Escalivada con Anchoas del Cantábrico
Escalivada con Anchoas del Cantábrico·(es-kah-lee-VAH-dah kohn ahn-CHOH-ahs dehl kahn-TAH-bree-koh)
Chapter 2: Cold Tapas
There is nowhere to hide in a dish of cold roasted vegetables and cured fish. Escalivada is the quintessential tapas-bar workhorse, born from shepherds roasting whole vegetables in the dying embers of a wood fire until they collapse into smoky, sweet submission. By aggressively charring them whole in a hot oven, sweating off their skins, and marrying them overnight in a sharp sherry vinaigrette, the home cook bypasses the stress of entertaining. When the party starts, the only job is to drape these silky vegetables over blistered bread and crown them with buttery, impossibly savory Cantabrian anchovies.
Before you start
Execute the roast and marination a full day before your tapas party.
Escalivada requires an overnight rest in the refrigerator to allow the sharp sherry vinaigrette to mellow, ensuring you have absolutely nothing to do but toast bread when your guests arrive.
Ingredients
- Globe or Italian eggplants2 med
- red bell peppers2 large
- sweet Spanish onions2 med
- Spanish extra virgin olive oil1/3 cup
- Sherry vinegar2 tbsp
- garlic1 small clove
- coarse sea salt1 tsp
- black pepper1/2 tsp
- Cantabrian anchovies in olive oil2 oz
- fresh flat-leaf parsley1 tbsp
- Pan de Cristal or artisanal ciabatta1 loaf
Method
- 01
Preheat the oven to 450°F and prepare a foil-lined baking sheet.
The heat must be intense to simulate the embers of a wood fire. Rub the whole, unpeeled eggplants, bell peppers, and onions generously with olive oil and place them on the baking sheet.
- 02
Roast the whole vegetables until they are completely collapsed and blackened.
Turn them with tongs every 20 minutes. The peppers will heavily blister and finish first, around 30 to 40 minutes. The eggplants and onions will take 50 to 60 minutes, offering absolutely no resistance when prodded. Do not slice them before roasting; leaving them whole acts as a pressure vessel, steaming the flesh into a silky confit.
- 03
Transfer the hot vegetables to a large bowl and cover tightly.
Let them sit undisturbed for 20 to 30 minutes. This traps the steam, creating a humid microclimate that separates the charred, papery skin from the delicate flesh underneath, making peeling effortless.
- 04
Peel the vegetables and tear the flesh into long strips by hand.
Working over a rimmed board to catch the precious smoky juices, gently peel away and discard the blackened skins, stems, and seed pockets. Use your hands, not a knife, to tear the peppers and eggplants into 1-inch wide strips, which creates ragged edges that hold onto the vinaigrette far better than a clean cut. Slice the onions into thick strips and add everything to a shallow dish.
- 05
Whisk the vinaigrette and marinate the vegetables in the refrigerator.
Combine the olive oil, sherry vinegar, minced garlic, sea salt, pepper, and any captured roasting juices. Pour over the vegetables, toss gently to coat, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight so the flavors can marry.
- 06
Broil the bread and assemble the escalivada right before serving.
Take the vegetables out 30 minutes prior to service to take the chill off. Broil the thick slices of bread until deeply charred and crisp. Heap the room-temperature vegetables onto the hot bread, drape a single whole Cantabrian anchovy over each portion, and finish with a final flourish of olive oil and chopped parsley.
Notes
Do not substitute standard supermarket anchovies.
Cheap, pizza-grade anchovies are heavily salted and overly processed, and they will ruin the delicate sweetness of the vegetables with a harsh fishiness. If you cannot source buttery, premium Anchoas del Cantábrico, use high-quality oil-packed Spanish tuna (ventresca) or serve the escalivada purely vegetarian.
Sherry vinegar is absolutely mandatory.
Vinagre de Jerez provides a complex, nutty, oak-aged acidity that perfectly balances the rich anchovy and sweet vegetables. Standard white vinegar is far too harsh, and balsamic is too syrupy. If you are entirely bereft, use high-quality red wine vinegar cut with a tiny splash of dry sherry wine.