A cold salad, also called moje or mojete, built from canned tomato as its base, with flaked tuna or salted fish, raw onion, olives, and hard-boiled egg, dressed simply with olive oil and salt. It is served chilled and eaten with bread to soak up the tomato-and-oil juices that pool at the bottom of the dish. A summer staple of the Region of Murcia, it relies on pantry preserves rather than fresh salad leaves.
A dish of the Region of Murcia rooted in its agricultural and canning tradition, which expanded through the 19th and 20th centuries as the area became a major center for preserved produce. It was built to be made year-round from non-perishable goods — canned tomato preserving the summer surplus, tinned tuna, jarred olives — giving a fresh-tasting salad in seasons with no fresh tomatoes. The preferred tomato is artisanal canned pear tomato, well drained.
Cool and juicy, soft canned tomato giving up sweet-tart liquid that mixes with grassy olive oil into a light dressing at the bottom of the bowl. Salty tuna and brined olives sharpen it, raw onion adds bite, and the hard-boiled egg rounds everything off. There is no crunch of lettuce here; it eats almost like a wet relish, made to be scooped onto bread.
There is no cooking — the dish is about ingredient quality and balance. Draining the canned tomato well keeps the salad from turning watery, while a good fruity olive oil emulsifies loosely with the tomato juices to make the dressing. The salt comes mostly from the tuna and olives, so little added salt is needed; raw onion is sometimes rinsed or briefly soaked to soften its sharpness. It is chilled before serving so the flavors set and the oil stays clean rather than greasy.
Variations
Some versions use salted fish — bacalao or salted sardines — in place of or alongside the tuna, and many cooks add roasted red pepper. Black or green olives, with or without pit, vary by household, and a scatter of spring onion is common. The dish blurs into the broader Mediterranean family of canned-tomato mojetes found across southeastern Spain.
On the Palate
Where Ensalada Murciana sits in the Spanish flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
5 steps · 15 min
- 14 min
Drain the canned tomatoes well, then tear or chop them into rough pieces and spread in a shallow dish.
Watch outDrain the tomatoes until they stop dripping — any leftover liquid pools at the bottom and turns the salad into soup.
- 23 min
Slice the onion thinly; if it is sharp, rinse it under cold water and pat dry.
- 33 min
Scatter the flaked tuna, olives, and onion over the tomato, then arrange wedges of hard-boiled egg on top.
- 43 min
Dress generously with fruity olive oil and a little salt, taking into account the salt already in the tuna and olives.
Watch outSalt with a light hand and taste first — the tuna and olives already bring most of the salt, so add yours only after tasting.
- 52 min
Chill for a short while, then serve cold with plenty of bread.
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