Malfa Salad.
This is a recipe for a salad from Malfa, a very charming small town in Salina and part of the seven Sicilian islands that form the Aeolian Islands, off the North coast of Sicily.
Insalata Malfitana.
Whilst most islands are content with having a single salad attributed to them – the insalata di Filicudi from Filicudi, the Caprese from Capri, the insalata Pantesca from Pantelleria etc., the small but independently-inclined island of Salina, with its three town halls and three mayors, is not one to be settled with such sweeping, generalizing salads.
Made of potatoes, tomatoes, red onion, capers, oregano, basil and tuna, this is a sumptuous but summery potato salad, the principles of which can be customized to suit individual tastes and fridge contents. The holy trinity of Sicilian Island salads: boiled potatoes, red onion and oregano, found also in Filicudi and Pantelleria, is present here too and forms its basis, to which other vegetables are added. The key, as most other cold, Mediterranean salads made with some variety of carbohydrate and raw onions, is to prepare the onions by soaking them first, and let the salad rest for at least an hour in order to fuse its flavours. The rest is victory.
Onions are a highly personal matter, and just like garlic, their quality, type and preparation is hugely significant in making them taste delicious, and most importantly digestible. Though some recipes will ask for a half day of soaking and various steps and substances, half an hour in vinegar and salt will do the trick just fine.
There are several small secrets to a delicious salad that often get overlooked for more grandiose matters such as flavour and texture. The details, as with anything, and even and especially in a simple salad, should not be slighted. One is the serving temperature – sometimes accountable for half of the success of a dish. Another is the dressing, both as a noun as well as verb: not only must the dressing on its own taste delicious, time needs to be taken to mix it in, something that is often elevated to a small ceremony in Italy. This step cannot be hurried, just as the resting of the salad (as with a roast), if the recipe so requires. This inaction is just as vital as any action; in the kitchen, just as in life, patience is a virtue, gaps are just as much part of the narrative and secrets often sit in shadows. Another under-discussed element is the size and shape of the vegetables – a simple device for a delicious salad is to chop the ingredients to a similar size: as small or as large as desired, as perfectly demonstrated in the tastiness of the tiny pieces of Tabouleh or the chiseled chunkiness of a great Greek salad.
Potatoes are not just for winter and eaten at room temperature and dressed in olive oil instead of mayonnaise (deserving of much praise but requiring careful temperature control) make a sumptuous summer salad and a solid meal or basis thereof. A cold potato gratin, a room temperature baked potato; as “hot” countries know too well, some of the most satisfying summer foods are cooked or baked foods eaten cold.
RECIPE.
Serves 4
Potatoes, 400g
Tomatoes, 200g
Tuna in olive oil, 150g
Red onion, 1
Cucumber, 1 large or 2 small
Olives, a handful
Salted capers, 100g
Fresh basil leaves
Dried oregano
Olive oil, sea salt
Slice the onions into rounds and place in a bowl.
Wash the salted capers of their salt and add to the bowl with onions. Add 3-4 tablespoons of vinegar and enough water to cover. Leave to rest for 30 minutes.
Put the potatoes unpeeled in a pan, cover with water and bring to boil, salt generously and cook until soft.
Halve the cherry tomatoes
Drain the potatoes and leave to cool slightly, then peel and cut into similar sized chunks as the tomatoes.
Wash the basil and separate the tuna chunks into bite sizes pieces with a fork, if very solid.
If using a cucumber, peel the cucumber, scoop out the seeds with a spoon and slice into chunks.
Drain the onions and capers and slice the capers finely.
Add the onions, capers, olives, tomatoes, potatoes, tuna and cucumber if using to a salad bowl and mix thoroughly.
Add oregano and basil leaves, broken up into pieces with your hands.
Taste for saltiness (the capers will be salty)
Dress liberally with olive oil and rest for at least 30 minutes before serving.
The salad will keep in a fridge for up to two days.
