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/s
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 57 min
- Total
- 1 hr 22 min
- Servings
- As written in source
- Difficulty
- Advanced
Timings are approximate — worked out from the method, not measured in a test kitchen.
Ingredients
Quantities are retained as written by the source and do not scale automatically. Tap an ingredient to check it off as you go.
Cooking instructions
Procedure
Boil the potatoes gently in their skins until tender. Cool, then remove the skins.
Procedure
Boil the carrots until tender.
Procedure
Gently boil the beef for 1 hour.
Procedure
If using fresh peas, boil or steam them well.
Procedure
Cube the potatoes, carrots, and beef about 5 mm across—essentially, everything should be about the size of the peas.
Procedure
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.
Procedure
Fold everything together gently. Do not season.
Procedure
Beat the cooked egg yolks and the raw yolk until well mixed.
Procedure
Slowly add the oil while beating the eggs until they start to thicken and form a mayonnaise.
Procedure
Add the juice of the lemon and the mustard.
Procedure
Reserve a small quantity of mayonnaise for garnish.
Procedure
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.
Procedure
Season with salt and pepper.
Procedure
Place the salata de boeuf into one large or several smaller bowls.
Procedure
Spread reserved mayonnaise over the top and garnish with the garnishes, arranging them in attractive shapes.
Photo: Sacha47 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0 · Photo source and licence
Wikibooks contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ · Adapted; quantities retained as written. · Original source
Read it through first
Skim all 15 steps before you start — it is the difference between cooking and firefighting.
Scale it
Use the quantities listed in the original recipe. Adjust them manually if making a different batch size.
Storage
Cool completely, then keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.
Reheating
Reheat gently with a splash of water in a covered pan, rather than blasting it, so nothing dries out.
Approximate values per serving. Worked out from the ingredient list — treat them as a guide, not a measurement.
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