Chef Isabel
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Pipirrana de Jaén
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Pipirrana de Jaén is Andalucía's chopped summer salad: ripe tomato, cucumber, green pepper, onion, garlic and good olive oil, cut fine and chilled until the juices turn into lunch.
Salads
Spanish
Quick Meal
Outdoor Dining
Budget Friendly
25 min
Active Time
10 min cook•1 hr 35 min total
Yield4 servings
Pipirrana de Jaén is Andalucía's chopped summer salad from olive country: ripe tomato, cucumber, green pepper, onion, garlic, vinegar, and the kind of olive oil that makes itself known. What makes the Jaén version its own is not only the chopping. It is the majao, a mortar paste of garlic, cooked egg yolk, oil, vinegar, and tomato juice that binds the salad so it becomes spoon food, not a bowl of loose vegetables.
The method that decides it is simple and exact. Chop everything fine, keep the tomato juice, and work the yolk dressing before you fold it through. That little paste turns the juice creamy and sharp enough to carry the bread. Rush it, or leave the vegetables in big pieces, and the dish loses the reason it works.
No hace falta haber pisado España. If you cannot find pimiento verde italiano, use a Cubanelle pepper; a small green bell pepper works at a pinch, but use less because it is sweeter and thicker. If the tomatoes are pale and hard, there is no clever rescue. Wait for the ones that smell of tomato before the knife touches them. My Margin beside this one says only: more bread than you think.
Pipirrana belongs to the summer kitchens of Jaén, in inland Andalucía, where ripe tomatoes, green peppers, garlic, vinegar, and the year's olive oil make a cold meal when the heat makes the stove unreasonable. The version most tied to Jaén is set apart by the majao, a mortar paste of garlic, salt, and cooked egg yolk loosened with oil and vinegar, then mixed with the chopped vegetables and their tomato juice. Neighboring Andalusian and Manchego pipirranas change the cut, the vegetables, or the addition of tuna, but Jaén keeps its character in that mortar and in the juice eaten with bread.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
ripe summer tomatoes
Quantity
800g
peeled if the skins are tough, chopped fine with juices kept
cucumber
Quantity
200g
peeled, seeds scraped out if watery, chopped fine
pimiento verde italiano or Cubanelle pepper
Quantity
120g
seeded and chopped fine
sweet onion or spring onion
Quantity
80g
chopped fine
large eggs
Quantity
2
hard-boiled, yolks and whites separated
garlic
Quantity
1 small clove, about 5g
peeled
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
75ml
preferably robust Picual from Jaén
vinagre de Jerez or good Spanish wine vinegar
Quantity
25ml
fine sea salt
Quantity
6g, plus more if needed
canned bonito del norte or tuna in olive oil (optional)
Quantity
120g
drained
rustic bread (optional)
Quantity
to serve
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| ripe summer tomatoespeeled if the skins are tough, chopped fine with juices kept | 800g |
| cucumberpeeled, seeds scraped out if watery, chopped fine | 200g |
| pimiento verde italiano or Cubanelle pepperseeded and chopped fine | 120g |
| sweet onion or spring onionchopped fine | 80g |
| large eggshard-boiled, yolks and whites separated | 2 |
| garlicpeeled | 1 small clove, about 5g |
| extra virgin olive oilpreferably robust Picual from Jaén | 75ml |
| vinagre de Jerez or good Spanish wine vinegar | 25ml |
| fine sea salt | 6g, plus more if needed |
| canned bonito del norte or tuna in olive oil (optional)drained | 120g |
| rustic bread (optional) | to serve |
Equipment Needed
- •Mortar and pestle, or a sturdy bowl and fork
- •Serrated tomato knife or serrated peeler
- •Small saucepan for eggs
- •Wide mixing bowl
Instructions
- 1
Boil the eggs
Put the eggs in a small pan, cover with cold water by a finger, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, then cool them in cold water. Peel them, separate the yolks from the whites, and keep both. The yolks need to be firm, because they are going into the majao, the mortar dressing that gives Jaén's pipirrana its body.
- 2
Cut the tomatoes
Core the tomatoes and peel them if the skins are thick. Use a serrated peeler if you have one, or dip the tomatoes in boiling water for 20 seconds and cool them before peeling. Chop them fine, about 5mm pieces, over a bowl so you catch every drop of juice. Sprinkle with 4g of the salt and let them sit for 10 minutes while you chop the rest. This is summer food; if the tomatoes aren't worth eating raw, wait.
- 3
Chop the vegetables
Peel the cucumber, scrape out the watery seeds if it is very seedy, and chop it fine. Chop the green pepper and onion to the same small size. Pipirrana should eat with a spoon and a piece of bread, not like large salad chunks sliding around a plate. Pésalo, no lo adivines: the balance matters more than it looks.
- 4
Make the majao
Put the garlic and the remaining 2g salt in a mortar and pound to a paste. Add the cooked egg yolks and work them in until smooth and sandy. Pour in the olive oil slowly, stirring all the time, then add the vinegar and 2 tablespoons of the tomato juice from the bowl. This is the step that decides the dish. The yolk, garlic, oil, vinegar, and tomato juice bind into a dressing that clings; pour oil and vinegar straight over the vegetables and you get a wet chopped salad, not pipirrana de Jaén.
No mortar? Use a sturdy bowl and fork, and grate the garlic very fine first. It won't be quite as smooth, but it will still do the job. - 5
Fold and chill
Add the cucumber, pepper, onion, and chopped egg whites to the tomatoes. Scrape in the majao and fold gently until everything is glossy and evenly dressed. Taste for salt and vinegar; it should be bright, not sour. Cover and chill for at least 45 minutes and up to 2 hours, so the vegetables give their juices and the dressing settles into them.
- 6
Serve with bread
Serve the pipirrana cold in a shallow bowl, with the tuna flaked over the top if you are using it, or folded through if this is lunch. Add a final thin thread of olive oil. Set bread beside it for the tomato juices at the bottom, because leaving those behind would be foolish. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
Chef Tips
- •Make this only when the tomatoes are heavy, ripe, and worth eating raw. Out of season, don't force pipirrana; cook andrajos jiennenses or a potaje of chickpeas and chard and wait for summer.
- •Picual oil from Jaén is the right oil if you can get it: green, peppery, and strong enough for raw tomato. If not, use a robust extra virgin olive oil, not a mild one that disappears.
- •Use pimiento verde italiano or Cubanelle for the right grassy snap. A green bell pepper is thicker and sweeter, so use half to two-thirds as much and dice it very fine.
- •Tuna or bonito in olive oil turns this from a salad into a cold meal. It is common enough at home, but it is not permission for mayonnaise. This is oil, vinegar, tomato juice, and bread.
- •Pipirrana is best the day it is made. It will keep covered in the refrigerator for 24 hours, but the cucumber softens and the tomato loses its clean edge.
Advance Preparation
- •Boil the eggs up to 2 days ahead and keep them covered in the refrigerator.
- •The whole salad can be made 1 to 2 hours before serving; keep it cold and fold again gently before it goes to the table.
- •For outdoor dining, keep the pipirrana chilled and add the tuna just before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 385g)
Calories
385 calories
Total Fat
23 g
Saturated Fat
4 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
18 g
Cholesterol
105 mg
Sodium
850 mg
Total Carbohydrates
32 g
Dietary Fiber
4 g
Sugars
8 g
Protein
17 g
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