Salată de Roșii cu Telemea
(sah-LAH-tuh deh RO-shee koo teh-leh-MYAH)
La Grătar (The Weekend Cookout)
A sharp paring knife meets a heavy backyard tomato. Serving as the necessary acidic counterpunch at a Tuesday night cookout, it's rural Carpathian country food at its purest, demanding nothing but a block of sheep's milk telemea. The magic lies in the austere perfection of unrefined sunflower oil, a quick maceration to tame the onions, and the pursuit of the 'zeamă'—the cloudy, salt-heavy emulsion of pooling tomato juice at the bottom of the bowl meant strictly for swiping with crusty bread, so tear off a hunk and drag it through.
Before you start
Dry the vegetables completely before assembly.
Water dilutes the precious tomato juices that form the salad's dressing, so ensure your tomatoes and cucumbers are completely dried off after washing.
Ingredients
- yellow or red onion1/2 med
- kosher salt1 tsp
- heirloom or vine tomatoes1 1/2 lb
- Persian cucumber1 small
- Cubanelle or green bell pepper1 med
- unrefined sunflower oil3 tbsp
- white wine vinegar1 tbsp
- sheep's milk Feta in brine4 oz
- rustic country bread1 med loaf
Method
- 01
Macerate the onions to neutralize their raw bite.
Place the sliced onions in the bottom of a serving bowl, sprinkle with half a teaspoon of salt, and gently massage it in with your fingers for thirty seconds. Let them sit for five minutes to draw out the sweetness and kill the harsh sulfur.
- 02
Grate the softest tomato to build the essential broth.
Take your ripest, softest tomato, cut it in half, and grate the flesh directly into the bowl with the onions, discarding the skin. Cut the remaining tomatoes into large, bite-sized wedges and throw them in.
- 03
Dress the vegetables with sunflower oil and vinegar.
Add the sliced cucumber and pepper, drizzle with the sunflower oil and vinegar, and sprinkle the remaining salt. Give it a gentle toss without crushing the tomato wedges.
- 04
Fold in the cheese and let the salad rest.
Top with the crumbled Feta and fold it in once or twice. Do not aggressively mix this, or it turns into a cloudy mess. Let it sit on the counter for ten to fifteen minutes so the salt pulls out the juices and creates the prized zeamă.
- 05
Serve immediately with thick-cut rustic bread.
Pass the bowl alongside whatever heavy, garlicky meats are coming off the grill, and make sure everyone gets a piece of bread to mop up the juices at the end.
Notes
Stick to unrefined sunflower oil for the authentic flavor profile.
Olive oil dominates the internet's version of this dish, but true Romanian countryside salads rely entirely on unrefined sunflower oil. It imparts a nutty, Eastern European flavor that builds the perfect emulsion with the tomato serum.
Avoid California Teleme cheese.
Standard American grocery stores might sell 'California Teleme,' which is a soft, brie-like cheese completely unrelated to the firm, brined Romanian Telemea. Stick to high-quality sheep's milk Feta in brine as the perfect accessible substitute.
From Cook Romanian in America.