Salată de Boeuf (Romanian Beef Salad)
This is a traditional Romanian dish, generally served during all festive and special occasions. It consists of a combination of finely chopped beef and root vegetables, folded in mayonnaise and finished with pickled vegetable garnishes. The name suggests a French culinary influence as the word boeuf is old French for cow and several well know French dishes such as Beef Bourguignon still use the term. The dish is usually made up in large quantities for the whole party. It's eaten as a side dish/salad to fried meats or as an appetiser/entree. Slight differences exist in quantities and these vary according to taste. The recipe below is my mother's and grandmother's. It requires a home made mayonnaise, for which a recipe is included.
- Time
- 1 hr
- Servings
- 6-8
Ingredients
Salad
- 1 kg (2 lb 3 oz) potatoes (any variety, though some prefer red)
- 350 g (12 oz) carrots, peeled and diced in 1 cm cubes
- 350 g boiled beef, cut in 1 cm cubes
- 1 can of peas or 300 g (10.5 oz) fresh peas
- 350 g pickled dill gherkins (not too sweet and very firm), diced in 1 cm cubes
Mayonnaise
- 2 hard boiled eggs, yolks removed
- 1 fresh egg yolk
- 250 ml (8.5 oz) canola or vegetable oil
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 1 tsp (5 ml) French mustard
Garnish
- Boiled egg white, sliced into long thin strips
- Gherkins, sliced into long thin strips
- Pickled red peppers, sliced into long thin strips
- Sliced black olives
Method
- Boil the potatoes gently in their skins until tender. Cool, then remove the skins.
- Boil the carrots until tender.
- Gently boil the beef for 1 hour.
- If using fresh peas, boil or steam them well.
- Cube the potatoes, carrots, and beef about 5 mm across—essentially, everything should be about the size of the peas.
- Cut the gherkins very finely by cutting 3 mm (⅛ inch) thick slices and then cutting them at 3 mm intervals again along the length and width.
- Fold everything together gently. Do not season.
- Beat the cooked egg yolks and the raw yolk until well mixed.
- Slowly add the oil while beating the eggs until they start to thicken and form a mayonnaise.
- Add the juice of the lemon and the mustard.
- Reserve a small quantity of mayonnaise for garnish.
- Fold the rest of the mayonnaise into the cubed meat and vegetables, making a nice consistency where the ingredients are well covered in mayonnaise but not suspended in it.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Place the salata de boeuf into one large or several smaller bowls.
- Spread reserved mayonnaise over the top and garnish with the garnishes, arranging them in attractive shapes.