Pippirana Recipe and the benefits of consuming a frogs-pee salad.

Summer Salad: Pippirana

If like me, summer arrives one unexpected morning by slapping you on the face with slice of burnt toast, compelling you to change not just your trouser length, but your diet, drinking habits, sleeping postures and even the rooms you inhabit in your house - then you may be keen to discover the secret to summer survival is far more simple than you think. Don't flee back to the UK just so you can pull on those thigh length socks again - hold on! There is a solution and like many good things in life, it begins with the letter P.

THINGS THAT BEGIN WITH THE LETTER P
Nope, its not Podemos, nor Pablo, nor Pavlov  - though I understand why you may think so - it is in fact Pippirana - translated directly as "Froggy-pee -salad" - a mouth-watering a translation as any I could imagine 

Look for it emerging during these early summer days - wherever there is a menu del día. If you cannot spot it hastily chalked up on the wall of your favourite bar, then just enter your local eating establishment, cough loudly to attract the attention of the waiter (who is probably watching the footie), and say in a loud and clear voice: "¡oiga! Jefe, una racion de pipirana!”. This will empower your Spanish in a way nothing short of a tongue transplant from Miguel Cervantes would do. 

If, you are unfortunate enough not to live in an area where the ´P´ salad is served - then fret not, for below the gazpachomOnk presents an extracted recipe from the local supplier. Go forth and reproduce...

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RECIPE FOR PIPPIRANA

Ingredients

• Tomatoes: mature, squashy and preferably home grown.
• Couple of pepinos: (small cucumbers) peeled, cut into cubes.
• An onion or two diced.
• Green pepper diced.
• Green olives
• Vinegar, olive oil, cumin and salt.

Optional Additions:

• Red Pepper
• Garlic
• Spuds
• Either a hard-boiled egg or tuna as topping.

There are no instructions as such, you just cut it all up and lob everything into bowl, and then mix it all together. The secret ingredient is not an item, rather it is in the process. Like all the best foods, patience in preparation is the key and in the case of pippirana you should leave it for an hour or so in the fridge to absorb all the flavours before serving it.

Serving Suggestion
If you make enough to last a couple of days, you will gleefully notice that the vegetables soften, the flavours intensify and your body will now be able to withstand the temperatures of a Sahara sandstorm.

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More Recipes and Food History from Spain

TRAVEL STORIES INSIDE THE TORTILLA
And lose yourself this summer in the travel stories of another era, and learn the history and the adventures behind all the recipes in this travelogue and search for a 21st century meaning to life:  Grab the ebook/paperback or audiobook of Recipes for Living another Life. ​​