In Naples, the reinforcement salad, together with escarole pizza and cauliflower fritters, is a must-have on the table set for Christmas festivities.
This reinforcement salad is not a real recipe, but more an assembly of various ingredients that make this preparation rich in flavors. The only ingredient that will require cooking is the cauliflower, to which you add pickled vegetables, olives, capers, anchovies, and papaccelle (small globose-shaped peppers grown in Campania).
There are several theories about why it’s called that. Some people believe the name “reinforcement salad” comes from the fact that this preparation was enriched from time to time by ingredients that perhaps were leftovers from other recipes or in limited quantities to be consumed even by one person. Others believe that this name is due to the fact that this salad is prepared to “reinforce” the Christmas Eve menu, which in Naples is always fish-based and therefore light, even though cod, eel, shrimp, and squid are fried… fish is still too light, especially for grandmothers!!
Now take a minute to read the recipe and then…let’s cook and eat!!
See also
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- cauliflower
- Neapolitan papaccelle
- pickled vegetables
- black olives
- green olives
- salted capers
- salted anchovies (optional)
- as needed extra virgin olive oil
- salt
- vinegar
Tools
- 1 Knife
- 1 Pot
- 1 Colander
- 1 Bowl
Steps
To prepare the reinforcement salad, as you noticed, there are no precise amounts, and you can add more or fewer ingredients according to your taste.
However, the “star” ingredient of this salad is the cauliflower.
Clean it of the outer leaves, divide it into florets, and boil them in salted boiling water for a few minutes. They will be ready when you can pierce them without mashing them (they must remain crunchy).
Once drained, let the cauliflower cool inside a colander.
Meanwhile, clean the papaccelle by removing the stalk and central seeds, then cut them into strips a few mm thick and set them aside. If you decide to add the salted anchovies, I recommend soaking them for about ten minutes to soften them, then remove the central bone.
Proceed by thoroughly desalting the capers under running water and cutting the pickled vegetables into pieces if there are rather large pieces.
Once the cauliflower is completely cooled, you just have to assemble everything.
In a bowl, gather the cauliflower florets, pickled vegetables, papaccelle, olives (you can pit them first if you want), anchovies, and capers.
Then add the oil, salt, mix well, and taste to check the acidity level of the salad.
Since the pickled vegetables are already acidic, you might skip adding more vinegar; the choice is up to your taste.
Let the reinforcement salad rest in the fridge for a few hours, even better if you prepare it the day before, then transfer it to a serving dish, add another drizzle of oil, and serve it 😉.
