If you’re a field hand working in the Andalusian sun, you need a midday meal that’s both refreshing and restorative. Gazpacho is the answer. Set a big bowl in the shade. Mash up day-old bread with olive oil and garlic. Add whatever vegetables or fruits are to hand. That might be tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers to make a very classic Andalusian gazpacho, or regional variations such as cucumber and lettuce (no tomatoes); oranges, lettuce, and figs; lemons (zoque); almonds (ajo blanco). Add a little cool spring water to make a soupy “salad”. Everyone gathers around to eat out of the bowl. Some variants are even called “liquid salad,” such as lechuga en caldo or lettuce in “broth” (cold water).
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| This dunking salad, or mojete, is made with roasted eggplant. |
A “dunking salad” is gazpacho in reverse. Called moje, mojete, or remojón, this gazpacho cousin is a juicy salad either served over pieces of bread or accompanied with bread for soaking in the salad juices. Vegetables or fruits, washed with liquid still clinging, are chunked up in a bowl with garlic, extra virgin olive oil, vinegar, and salt. The salt draws the juices out of the ingredients. Chunks of bread are either added to the mix or used for dipping. Many include hard-cooked eggs and chunks of salt cod or canned tuna. With lots of bread, they make a filling meal.
In my latest cookbook, FLAVORS OF AL-ANDALUS, The Culinary Legacy of Spain (Hippocrene Books), I include a whole section on gazpacho, salmorejo (thick gazpacho), and dunking salads. The recipes—with no tomatoes or peppers!—can trace their roots to Moorish Spain. Here is one of the recipes in that section. (See below for links to more dunking salads.)
Roasted Eggplant Salad with Chickpeas
Mojete con Berenjena y Garbanzos
Make this mojete at least an hour before serving so that the salt begins to draw out the juices of the vegetables. If possible, chill the mixture. The salad makes a good starter or snack. Serve it with bread, for dunking, scooping, sopping. Unless you’re eating out in the campo (countryside), you’ll probably want spoons or forks as well.
The eggplant for this salad can be roasted on a grill, in the oven, or in the microwave.
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| (Photo Daniel Searl) |
2 eggplants (about 1 pound each)
1 onion
1 head of garlic
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
Salt
1 cup cooked and drained chickpeas
1 tablespoon drained capers
1 radish, chopped
3 tablespoons lemon juice
½ teaspoon cumin
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Salad greens
Bread for serving
1 or 2 hard-cooked eggs
4 ounces fresh goat cheese, sliced (optional)
Pitted black olives
Preheat oven to 400ºF.
Place the eggplants and onion in an oven pan. Slice the top off of the head of garlic, wrap it in foil and place in the pan with the eggplants. Roast the eggplants, onion and garlic until eggplants are tender when pierced with a skewer, 45 to 60 minutes. Allow them to cool.
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| Scoop out eggplant flesh. |
Split the eggplants and scoop out the flesh. Discard the skins. Cut or tear the eggplant into strips and place in a bowl. Add the vinegar and 1 teaspoon of salt.
Remove onion skin and slice the roasted onion in strips, from stem to root end. Combine with the eggplant. Add the chickpeas, capers, and radish.
Unwrap the roasted garlic and discard foil. Squeeze the head of garlic to extract the soft flesh of the individual cloves into a small bowl. Mash the pulp with a fork. Stir in 1 teaspoon of salt, the lemon juice, and cumin. Whisk in the oil until the dressing is emulsified. Stir in 1 tablespoon of the parsley.
Line a shallow bowl or platter with salad greens. (Optional: lay slices of bread on the platter as a bed for the eggplant salad.) Arrange the eggplant-chickpea salad on the greens. Place quartered eggs, sliced cheese, if using, and olives on top of the salad. Sprinkle with remaining parsley. Serve with bread for dunking.
More recipes for dunking salads:
This cookbook explores the fascinating story of the deep and lasting influences that Islamic culture has left on modern Spanish cooking.
Author and Spanish cooking expert Janet Mendel tells the story of the Moorish influence on Spanish cooking through 120 recipes and photographs for modern-day dishes, from salads and vegetables to fish, poultry and meat to sweets and pastries, that trace their heritage to foods served in medieval times. (Hippocrene Books)
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