Trempó de Sant Jaume
This recipe is traditionally offered at the festival of St. James (Sant Jaume) in July, just when field-ripened tomatoes are at their peak.
6 plum tomatoes, fully ripe (or other meaty ripe tomatoes, e.g. ‘beefsteak’)
2 green sweet bell peppers (or 1 green & 1 yellow)
1 red sweet bell pepper
1 bunch spring onions or scallions (white part only) or 1 or 2 small sweet or red onions
2 or 3 cloves garlic, (to taste) peeled
2 or 3 teaspoonsful pickled capers or caper pods
Well-flavoured Spanish extra virgin olive oil
Kosher Salt or Sea Salt
Wash, dry, seed and finely dice the first 4 ingredients as small & evenly as possible, but do not mash or use a kitchen robot (an onion dicer machine is a brilliant help here). Put the garlic through a garlic squeezer.
Place the diced raw veggies in an earthenware bowl or dish and mix well. Stir in the capers (if caper pods are used, cut in half). Sprinkle with fairly generously with sea salt and drizzle generously with best quality virgin olive oil.
Allow to stand at least 2 hours in the fridge to let the juices run & form part of the dressing.
Serve chilled. Use as a salad or as a salsa with any kind of BBQ, either way, it won’t stay around long.
If there are any leftovers keep them well-covered in the fridge overnight – the flavour blend & juices are even better the 2nd day.