Chick Peas with Spinach and Salt Cod

Stews are a Spanish favourite during Lent, when cooks and housewives are obliged to resort to all their ingenuity to make up for the foods they are not allowed to serve. I still recall a memorable lunch one April day in the alcázar or fortress of Carmona in the province of Seville. The menu began with a revuelto of fine green asparagus, followed by a stew of baby spinach, chick peas and a dash of salt cod, with a walnut sponge for dessert served with fresh apricot and bitter o