Malaga salad

Spanish oranges (naranjas) are in season between January and March, so I’ve squeezed this recipe into the blog as a celebratory farewell (hasta el año que viene)! It may seem surprising to add oranges to a potato based salad but their sweet, tartness really lifts the dish beautifully and is perfect for al fresco eating. This salad is often made with bacalao (salted cod) however here I’ve used tuna as it has a lighter flavour.

As a child Juani would go to José’s local corner shop with a small tub and buy 2 pesetas worth of tuna which he would spoon out the from the shop’s own large tin on the counter. This would be shared by the entire family of seven, so mixing it into a salad allowed it to go further.

Serves 4

Ingredients

2kg new potatoes
4-6 spring onions
4 eggs
300g tuna/ bacalou
2 oranges
Good handful of green olives stuffed with red peppers (pimentos)
10 tbs extra virgin olive oil
3 tbs white wine vinegar
Salt

Method

1. Place the potatoes in a large sauce pan and boil them in their skins (15 – 20 mins). Drain and leave aside to cool.
2. Now hard boil the eggs (10 mins). Once cooked place in cold water to cool.
3. Meanwhile finely chop the spring onions and slice the olives.
4. Peel the the cooled potatoes using the back of a knife and cut into quarters (or bite size pieces)
5. Shell the eggs and cut into quarters.
6. Peel and slice the orange.
7. Place the chopped ingredients in a large mixing bowl and add the tuna, olive oil, vinegar and salt. (Leave aside one of the sliced eggs, half the tuna, a few slices of Orange and olives for garnish)
8. Now mix thoroughly taking care not to break up the eggs.
9. Turn the ingredients into a serving dish and garnish with the saved ingredients.