Schalada is a traditional Moroccan recipe for a classic salad of mixed bell peppers, tomatoes and garlic in a lemon juice, paprika and cumin dressing with preserved lemon skin slices and herbs. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Moroccan version of: Schalada.
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This recipe from Morocco is possibly the epitome of fusion cooking, showing how recipes can change through contact with different cultures. This started out as an ancient Arabic recipe, Gazpacho (literally 'soaked bread'), a salad of garlic, bread, olive oil and lemon juice. The North African moors brought the recipe to Spain. With the Colombian exchange, the Spanish added tomatoes and bell peppers and Spanish conquests in North Africa brought the recipe back in its modified form. There it became known as schalada and pickled lemon and spices were added as new ingredients.
Ingredients:
3 green bell peppers, quartered
4 large, ripe, tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tbsp lemon juice
generous pinch of paprika
pinch of ground cumin
1/4 preserved lemon
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
fresh coriander and flat-leaf parsley, to garnish
Method:
Pre-heat your grill (broiler) to its highest setting. Use to cook the bell pepper pieces, skin side up, until the skins are blackened. Transfer these to a plastic bag. Tie the end and set aside to steam for 10 minutes or until the bell pepper pieces are cool enough to handle. At this point remove the pepper quarters from the bag and peel the skins away from the flesh.
Cut the bell pepper pieces into small pieces and arrange on a serving dish. Cut a cross in the base of the tomatoes then place in a pan of boiling water and blanch for 1 minute. Immediately remove with a slotted spoon and plunge in a bowl of ice water. Peel off the skins, quarter the tomatoes then cut away the cores and seeds.
Coarsely chop the tomato flesh and add to the dish with the bell pepper pieces. Scatter over the chopped garlic, transfer to your refrigerator and chill for 60 minutes.
In a jug, whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, paprika and cumin. Pour this over the chilled salad and season with salt and freshly-ground black pepper.
Rinse the preserved lemon under cold, running, water. then remove and discard the flesh and pith. Slice the peel into thin slivers then sprinkle these over the salad.
Garnish with coriander and flat-leaf parsley and serve.
