Chef: Juan Exojo 

The renowned ensalada payesa (country salad) is one of Formentera’s most typical dishes whose main ingredient is peix sec, a dried cartilaginous fish, caught in the traditional way, cut and filleted by the fishermen, and covered with coarse salt for a few hours. Next, the fish is hung from the branches of juniper trees and allowed to dry in the warmth of Formentera’s sunshine, helped by the gentle sea breeze.

Serves: 4
Time: 15 minutes

Method 

First moisten the dry twice-baked bread (or you may toast bread) with some chopped tomato flesh.

Chop the green pepper, red pepper, the potato, the remaining tomatoes, onion, roasted peppers roughly and add the thinly sliced dried fish.

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and drizzle with a rich extra virgin olive oil, ground pepper and salt to enhance the flavour. Decorate with small salad leaves.

Cooking notes: The dry bread on the island is called “bescuit” and is bread baked twice until it is completely dehydrated.

It should be crumbled and moistened slightly before putting it in the salad. If you don’t have “bescuit” you can use stale bread. The secret is that it is well toasted so that it is crispy.

As for the star ingredient of this rustic salad, dried fish or “peix sec”, this is ray dried in the sun and preserved in oil.