Ensalada Valenciana

Ensalada Valenciana belongs to Valencia and the Levante table: crisp lettuce, ripe tomato, tuna in oil, hard-boiled egg, olives, and a sharp little dressing of olive oil, vinegar, and salt. It is not a composed showpiece and it is not a neighbour's roasted-pepper salad. Valencia lets the raw tomato do the talking, especially beside rice, grilled fish, or a quick weekday meal.

The method that decides it is not cooking at all. Dry the lettuce well, keep the tomatoes at room temperature, and dress the salad only when everyone is ready to eat. Salt wakes the tomato and vinegar brightens it, but both will collapse the leaves if you let the bowl sit. A salad can be ruined by waiting on the table while someone looks for the bread. There, I said it.

If you're far from Valencia, no hace falta haber pisado España. Use the ripest field or vine tomatoes you can find, good jarred tuna packed in olive oil, and firm green olives. If your tomatoes are poor, choose cherry tomatoes instead; they carry more sweetness out of season, though the salad will be smaller and sharper than it is in July. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.