Insalata di Pesce Dove il Mare Non C’è (A Salad of Fish in a Place where there is no Sea). Though the Teramani, in truth, live not so far from the sea, their cuisine is one of the interior, of the highlands, with sea fish playing an insignificant part. And so when we were served this divine little salad in a backstreet osteria in Teramo, it proved a light, breezy surprise for an early spring lunch. When we asked the old chef why he had made such an unexpected dish, he answered that sometimes, even in a place where there is no sea, one can have a desire to eat some good, bracing, and briny-tasting fish.

　　

Ingredients

serves 4

　　8 tiny artichokes, preferably the purple-lipped variety, or 4 small, very young artichokes, several inches of their stems still intact

　　1 1-pound fillet of baccalà, skinless and boneless

　　1 cup whole milk

　　Juice of 1 lemon

　　1 small head red lettuce, radicchio or red oak leaf, washed, spun dry, and coarsely shredded

　　4 ounces large green Sicilian or Greek olives, crushed lightly with a mallet, stones removed, the flesh coarsely chopped

　　1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

　　2 fat cloves garlic, peeled, crushed, and finely minced

　　1 small, dried red chile pepper, crushed, or 1/3 to 1/2 teaspoon dried chile flakes

　　1 1/2 tablespoons good red wine vinegar

　　Fine sea salt

　　

Step 1

Prepare the artichokes, trimming just a snip from their still-tender leaves and leaving them whole if they are tiny, slicing them in two, or even in fourths, if they are a bit larger, cutting out the choke should it have begun to develop beyond an innocent embryo.

　　

Step 2

Soften the baccalà a bit with a mallet and soak for 24 hours in cold water (change the water three times, adding 1 cup of milk to the final water), rinse the baccalà in cold water, cover again with cold water, and poach for 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.

　　

Step 3

In a large bowl, acidulate the artichokes with the juice of a lemon, add the shredded lettuce, the chopped olives, and the poached baccalà, cut into 1-inch pieces.

　　

Step 4

Make a simple warm vinaigrette by heating the olive oil, softening the garlic without coloring it for a minute or two, and scenting the oil with the crushed chile. Remove from the heat, add the vinegar and a whisper of sea salt. Beat the dressing with a fork and pour it over the elements in the bowl, tossing them about and combining them well.

　　

Step 5

Present the salad with a young, cooled red wine that will do its best to stand up to both the artichokes and the baccalà.

　　A Taste of Southern Italy