Dish of Today - Esqueixada

This excellent salad, is made with salted cod brought mainly brought from Iceland, it was not until the Latin Countries started to adopt dishes with this delicacy that Iceland suddenly realised its great taste, before it was kind of the scraps of the cod, one of the main ways to preserve it through the cold bitter winter.

Shredded Salt Cod Salad - originating from Catalunya.

Serves 4

300 g thick fillets of salt cod (dried weight), washed and soaked in the fridge for 48 hours, changing the water 4 times
1 green pepper, quartered, seeded and thinly sliced
1 red pepper, quartered, seeded and thinly sliced
15 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 large bunch of flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
1/2 small red onion, sliced wafer thin
a handful of small black olives

Dressing:
1 garlic clove, crushed to a paste with salt
1 1/2 tbsp good quality red wine vinegar
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and black pepper

Drain the salt cod and remove any skins or bones. Shred the cod between your fingers into soft, fibrous flakes. transfer to a mixing bowl and add the peppers, tomatoes, half the parsley and the onion.
For the dressing, whisk the garlic, vinegar and olive oil together, then season with salt and pepper. Pour
over the salt cod and gently toss together. Refrigerate for about an hour. Serve with the remaining parsley and the olives sprinkled on top.

You can get the cod from Italian, Portuguese or Spanish delicatessens. Better when you head to these countries, buy a stock and bring back, as it keeps "forever".