Condiglione Ligure con Acciughe e Olive Taggiasca

Ingredients

• 4 gallette di mare (hard ship's biscuits) or very stale bread, rubbed with a raw garlic clove
• 1 clove garlic, raw, for rubbing the bread
• 200 g tuna in olive oil, drained, oil reserved
• 8 fillets anchovy fillets, salt-preserved or in oil
• 120 g Taggiasca olives, unpitted, in olive oil
• 4 eggs, hardboiled
• 2 ripe tomatoes, sliced or cut in wedges
• 1 cucumber, thinly sliced
• 1 small white or mild onion, thinly sliced raw
• 1 handful fresh basil leaves, torn at service
• 80 ml Ligurian extra-virgin olive oil, the best available; fruity, low-bitterness
• to taste sea salt, flaked or coarse

Method

1. 1
   Rub each galletta di mare — or slice of very stale bread — thoroughly on both sides with the cut face of a raw garlic clove. Lay the biscuits in a single layer across the base of the serving dish. They must be completely hard and dry; if any flex under pressure, they are not ready to receive the dressing without disintegrating.
2. 2
   Hardboil the eggs: lower them into boiling water for 10 minutes, then transfer to cold water. Peel and halve. Set aside.
3. 3
   Drain the tuna, reserving all its olive oil. Break the tuna into large flakes and distribute it over the bread layer, followed by the anchovy fillets laid flat. The tuna oil and the anchovy liquor will begin to drain down through the bread — this is the intention. The dish lives or dies at this layer: if the tuna is in brine rather than olive oil, or if the anchovies are low-quality, no subsequent step can recover the depth of flavour the bread is meant to absorb.
4. 4
   Arrange the tomato wedges, cucumber slices and raw onion over the fish layer. Place the halved hardboiled eggs and the Taggiasca olives across the top. The composition is a considered arrangement, not a toss — each component must be visible.
5. 5
   Ten minutes before serving, pour the Ligurian olive oil evenly over the entire dish, adding any reserved tuna oil. Season with sea salt. Do not add vinegar or lemon at any stage. Leave undisturbed for 10 minutes: the bread at the base should have absorbed the oil and fish liquors and feel softened but not sodden when pressed with the back of a spoon.
6. 6
   Tear the fresh basil leaves over the surface immediately before bringing the dish to the table. The basil should be fragrant and vivid green — it is added only at service to bridge the anchovy and olive oil with herbal freshness.