Salade liégeoise
A salad from Liège, eaten in Belgium as a full lunch rather than a starter. There is no mayonnaise and no oil — the dressing is rendered bacon fat deglazed with vinegar, poured over everything while hot. Two things decide it: the beans must be blanched and refreshed in iced water so they stay vivid and springy, and everything is combined hot — served cold, the salad loses much of its flavour.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Potatoes 25 min
- Beans 10 min
- Bacon and dressing 10 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneBoil the potatoes in their skins
Boil the potatoes in their skins for 20–25 minutes, until tender but not collapsing. Peel them hot and cut into thick chunks. Keep them covered — they must stay warm right to the end.
Ingredients: 700 g potatoes · 500 g green beans · 1 pcs onion · 2 pcs shallots · 1 tbsp salt
Blanch the beans 4–5 minutes
Cook the beans in heavily salted boiling water for 4–5 minutes, uncovered, until tender but still firm. Uncovered, because some of the volatile acids the beans release escape with the steam — under a lid they stay in the pan and the green turns olive grey sooner.
Ingredients: 700 g potatoes · 500 g green beans · 1 pcs onion · 2 pcs shallots · 1 tbsp salt
Refresh in iced water
Transfer the beans straight into a bowl of iced water for a minute, then drain and dry. Refreshing stops the cooking at once and fixes the colour — without it they keep cooking for several minutes and turn grey.
Ingredients: 700 g potatoes · 500 g green beans · 1 pcs onion · 2 pcs shallots · 1 tbsp salt
Straight into ice — the green stays vivid and the bean crisp.Render the bacon slowly
Fry the lardons starting in a cold pan over medium heat for 8–10 minutes, until browned. A cold start lets the fat render slowly — in a hot pan the bacon scorches outside before it gives up the fat the dressing needs.
Ingredients: 250 g smoked bacon · 4 tbsp wine vinegar · 1 tsp mustard · 20 g butter · 1 tsp black pepper
Cold start — the fat must render, not burn.Soften the onion in the bacon fat
Lift out the bacon and soften the onion and shallots in its fat for 4 minutes. Do not pour the fat away — together with a little butter it is the base of the dressing and the only fat in the salad.
Ingredients: 700 g potatoes · 500 g green beans · 1 pcs onion · 2 pcs shallots · 1 tbsp salt
Deglaze the pan with vinegar
Take the pan off the heat, pour in the vinegar and scrape the base with a spatula. It hisses and partly evaporates, leaving a concentrated dressing. Stir in the mustard and butter to bind it into a smooth emulsion.
Ingredients: 250 g smoked bacon · 4 tbsp wine vinegar · 1 tsp mustard · 20 g butter · 1 tsp black pepper
Vinegar into the hot pan — scrape the base clean.Combine everything hot
Tip the beans into the pan with the dressing and warm them through, stirring, for 1–2 minutes — after the iced water they are cold and would chill the salad. Transfer to a bowl with the warm potatoes and bacon, scrape in the rest of the hot dressing and toss gently. Warm potatoes absorb the vinegar at once — cold, they merely wear it and the salad is sour outside and bland within.
Ingredients: 700 g potatoes · 500 g green beans · 1 pcs onion · 2 pcs shallots · 1 tbsp salt
Season with pepper and serve at once
Season generously with pepper, but taste before adding salt — the bacon usually supplies enough. Scatter with parsley and chives and serve immediately, while it is still clearly warm.
Ingredients: 4 tbsp parsley · 2 tbsp chives
Before you start
Frozen beans work
Frozen green beans do surprisingly well here, being blanched before freezing and holding their colour. Cook them a minute less, straight from frozen, and refresh them in iced water just the same.
Vinegar, not lemon
Belgians use plain wine or cider vinegar — its assertive acidity balances the richness of the bacon. Lemon juice brings a citrus note that does not suit this salad.
Best fresh, still good cold
Salade liégeoise is meant to be eaten warm and is best that way. The next day it still tastes good cold, though the bacon fat sets — treat it then as an ordinary potato salad and add a spoon of olive oil.
