Salată de Boeuf
(sah-lah-tuh de buff)
Sunday Grătar: The Romanian Backyard BBQ
Despite the aristocratic French name, this is the meticulously diced, pragmatic soul of Eastern European comfort food. It is a monumental mosaic of root vegetables, chicken, and sharp, briny pickles bound in a mustard-spiked mayonnaise. Every Romanian backyard barbecue relies on this chilled, creamy centerpiece as the essential counterpunch to hot, garlicky sausages and charred pork. Achieving the authentic flavor profile requires no culinary sorcery—just proper starch management, intensely sour pickles, and the meditative patience to chop every ingredient to the exact size of a green pea.
Ingredients
- boneless skinless chicken breast1 lb
- waxy red potatoes1 3/4 lb
- carrots14 oz
- parsnip7 oz
- celeriac7 oz
- frozen green peas1 cup
- brined dill pickles10 1/2 oz
- pickled sweet red peppers3/4 cup
- pitted black olives1/4 cup
- fresh parsley1 small bunch
- neutral vegetable oil3/4 cup
- large eggs2 large
- Dijon mustard1 tbsp
- lemon juice1 tbsp
- fine sea salt1/2 tsp
- freshly ground black pepper1/4 tsp
Method
- 01
Simmer the meat and root vegetables until just fork-tender.
Cook the whole, unpeeled potatoes in a large pot of salted water, and the chicken, carrots, parsnip, and celeriac in another. Do not let them boil furiously or overcook. Remove them from the water as soon as they are tender and let them cool completely to room temperature so the starches set up firmly.
- 02
Blanch the frozen peas.
Drop the peas into boiling water for exactly two minutes, then immediately drain and rinse them under ice-cold water to stop the cooking process and preserve their bright color.
- 03
Dice the cooled meat and vegetables perfectly.
Peel the cooled potatoes; the skins should easily slip off. Using a very sharp chef's knife, meticulously dice the potatoes, carrots, parsnip, celeriac, and chicken breast into identical, pea-sized cubes. Combine them in a large mixing bowl along with the blanched peas.
- 04
Dice and thoroughly dry the pickles and peppers.
Cut the pickles and pickled sweet red peppers to the exact same size as the vegetables. Press them in a fine-mesh sieve or pat them completely dry with paper towels to prevent their excess acidic liquid from breaking the mayonnaise emulsion, then add them to the main bowl.
- 05
Blend the two-minute mayonnaise.
In a tall cylindrical container, combine the vegetable oil, eggs, mustard, lemon juice, and salt. Plunge an immersion blender to the very bottom and run it on high without moving for five seconds, then slowly tilt and raise the blender to pull in the remaining oil until a thick, luxurious emulsion forms.
- 06
Bind the salad with the mayonnaise.
Fold three-quarters of the mayonnaise into the diced ingredients using a large spatula, working gently until the mixture is cohesive but not drowning in dressing. Taste and adjust the seasoning with additional salt and black pepper as needed.
- 07
Shape, frost, and decorate the salad.
Pack the salad onto a flat serving platter, smoothing it into a neat dome or rectangular block. Spread the remaining mayonnaise over the entire surface in a thin, opaque layer like cake frosting, then decorate the top with sliced olives, reserved pickle strips, carrot rounds, and fresh parsley. Chill in the refrigerator for at least two hours before serving.
Notes
For a weekend project, prepare the purist's beef version.
Swap the chicken breast for one and a half pounds of bone-in beef shank. Slow cook it with the root vegetables, a bay leaf, and whole peppercorns for six hours until meltingly tender, then cool and dice as instructed.
The salad easily adapts for vegetarians.
Simply omit the chicken entirely. The root vegetables and mayonnaise are robust enough to stand on their own as the classic, meatless Salată a la Russe.
From Cook Romanian in America.