Orange Salad with Olives

This juicy salad is wonderfully refreshing, especially in winter, and it makes a beautiful dish for Christmas.
Oranges and olives do not grow in the Nordic countries; however, they have been available in supermarkets for decades and are now seen as everyday food.

Serves 4 as a side dish:
4 oranges, 1 small onion, ½ tablespoon salt, a twist of freshly ground black pepper, 4 tablespoons olive oil, and a handful of black olives.

Mix the olive oil with the salt and pepper. Peel the onion and slice it — as thin as paper, if you can. Put the onion slices in the olive oil and leave them for at least 10 minutes (or up to 24 hours in the refrigerator). This will soften the onion.

In Southern Europe, mild and sweet onions are available and can be sliced directly into the salad. However, in the Nordic countries onions tend to be stronger, and adding them without any preparation can easily overpower the taste.

Now cut the oranges free from their peel. You will have a bit of flesh left on the peels — try to squeeze the juice from these into the oil and onion mixture. Slice the oranges into 0.5 cm thick rounds and arrange them neatly on a plate.

Spoon the onion and olive oil mixture over the orange slices and decorate with the black olives.

I first encountered this salad at the now-dormant Café Kunst & Farver on Oehlenschlægersgade in Copenhagen. It was introduced to me by the daughter of the late artist and owner — a refugee from Algeria — and it made a lasting impression. She always added a little rosewater to the olive oil, giving it a wonderfully aromatic flavour.

There are many variations of this salad. My favourite cookbook author, Claudia Roden, explains that in Morocco, the dressing is made with argan oil, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, and paprika. For a variation, slices of radish can be mixed with the oranges. Caludia Roden further explains that in Calabria, Italy, a layer of mixed green salad is placed under the orange slices, and spring onions or mild red onions are used. Finally, in Spain, a tablespoon of sherry vinegar and a tablespoon of port wine are added to the olive oil.