Fleischsalat

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Sharp knife
• •Cutting board
• •Medium mixing bowl
• •Whisk

Instructions

1. 1

   Cut fine strips

   Peel the Lyoner or Fleischwurst if it has a casing, then cut it into thin slices and stack those into fine strips. Cut the pickled cucumbers the same way. Matching strips matter because the dressing can cling evenly; cubes slide around in the bowl and taste clumsy.

2. 2

   Mix the dressing

   Whisk the mayonnaise with the pickle brine and mustard until it turns loose and glossy. Do this before the sausage goes in, because the brine has to cut through the fat first; add it later and you chase sour patches around the bowl. Nicht aus dem Glas if you have time for your own mayonnaise, but a good plain one is an honest weeknight choice.

3. 3

   Fold, don't drown

   Fold the sausage, cucumber, and shallot through the dressing until everything is just coated. Stop before it looks wet. Fleischsalat is bound, not buried, and too much mayonnaise dulls the cured sausage and the pickle that should be keeping the salad awake.

   If your pickles are very sweet, add the teaspoon of white wine vinegar now. Sweet cucumber without enough acid makes the salad taste flat, and flat food needs acid before it needs salt.
4. 4

   Rest and taste

   Cover the bowl and refrigerate it for one hour. The rest lets the salt and brine move through the sausage strips, so the salad tastes seasoned instead of dressed only on the outside. Taste cold, then add black pepper, chives, and salt only if it needs it. Würzen, Fett, Salz zum Schluss.

5. 5

   Serve on bread

   Serve it cold on a buttered Brötchen or with dark rye, because the bread needs a little fat barrier under the salad or it goes soft. Add more chives at the table if you like. Schön ist, was schmeckt.

Chef Tips

• •Buy Lyoner or Fleischwurst from a butcher who slices it fresh, or buy a whole piece and cut it yourself. Pre-shredded sausage dries at the edges, and dry sausage drinks dressing without tasting better.
• •Use pickles with real bite. A sweet cucumber can work only if you correct it with vinegar; the salad needs acid to keep the mayonnaise from turning heavy.
• •Keep the strips fine and even. This is the knife work of the dish, and it decides whether the salad eats cleanly on bread or falls apart in dull chunks.
• •It keeps one day in the refrigerator. After that the cucumber gives up too much liquid and the dressing loosens, so make what you'll eat.

Advance Preparation

• •Make the salad at least one hour before serving so the brine can season the sausage strips all the way through.
• •For a picnic, pack it cold in a covered container and keep it chilled until serving. Mayonnaise and cured sausage still need respect, even when the dish is simple.
• •If serving on rolls, split and butter the Brötchen just before eating. Built too early, the bread softens and the salad loses its clean bite.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 140g)