can. The salad is served cold, but it should not taste timid. Pésalo, no lo adivines, and the sauce will behave.

In the Margin beside this one I keep the same note every year: dress the escarole, then wait ten minutes. The leaves relax, the cod and anchovy season the bowl, and the sauce clings instead of sliding off. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.