I can’t remember the first time I ate that dish, but somehow I have a memory of eating xató in a restaurant in Sitges thousands of years ago. Accustomed to thinking of endive as a punishment, I must have been impressed that someone was able to soak it in the best sauce, tone down its harshness, and turn it into such a delicacy.
In addition to Sitges, two other towns in the province of Barcelona (Vilanova y la Geltru and Vilafranca del Penedes) and one town in Tarragona (El Vendrell) dispute the authorship of this salad, whose inhabitants practice it in different ways, with subtle differences. What is almost always repeated is the rich red sauce of Nut and Nyola, a sister to Romesco. Salt-free cod, anchovies, tuna, and olives.
Some xatós focus on fish, but the recipes I have included in the book are Cooking for modern people starts here. Relegate it to a secondary role in favor of vegetables and sauces. Some people enjoy the outer green leaves of endive, but if you are sensitive to feed, it is better to stick to the yellow center leaves. Some people change some of the bread to Maria biscuits to increase the sweetness of the sauce, but I’ll leave it here only as a possibility, lest the kitchen savants give me what I deserve. Catalan cuisine.
time: 20 minutes
difficulty: Mind you, it’s a salad.
material
for 4 people
- 1 endive
- Unsalted cod approx. 75g
- Tuna pickled in oil approx. 75g
- 4 anchovies
- 8 seedless black olives
- 8 Arbequina olives (or other pitted green olives)
immersion
- Toasted almonds 100g
- 100g toasted hazelnuts
- 1 anchovy
- 2-3 slices of bread (about 100g)
- 1 clove of garlic
- 4 Nyora (or 4 teaspoons Nyora pulp)
- vinegar
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt
Instructions
If using dried Nyola, boil it in boiling water until tender.
Toast the bread and soak it in vinegar.
For the sauce, grind the almonds, hazelnuts, pitted gnolla or its pulp, anchovies, garlic and salt in a mortar or blender.
Add the drained bread and mix. Add olive oil (about 100ml) little by little to make a sauce. Adjust with salt and vinegar.
Discard the toughest, greenest leaves of the escarole and chop the rest. Mix the shredded cod and tuna and season with desired amount of sauce.
Complete with anchovies and olives.
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