Salata mashwiya

Ingredients

The vegetables

• 6green peppers
• long sweet ones if possible
• 6tomatoes
• 2onions, unpeeled
• 1whole head of garlic
• 2hot chillies, optional

The dressing

• 5 tablespoonsolive oil
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 teaspoonground caraway
• or coriander
• salt and black pepper

To finish

• 1 tintuna in oil
• drained and flaked
• 3eggs, hard boiled
• black olives
• chopped parsley

To serve

• with bread
• at room temperature
• as a starter or side

Directions

1. Use tongs rather than your bare hands. Keep loose sleeves well away from it. Never leave the flame unattended. Steam builds inside the sealed skin. Pierce them once before roasting. A bursting pepper throws hot pulp. Put the hot peppers in a covered bowl. Ten minutes makes it slip right off. Rub the skin off with your fingers. Some black flecks should remain. Leave them off for a vegan version.
2. Pierce each pepper once with a knife. One hole is quite enough for a pepper. Set the peppers directly on the flame. Turn them as each side blackens. Use tongs to move them all about. The skin should char right through. Turn them every minute or two. Roasting the tomatoes is done alongside. Put the whole tomatoes on the flame. They take less time than peppers.
3. Put the whole unpeeled onions on the flame. Leave the papery skin on entirely. It takes about fifteen minutes. Put the whole garlic head on the flame. Roast it in its papery skin too. They go soft and sweet inside. Squeeze the cloves out afterward. Put the hot vegetables in a bowl. Cover it tightly with a plate. Give it about ten full minutes.
4. Rub the blackened skin off the peppers. It should come away in sheets. Use your fingers rather than a knife. Do not rinse it under any water. Pull the stem and the seeds out. Discard the stem and the seeds. Keep any of the juices that run out. Add them all back into the salad. Do not throw those juices away. Rub the blackened tomato skin off. Peeling the onions is straightforward enough.
5. Peel off the blackened outer layers. Peel down to the soft sweet flesh. Discard everything that is blackened. Chop all the vegetables together. Chop them on a board with a knife. Work them into a coarse mixture. Keep chopping until fairly fine. It should not be a smooth paste.
6. Squeeze the roast garlic into the mixture. It squeezes out as a soft paste. Mash it through the vegetables. Whisk the oil with the lemon juice. Add the caraway and the seasoning. Use a good one if you have it. Pour the dressing over the vegetables. Fold it right through thoroughly. Everything should be coated in it. Taste it and adjust the lemon. Taste it and then adjust the salt.
7. Let it stand for thirty minutes. The vegetables take up the dressing. Take it out well ahead of serving. Spread the salad on a flat dish. Spread it in a shallow even layer. Scatter flaked tuna over the salad. Arrange the egg quarters on it. Add black olives around the edge.
8. Scatter chopped parsley over it all. That keeps them visible and distinct. Arrange them all with some care. Serving it is done with bread. Serve plenty of bread alongside. It keeps three days refrigerated. Add the toppings fresh each time.

Technique

• Pierce each pepper once before it goes on the flame, since steam builds inside the sealed skin and a bursting pepper throws hot pulp, causing genuine burns. Use tongs rather than bare hands, keep loose sleeves away and never leave the flame unattended.
• Put the hot charred vegetables in a bowl covered tightly with a plate for ten minutes: the trapped steam loosens the skins so they slip off easily. Then rub the skin off with your fingers and do not rinse under water, which washes the smoke flavour away — leave some black flecks, since they carry the char and are genuinely part of the dish.
• Roast directly over flame rather than in an oven, which gives no smoke flavour at all — that smokiness defines the salad. A gas burner works well and a charcoal grill better still.

Substitutions

• Roast the onions and garlic in their papery skins, which protect the flesh from burning while it goes soft and sweet inside; squeeze the garlic out as a paste afterwards, mellow rather than sharp.
• Tuna and egg go on top and the salad base beneath has no fish at all, so leaving them off gives a vegan version — say plainly what you have served, since fish allergy can be severe.

Variations

• Chop the vegetables on a board rather than blending them, which gives the coarse chunky texture with pieces still visible — a blended version is a different dish entirely. Some cooks pound it in a mortar for a rougher result and both are genuinely done.
• Keep the juices that run out of the peppers as they are deseeded and add them back, since they carry real flavour.
• Serve it at room temperature rather than chilled, since refrigerating dulls the flavour and thickens the oil; it improves after thirty minutes standing and again overnight. Tunisia makes the closely related salade mechouia and the two are essentially the same dish.

History

Shares its roots with the Tunisian grilled salad, the vegetables charred over flame before being peeled and chopped.

Frequently asked questions

What is Salata mashwiya?

Salata mashwiya is a salad & side from Libya: grilled peppers and tomatoes chopped with olives, egg and tuna. Shares its roots with the Tunisian grilled salad, the vegetables charred over flame before being peeled and chopped.

How long does Salata mashwiya take to make?

Salata mashwiya takes 40 minutes of preparation and 30 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Salata mashwiya?

Yes, within limits. Roast the onions and garlic in their papery skins, which protect the flesh from burning while it goes soft and sweet inside; squeeze the garlic out as a paste afterwards, mellow rather than sharp. Tuna and egg go on top and the salad base beneath has no fish at all, so leaving them off gives a vegan version — say plainly what you have served, since fish allergy can be severe.

What is the most important thing to get right in Salata mashwiya?

Use tongs rather than your bare hands. Keep loose sleeves well away from it. Never leave the flame unattended. Steam builds inside the sealed skin. Pierce them once before roasting. A bursting pepper throws hot pulp. Put the hot peppers in a covered bowl. Ten minutes makes it slip right off. Rub the skin off with your fingers. Some black flecks should remain. Leave them off for a vegan version.