Chef Elsa
Eiersalat (Austrian Egg Salad)
Cool, creamy Austrian egg salad with sour gherkins and tart apple in a mustard-yogurt dressing, the kind of honest Jause food that tastes like an Austrian Easter table and works beautifully all year round.
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Wiener Gurkensalat
Created by
Vienna's paper-thin cucumber salad dressed with sour cream and white wine vinegar, sharp with dill and served cold alongside everything that comes out of the pan.
Salads
Austrian
Weeknight
Quick Meal
25 min
Active Time
0 min cook•25 min total
Yield4 servings
In my grandmother Eva's kitchen in Kent, Gurkensalat appeared on the table so often it felt like punctuation. If there was Schnitzel, there was Gurkensalat. If there was cold meat, there was Gurkensalat. It sat in a small white bowl and nobody made a fuss about it, because fuss is exactly what this salad doesn't need. What it needs is a sharp knife or a mandoline, a heavy hand with salt, and the patience to let the cucumbers weep before you dress them.
Gretel always said the secret to Gurkensalat is what you take away, not what you add. You slice the cucumber so thin you can nearly read through it, then you salt it and let it sit. Fifteen minutes. The salt draws out the water that would drown your dressing and leave you with a puddle instead of a salad. You squeeze out that water with your hands, firmly, until the slices feel almost limp. That's when they're ready to absorb the dressing instead of fighting it.
The dressing is sour cream loosened with good white wine vinegar. Not olive oil. Not lemon juice. White wine vinegar, sharp and clean, the kind Viennese cooks call Hesperidenessig when they're being particular. Fresh dill on top, always. A little sweet paprika if the mood strikes. The whole thing takes fifteen minutes of active work and it should be cold when it reaches the table. This is good Austrian home cooking at its simplest and most honest: one vegetable, treated properly, tasting like exactly what it is.
Gurkensalat has been a fixture of Viennese Bürgerlich cooking since at least the 18th century, appearing as a standard Beilage (side dish) in the city's Gasthäuser and Beisln. The sour cream and vinegar dressing reflects the Central European preference for acidic, dairy-based dressings over the oil-based vinaigrettes of the Mediterranean. In Vienna, ordering Wiener Schnitzel without Gurkensalat or Erdäpfelsalat on the side is considered an incomplete plate, and most kitchens will ask which one you want before you've thought to request it.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
European-style cucumbers
Quantity
2 large (about 800g total)
fine salt
Quantity
1 tablespoon
for drawing out moisture
sour cream
Quantity
200g
full fat
white wine vinegar (Hesperidenessig or Apfelessig)
Quantity
3 tablespoons
garlic
Quantity
1 small clove
very finely minced or crushed
granulated sugar
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
fresh dill
Quantity
3 tablespoons
finely chopped
white pepper
Quantity
to taste
freshly ground
sweet paprika (optional)
Quantity
pinch for finishing
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| European-style cucumbers | 2 large (about 800g total) |
| fine saltfor drawing out moisture | 1 tablespoon |
| sour creamfull fat | 200g |
| white wine vinegar (Hesperidenessig or Apfelessig) | 3 tablespoons |
| garlicvery finely minced or crushed | 1 small clove |
| granulated sugar | 1/2 teaspoon |
| fresh dillfinely chopped | 3 tablespoons |
| white pepperfreshly ground | to taste |
| sweet paprika (optional) | pinch for finishing |
Equipment Needed
- •Mandoline slicer (or a very sharp knife)
- •Large mixing bowl
- •Small whisk or fork for the dressing
Instructions
- 1
Slice the cucumbers paper-thin
Peel the cucumbers if the skin is thick or waxy. If you're using thin-skinned European cucumbers, you can leave the peel on or remove alternating strips for a bit of color. Now slice them as thin as you possibly can. A mandoline set to about one and a half millimeters is ideal. If you're using a knife, take your time and go slowly. The slices should be translucent. If you can't see light through them, they're too thick and the salad won't have the right texture. Thick slices stay crunchy and stubborn. Thin ones yield to the dressing and become silky.
