Maroulosalata
A Greek spring salad eaten at Easter beside roast lamb, when romaine is in full season. It has just four basic elements — lettuce, dill, spring onion, oil with lemon — and the whole secret is in the knife: the lettuce is cut into ribbons as fine as threads. Cut that way it stops being leaves and becomes a delicate mass that takes up dressing with every strand. Torn coarsely, it is an entirely different, ordinary salad.
Your own work in that: 2 min.
- Shredding 8 min
- Dressing 3 min
- Tossing 2 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneWash and thoroughly dry the leaves
Separate the leaves, wash them and dry in a spinner, then on a cloth. Wet lettuce dilutes the dressing and the salad swims. With such fine cutting, every drop of water shows.
Ingredients: 1 pcs romaine lettuce · 1 bunch dill · 5 pcs spring onions · 100 g feta
Roll the leaves and shred them
Stack a few leaves, roll them tightly and slice with a very sharp knife into 2 mm ribbons. A blunt knife bruises the lettuce and the edges darken within a quarter of an hour. Shred as finely as for slaw.
Ingredients: 1 pcs romaine lettuce · 1 bunch dill · 5 pcs spring onions · 100 g feta
A tight roll and a sharp knife — ribbons like threads.Chop the dill and spring onion
Chop the dill with its thin stems and the spring onion with its green parts. There should be a lot of dill — a whole bunch per head. In this salad dill is the second main ingredient, not a seasoning.
Ingredients: 1 pcs romaine lettuce · 1 bunch dill · 5 pcs spring onions · 100 g feta
Emulsify the oil with lemon and salt
Dissolve the salt in the lemon juice (and vinegar, if using), add the oil and beat with a fork until cloudy and slightly thick. Salt does not dissolve in oil, only in the juice — added to the finished salad it stays in grains.
Ingredients: 80 ml olive oil · 1 pcs lemon · 1 tbsp wine vinegar · ½ tsp salt
Beaten until cloudy — the salt dissolves in the lemon.Toss by hand just before serving
Combine the lettuce, dill and spring onion in a large bowl, pour over the dressing and toss by hand, lifting gently. Hands separate the ribbons; spoons press them into wet clumps.
Ingredients: 1 pcs romaine lettuce · 1 bunch dill · 5 pcs spring onions · 100 g feta
By hand, lifting — spoons clump it together.Crumble the feta on top
Crumble the feta with your fingers on top, do not stir it in. Feta mixed into the dressing dissolves into white mush and weighs down the delicate ribbons.
Ingredients: 1 pcs romaine lettuce · 1 bunch dill · 5 pcs spring onions · 100 g feta
Serve within ten minutes
Serve at once. Finely shredded lettuce in dressing wilts within a quarter of an hour — the salt draws out its water. If preparing ahead, keep the dressing separate.
Ingredients: 80 ml olive oil · 1 pcs lemon · 1 tbsp wine vinegar · ½ tsp salt
Serve with meat or fish
In Greece maroulosalata accompanies Easter lamb, grilled fish or fried squid. Its freshness and acidity balance rich dishes — which is why nothing heavy is ever added to it.
Ingredients: 1 pcs romaine lettuce · 1 bunch dill · 5 pcs spring onions · 100 g feta
Before you start
Romaine, not iceberg
Traditional maroulosalata is romaine, sweet and crisp at the rib. Iceberg is too watery and bland, and butterhead falls apart when shredded. Choose romaine with a pale, firm heart.
The version without feta
The basic home version is vegan — just lettuce, dill, spring onion, oil and lemon. Tavernas often add feta. Without it the salad is lighter and better with rich meat dishes.
Shred ahead, toss at the end
Shredded lettuce keeps up to three hours in the fridge in a box lined with dry kitchen paper. Always add the dressing and feta at the last moment.
