Book of Days Tales

Today is the birthday (1893) of Joan Miró i Ferrà, extraordinarily revolutionary Catalan painter, sculptor, and ceramicist. A museum dedicated to his work, the Fundació Joan Miró, was established in his native city of Barcelona in 1975, and another, the Fundació Pilar i Joan Miró, was established in his adoptive city of Palma de Mallorca in 1981. His work has been interpreted as Surrealism, a sandbox for the subconscious mind, a re-creation of the childlike, and a manifestation of Catalan pride. It is all and none of these. In numerous interviews dating from the 1930s onwards, Miró expressed contempt for conventional painting methods as a way of supporting bourgeois society, and famously declared he desired an “assassination of painting” in favor of upsetting the visual qualities of established painting.

Esqueixada de bacalao (salt cod salad) is a classic Catalan dish suitable for celebrating Miró.  There are recipes available, but you have a wide variety of choices of ingredients, so I will give you the outline and leave you to decide.  Salt cod and black olives are the only things you cannot dispense with.  Salt cod needs to be desalinated before using it.  Put 100 grams per person in a large non-reactive container of cold water and refrigerate for three days, changing the water often. Drain the cod and shred it.  Then in a large bowl add black olives plus your choice of chopped tomatoes, sliced onion, bell pepper, and hard boiled eggs . . . or whatever you fancy.  Dress with extra virgin olive oil and vinegar (or lemon juice) and refrigerate for several hours.  Serve on chilled plates.

Esqueixada can also be served — chopped finely — on warm garlic toast.