A mandoline is worth the investment if you make this salad regularly. Use the hand guard. I've seen enough kitchen injuries to feel strongly about this. - 2
Salt and drain
Place the cucumber slices in a large bowl and sprinkle the tablespoon of salt over them. Toss gently with your hands so every slice gets coated. Let them sit for fifteen minutes. You'll watch the bowl fill with water. This is exactly what you want. The salt is pulling out the moisture that would otherwise dilute your dressing into a thin, watery mess. After fifteen minutes, take handfuls of the cucumber slices and squeeze them firmly over the sink. Really squeeze. You want them limp and nearly dry, wrung out like a dishcloth. Don't be delicate about this. The more water you remove now, the better the finished salad will taste.
Don't skip the squeezing or try to shortcut it by just pouring off the water. The liquid trapped between those paper-thin slices won't drain on its own. Your hands are the tool here. - 3
Make the dressing
In a small bowl, stir together the sour cream, white wine vinegar, crushed garlic, sugar, and a generous amount of freshly ground white pepper. The dressing should taste sharp and tangy. The vinegar should announce itself clearly, not hide behind the sour cream. If it tastes balanced and polite, add another splash of vinegar. Austrian salad dressings, what they call Marinade, are vinegar-forward. That acidity is the whole point when this sits next to a rich, buttery Schnitzel.
White pepper, not black. Black pepper leaves dark specks in the white dressing and tastes harsher. White pepper is traditional and gives a gentler, rounder heat. - 4
Dress and chill
Add the drained cucumber slices to the dressing and fold everything together gently. Stir in most of the fresh dill, saving a pinch for the top. Taste and adjust. It may need a touch more salt after the draining, or another drop of vinegar. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least fifteen minutes before serving. The salad needs this time in the cold for the cucumbers to absorb the dressing and for the flavors to settle into each other.
- 5
Serve cold
Spoon the Gurkensalat into a small bowl. Scatter the reserved dill over the top and finish with the lightest dusting of sweet paprika if you like. Serve it cold, straight from the fridge. This is a side dish, not a centerpiece. It belongs next to Wiener Schnitzel, cold cuts, a piece of fried fish, or as part of a Gemischter Salat alongside Erdäpfelsalat and shredded carrot salad. Mahlzeit!
Chef Tips
- •Use European-style cucumbers, sometimes labeled as hothouse, telegraph, or English cucumbers. They have fewer seeds, thinner skin, and less water than the fat, dark-green American slicing cucumbers. If all you can find is the standard variety, halve it lengthwise and scoop out the seeds with a spoon before slicing.
- •The sugar in the dressing is not there to make it sweet. Half a teaspoon rounds the sharp edge of the vinegar just enough that you taste tang instead of harshness. If you leave it out, the dressing will taste one-dimensional.
- •Gretel always said this salad tastes best after an hour in the fridge but loses its bite by the next day. Make it the afternoon you plan to eat it. Leftover Gurkensalat gets soft and waterlogged overnight, and that's no good to anyone.
- •If you can find Hesperidenessig, a delicate Viennese citrus vinegar, use it. A good Austrian or German Apfelessig (apple cider vinegar) is the next best thing. Harsh distilled white vinegar is too aggressive here. The vinegar should be sharp but clean, not chemical.
Advance Preparation
- •Gurkensalat can be made up to four hours ahead and kept covered in the fridge. It actually improves with thirty to sixty minutes of chilling, as the dressing melds with the cucumbers.
- •Do not make this the day before. The cucumbers release more water overnight and the salad becomes thin and tired. This is a same-day dish.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 220g)
Calories
130 calories
Total Fat
10 g
Saturated Fat
6 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
4 g
Cholesterol
20 mg
Sodium
730 mg
Total Carbohydrates
8 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
5 g
Protein
3 g
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