Trempó
Mallorca's summer salad: tomato, green pepper, and onion, finely chopped and dressed simply with olive oil and salt.
Trempó is the dish Mallorcan households turn to when the summer heat makes cooking unappealing. Ripe tomato, green pepper, and onion are diced small and tossed together with little more than good olive oil and salt, letting the vegetables' own juices do most of the dressing. It's typically made ahead and left to sit so the flavors settle before serving, cold or at room temperature. Some households add capers, olives, or a bit of chopped fruit for extra sweetness, but the base of tomato, pepper, and onion stays constant. Trempó also does double duty as the topping for coca de trempó, spread over flatbread dough before baking. It's a dish built around what the summer garden gives, and it turns up on nearly every Mallorcan table through the hot months.
How it's served
Cold or at room temperature, usually as a side salad alongside grilled meat or fish, or spooned over coca de trempó as a topping. Often made ahead and rested so the vegetables release their juices before serving.
Regional variation
The base of tomato, green pepper, and onion is constant, but additions vary by household: capers, olives, or occasionally chopped fruit for a touch of sweetness. As a topping on coca de trempó, it's baked rather than served raw.
- Origin
- Mallorca
- Etymology
- From the Mallorcan verb trempar, meaning to dress or season.
Frequently asked
What is trempó?
Trempó is a Mallorcan salad of finely chopped tomato, green pepper, and onion, dressed simply with olive oil and salt. It's eaten cold or at room temperature, especially in summer, and also used as a topping for coca de trempó.
What's in a traditional trempó?
The base is tomato, green pepper, and onion, diced small and dressed with olive oil and salt. Some cooks add capers, olives, or chopped fruit, but those three vegetables are the constant.
What's the difference between trempó and coca de trempó?
Trempó is the salad itself, served on its own as a side. Coca de trempó uses the same chopped vegetable mix as a topping baked onto a thin flatbread, so it's the same ingredients in a different format.
Related terms
- Pa amb OliMallorca's everyday bread dish: coarse country bread rubbed with ripe tomato and olive oil, salted, and topped with whatever's on hand, usually cured meats, cheese, or olives.
- Coca mallorquinaMallorcan flatbread, savoury or sweet. The savoury coca de trampó tops it with summer vegetables; the sweet coca de patata is brioche-light, dusted with powdered sugar.
- AllioliPungent Catalan emulsion of garlic and olive oil. Traditionally no egg. Eaten with grilled meats, paella and fish.