Ensalada de San Isidro Madrileña

Ensalada de San Isidro is Madrileña, made for the May fair of Madrid's patron saint: lettuce, tuna, hard-boiled egg, olives, and a plain oil-and-vinegar aliño. It isn't a grand dish. That's its sense. It travels well to the pradera, sits happily beside bread and tortilla, and gives a cool bite between richer festival food.

The method that decides it is the dressing. Mash one cooked yolk into the vinegar, salt, and olive oil until it turns creamy, then dress the lettuce just before serving. The yolk helps the aliño cling to the romaine instead of running to the bottom of the bowl, and that is the difference between a salad and wet leaves.

If you are far from Madrid, use good romaine or little gem, canned tuna in olive oil, and firm green olives. Campo Real olives are right if you can find them; manzanilla olives do the job if you can't. What changes is the sharp, herbal bite, not the bones of the dish. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.