We just returned to New York from Spain (with a detour to France) and we are missing tapas bars already. There is nothing like buying an inexpensive glass of wine--usually around or under $2 US--and receiving a free small plate to enjoy with it. This tapas bar seafood salad, which is also known as salpicon, is one of our favorites.
Tapas Bar Seafood Salad. Photo by Frances Janisch for The Fire Island Cookbook.
Tapas Bar Seafood Salad
When you walk into a bar in Spain, you will see a glass-covered case filled with salads and cooked foods. With each glass of wine you order, you will be offered a tapa, or small plate of food—for free! Cold seafood salad is always a sure bet, especially with a nice, crisp glass of Albariño.
- ¾ pound cooked crab meat, fresh or canned
- 1 pound octopus
- 1 ½ pounds medium shrimp
- 1 small red pepper
- 1 small green pepper
- 1 medium red onion
- ½ pound green olives, pitted
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- Salt and pepper to taste
Peel the shrimp and remove tails. In a medium saucepan, bring salted water to a boil over high heat. Boil 3-5 minutes, until shrimp turn pink. Empty shrimp into strainer, and rinse with cold running water.
Boil the octopus in salted water until tender. This may take between 30 and 60 minutes, depending on the thickness of the octopus. After cooking, allow to cool to touch, and cut into ¼ inch slices.
Break the crab meat into ½ inch pieces with your fingers and a fork. Place the shrimp, octopus, and crab meat in a large glass or ceramic bowl.
Rinse and seed the peppers, and cut into lengthwise into ¼ inch slices, and then cut each slice in half crosswise. Dice the onion. Add peppers, onion, and olives to seafood in bowl. Toss lightly.
Add olive oil and lemon juice to bowl, and mix to coat seafood and vegetables. Lightly salt and pepper to taste. Serve cold. May be refrigerated before serving. This can be made in the morning, and plated and served at dinner time.
Wine Pairing:
Laxas Albariño, Rias Baixas, Spain
The bracing minerality of this clean white wine is just right with seafood.
Note: You may substitute 1 pound cleaned calamari rings for the octopus. Boil approximately 3-4 minutes, until tender.
From THE FIRE ISLAND COOKBOOK Copyright © 2012 by The World Wine Guys, LLC published by Atria Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.