If you were to ask any passerby in Liege what he considers to be the most popular dish in his city, he would probably reply, ‘Ah, mais if n’y a rien qu’une bonne salade liégeoise’ (there is nothing like a good Liège salad), ‘but it must be well prepared'.
This answer might surprise you, for you would have quickly discovered that Liège abounds in fine restaurants offering specialties of the region, which include crayfish and fresh trout, excellent charcuterie including the local jambon d’Ardennes, and a wide variety of game during the hunting season.
Yet Belgians are at heart unswervingly faithful to their home cooking. A salade liégeoise, prepared with as much care and love as one would lavish on a fancier dish, remains a perennial favourite.
This salad is at its best when it is made with waxy new potatoes and crisp, fresh green beans. It must be assembled while the beans and potatoes are still warm enough to absorb the bacon-vinegar dressing and served immediately. With some good country bread, this robust and simple salad is a meal in itself.
Ingredients
6 to 8 new red potatoes (about ¾ pound), scrubbed
Salt to taste
1 pound green beans, trimmed
2 tablespoons unsalted butter or
vegetable oil
5 ounces slab bacon, cut into 1 × ¼-inch strips
¼ cup red wine vinegar
2 shallots or 1 small onion, finely chopped
¼ cup finely minced fresh parsley
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- Cook the unpeeled potatoes in boiling salted water to cover until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain,
- Cook the green beans in plenty of boiling salted water until tender but still crunchy, 10 to 15 minutes. Do not cover the pot or they will discolor.
- When the potatoes are cool enough to handle but still quite warm, peel them and cut each potato into 4 pieces. Combine the potatoes and warm green beans in a salad bowl
- Melt the butter or heat the oil in a medium-size skillet over medium heat. Add the bacon strips and sauté until crisp but not too brown, 4 to 6 minutes.
- Pour the bacon and the rendered fat over the green beans and potatoes.
- Deglaze the warm skillet with the vinegar and reduce over high heat by two-thirds, 1 minute. Pour over the vegetables and combine well.
- Season with salt to taste. Sprinkle with the shallots, parsley, and a generous grinding of freshly ground black pepper.
Serves 4
Variation: A warm dressing of bacon and red wine vinegar is a favourite for many other salads composed of leafy or bitter lettuces and hearty winter vegetables. Try mixing your own blend of curly endive, Belgian endive, grated celery root, finely shredded red cabbage, and tangy apples. Toss it with the bacon-vinegar vinaigrette (described above) and top with garlic croutons.
Ruth's favourite recipe of the day: Belgian born international chef Ruth Van Waerebeek combines a love of travel, adventure and the culinary arts in her best selling cookbook 'The taste of Belgium'. She draws inspiration from the many tested recipes carried through generations of family home cooks. Ruth picks one of her favourite recipes for The Brussels Times every day.
