Ensalada a la chilena (tomato-onion salad)
Ripe tomatoes and thin slices of drained onion, simply seasoned with salt, lemon, oil, and cilantro. Crunchy, juicy, fresh: the lively counterpoint to any seafood dish.
Ripe tomatoes and thin slices of drained onion, simply seasoned with salt, lemon, oil, and cilantro. Crunchy, juicy, fresh: the lively counterpoint to any seafood dish.
The tomato, you see, invades the kitchen in high summer and gives itself freely, fresh, red, generous; and the onion, that clear crystal ball, makes you cry and then rewards you. I marry them simply: the onion in fine slices, bathed in water to remove its anger, the tomato opened in fleshy quarters, salt, a drizzle of oil, lemon, and cilantro. No fuss, no learned sauces — it is the salad of every midday in Chile. Both the poor man and the poet dip their bread in it.
- •Ripe tomatoes — three fine ones (juicy heart)
- •Onion — one (softened bite)
- •Cilantro — a handful (perfume)
- •Lemon — one (acidity)
- •Oil — a drizzle (binding)
- •Salt — to taste (seasoning)
Ensalada a la chilena (tomato-onion salad)
Ripe tomatoes and thin slices of drained onion, simply seasoned with salt, lemon, oil, and cilantro. Crunchy, juicy, fresh: the lively counterpoint to any seafood dish.
Why this dish? Neruda sang separately of tomato and onion in his *Odas elementales* ('Oda al tomate', 'Oda a la cebolla'): this simplest of salads brings together his two poem-vegetables, present at every Chilean lunch.
The tomato, you see, invades the kitchen in high summer and gives itself freely, fresh, red, generous; and the onion, that clear crystal ball, makes you cry and then rewards you. I marry them simply: the onion in fine slices, bathed in water to remove its anger, the tomato opened in fleshy quarters, salt, a drizzle of oil, lemon, and cilantro. No fuss, no learned sauces — it is the salad of every midday in Chile. Both the poor man and the poet dip their bread in it.
Ingredients (period version)
- Ripe tomatoes — three fine ones (juicy heart)
- Onion — one (softened bite)
- Cilantro — a handful (perfume)
- Lemon — one (acidity)
- Oil — a drizzle (binding)
- Salt — to taste (seasoning)
Ingredients
- Ripe tomatoes — 3, quartered (juicy heart)
- Sweet onion, thinly sliced — 1 small (softened bite)
- Chopped cilantro — 3 tbsp (perfume)
- Lemon juice — 1/2 lemon (acidity)
- Olive oil — 2 tbsp (binding)
- Salt — 1 pinch (seasoning)
Method
- Slice onion very thinly and soak in salted cold water for 10 minutes to soften, then drain.
- Cut tomatoes into quarters or thick slices.
- Mix tomatoes and onion in a bowl.
- Season with salt, lemon juice, and olive oil.
- Generously sprinkle with fresh cilantro and serve immediately, with bread to mop up the juices.
How it was made : In Chile, the onion was said to be 'well washed' so it wouldn't sting: the water soak was the family secret, and cilantro often replaced European parsley.
The contemporary twist : Arrange tomato and onion in a fan on a flat plate, juice on the side in a small bowl for dipping bread 'like Neruda'.
Sources : Pablo Neruda, 'Oda al tomate' and 'Oda a la cebolla', *Odas elementales*, 1954
Pablo Neruda · Charactorium
