Salată de Boeuf — Print Recipe

A festive composed salad of finely diced boiled beef and root vegetables bound in a tangy homemade mayonnaise, decorated with vegetable mosaics.

Ingredients

500g beef brisket
3 carrots
3 potatoes
2 parsnips
200g pickles, finely diced
200g pickled red peppers, diced
1 cup frozen peas, cooked
Homemade mayonnaise: 2 egg yolks, 300ml sunflower oil, 2 tbsp mustard, 2 tbsp lemon juice
Salt, pepper

Instructions

1 Boil beef brisket with a whole carrot, onion, and salt for 2 hours until very tender. Cool completely.
2 Boil potatoes, remaining carrots, and parsnips until tender. Cool and peel.
3 Dice all vegetables and beef into very small, uniform cubes (5mm).
4 Make mayonnaise: whisk egg yolks with mustard, add oil in a thin stream while whisking constantly, finish with lemon juice.
5 Fold diced beef, vegetables, peas, pickles, and peppers with most of the mayonnaise. Season well.
6 Mound on a platter, coat smoothly with remaining mayonnaise. Decorate with vegetable cutouts. Chill before serving.

Did You Know?

The elaborate vegetable decorations on top of salată de boeuf are a point of pride — competition between Romanian housewives during holidays is fierce.