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Remojón Granadino
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Remojón Granadino is Granada's winter salad: sweet oranges, desalted bacalao, black olives, onion, and good olive oil. The cod must be soaked right, or the whole dish shouts.
Salads
Spanish
Budget Friendly
Make Ahead
Comfort Food
25 min
Active Time
0 min cook•24 hr 25 min total
Yield4 servings
Remojón Granadino is Granada's salad, Andaluz but not coastal in spirit: winter oranges, desalted bacalao, black olives, onion, and olive oil brought together cold. It is sharp, sweet, salty, and plain. That is why it works. No lettuce, no little decoration pretending to be lunch. This is what Granada makes when the oranges are at their best and the cupboard still has salt cod.
The method that decides it is the bacalao. Soak it long enough to tame the salt, but don't wash the life out of it. You want flakes that still taste of the sea, because the orange is sweet and needs that edge. Slice the onion thin and soak it briefly in cold water if it is fierce; that costs the dish nothing and saves it from tasting raw all the way through.
If you're far from Granada, no hace falta haber pisado España. Portuguese or Italian salt cod works well, because it is the same honest preservation. If you cannot find it, use unsmoked cooked cod salted lightly at the end, but know what changes: the salad will be softer and less deep. Make this with winter oranges that are heavy for their size and bright under the peel. Pésalo, no lo adivines. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.
In the Margin beside this one, I keep one warning: season after the cod and olives are in the bowl. Salt first and you punish yourself twice.
Remojón belongs to Granada and the inland eastern Andaluz table, especially the Alpujarra and the Vega, where winter citrus met preserved fish from the old trade routes and household larders. Its sweet orange and salt-cod pairing carries the memory of Andalusí cooking, where fruit, oil, onion, and preserved foods often shared the same plate. Some Granada homes add hard-boiled egg, potato, or roasted pepper, but the lean version of orange, bacalao, olive, and onion is the old winter backbone of the dish.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
dried salt cod
Quantity
250g
soaked 24 to 36 hours, drained, skin and bones removed
winter oranges
Quantity
4 large, about 800g total
peeled and sliced
mild white onion or spring onion
Quantity
80g
very thinly sliced
black olives, preferably cuquillo or empeltre
Quantity
70g
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
60ml
vinagre de Jerez (optional)
Quantity
1 tablespoon
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
to taste
salt (optional)
Quantity
only if needed
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| dried salt codsoaked 24 to 36 hours, drained, skin and bones removed | 250g |
| winter orangespeeled and sliced | 4 large, about 800g total |
| mild white onion or spring onionvery thinly sliced | 80g |
| black olives, preferably cuquillo or empeltre | 70g |
| extra virgin olive oil | 60ml |
| vinagre de Jerez (optional) | 1 tablespoon |
| freshly ground black pepper | to taste |
| salt (optional) | only if needed |
Equipment Needed
- •Shallow serving fuente or wide plate
- •Sharp paring knife
- •Small bowl for soaking onion
Instructions
- 1
Soak the cod
Rinse the salt from the outside of the bacalao, then set it in a bowl of cold water, skin side up if it has skin. Refrigerate 24 to 36 hours, changing the water every 8 to 12 hours. Taste a tiny cooked flake or a thin raw sliver from the thickest part; it should be pleasantly salty, not harsh. This is the step that decides the salad.
Thin pieces of salt cod may be ready in 18 to 24 hours. Thick loin pieces can need 36 hours. The clock helps, but the taste tells you. - 2
Flake the bacalao
Drain the cod well and pat it dry. Pull away any skin and bones, then separate it into small flakes with your fingers. Keep the pieces uneven and natural; chopped cod turns pasty in the bowl. If your cod is very firm, cover it with barely simmering water for 2 minutes, drain, cool, and flake it.
- 3
Prepare the oranges
Cut the peel and white pith from the oranges with a sharp knife, then slice them into rounds or half-moons about 1cm thick. Work over a bowl and keep every spoonful of juice. The salad needs that juice under the oil, where it mixes with the salt from the cod and olives.
- 4
Tame the onion
Put the sliced onion in cold water for 10 minutes if it tastes sharp, then drain and dry it well. You still want onion, not a raw bite that takes over the orange. Spring onion can go in without soaking if it is mild.
- 5
Build the salad
Arrange the orange slices on a shallow plate or fuente. Scatter the flaked bacalao over them, then the onion and black olives. Spoon over the saved orange juice, add the olive oil, and the vinegar if your oranges are very sweet. Finish with black pepper. Taste before adding salt; the cod and olives usually bring enough.
- 6
Rest and serve
Let the remojón sit 15 to 20 minutes before serving, so the orange juice, oil, and salt from the cod make their own dressing in the plate. Serve cool, not fridge-cold. Tal como se hace allí, it should taste bright first, then salty, then round with oil.
Chef Tips
- •Buy proper dried salt cod, bacalao, not smoked fish. Portuguese or Italian salt cod is a good substitute outside Spain. If you use fresh cooked cod, salt it more firmly than usual and accept that the salad will lose the preserved depth that makes remojón itself.
- •Make this in winter, when oranges are sharp, sweet, and heavy with juice. A dry orange gives you pieces of fruit sitting beside fish, not a salad.
- •Use black olives with some bitterness and character, such as cuquillo, empeltre, or a good oil-cured olive. Pitted black olives from a tin taste flat here, and there are too few ingredients for flat olives to hide.
- •Vinegar is optional because oranges change. If they are tart, leave it out. If they are very sweet, a spoon of vinagre de Jerez wakes the plate without turning it sour.
Advance Preparation
- •Start soaking the salt cod 24 to 36 hours ahead, changing the water every 8 to 12 hours.
- •The cod can be soaked, drained, flaked, and refrigerated one day ahead.
- •Assemble the salad up to 2 hours ahead, but hold back half the olive oil until serving so the oranges stay glossy and fresh.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 300g)
Calories
400 calories
Total Fat
17 g
Saturated Fat
3 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
14 g
Cholesterol
95 mg
Sodium
1050 mg
Total Carbohydrates
21 g
Dietary Fiber
5 g
Sugars
15 g
Protein
41 g
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