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Saltfish buljol is a classic and very herby Aruban recipe for a salad of saltfish. My husband made salt hake before Christmas, so this recipe was one of the ones we had to make use of that fish. Traditionally saltfish (salt cod) is used, but any salted and dried member of the cod family will do. This works well as a Christmas or New Year starter as it’s light and bursting with flavour. I’m not very fond of overly-salted food, so I soak my saltfish over-night first. However, if you like salt, you can start with the rinsing and boiling.
Prep 90 minutes (plus over-night soaking)/Cook: 15 minutes/serves 4
Ingredients:
500g (1 lb) saltfish fillets 500g, skinless and boneless (salt cod is traditional, but we used salt hake)
100g (1 cup) green or yellow bell pepper grated
1 avocado (about 150g [1/3 lb], diced
2 sprigs thyme, leaves picked
2 sprigs fresh oregano, leaves picked and finely chopped
20g (2 tbsp) flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 medium-hot red or green chilli, finely sliced into rings (with seeds)
4 spring onions, sliced thinly
juice of 1 lime, plus another squeeze to serve
50ml (3 tbsp) extra virgin olive oil
For the cucumbers
100g (3 ½ oz) cucumber, peeled, deseeded and diced
juice of ½ lemon
50ml (3 tbsp) good olive oil
generous pinch of sea salt
generous pinch of freshly-ground black pepper
Strips of cucumber or avocado to garnish
Method:
First, rinse the salt cod thoroughly then place in a large bowl and set aside to soak over-night. The following day, pour away the water, rinse the fish then place in a large pot with plenty of cold water. Bring to the boil and strain off the liquid. Repeat this process twice more, discarding the water each time, then set aside to cool.
Once cooled, flake the fish gently with a fork until no large chunks remain.
Combine the grated bell peppers, avocado, herbs, chilli and spring onions in a large bowl then dress with the lime juice and rapeseed oil. Toss to coat, add the flaked fish and toss once more.
In a separate bowl combine the diced cucumber, lemon juice and rapeseed oil along with a separate pinch each of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Toss well to combine then set aside for 15-20 minutes before serving.
Stack the salted cucumbers on top of the salt cod salad, give everything, top with the sliced cucumber or avocado, add a generous squeeze of lime, drizzle around the olive oil and serve.
