Salt Cod with Chickpeas and Spinach

Foreigners are often bewildered by the rather unappetizing piles of grey salt cod sitting next to stalls heaving with gleaming fresh fish in Barcelona’s Boquería market. Who would chose to eat the dried fish with so much fresh around? Well, you might just choose to eat a slice of cured ham instead of pork. It’s the classic case where preservation has resulted in something terribly good in its own right.

Mercè Brunés runs a fabulous cookery school and guest house, El