Siedfleischsalat
When I asked Sam about his favourite Swiss summer dishes the classic, meaty, Siedfleischsalat was at the top of his list.
The meat in this "salad" is usually slowly boiled for a few hours until it becomes soft and tender—just as the name Sied suggests, as sieden is German for boiling/simmering.
One of my main struggles with using meat in Switzerland (other than its prohibitively high price), is never knowing the names for the cuts of meat.
Every country butchers its animals slightly differently. American butcher illustrations show about 13 main beef cuts, while the French have 29. Even the Swiss and German cuts differ from each other.
In an attempt to educate myself, I did some research and came up with this accompanying post on Swiss Cuts of Beef.
Traditionally, Siedfleischsalat uses a cut from the Federstück, which is a piece that benefits from a long cooking time—it's usually first boiled in broth. However, if you want to skip boiling the beef, you can basically use any cooked, leftover meat, such as steak, pork tenderloin or roasts.
For the meat:
1 kg siedfleisch, usually federstück (boiling beef)
a good strong broth or carrots, celery, and onions/leeks
In a large pot add your meat and cover with broth or cold water. Bring to a boil.
Skim the frothy white foam off the top. If you're not using broth add the carrots, celery, and onions or leeks.
Simmer over low heat for about two hours, or until the meat is cooked (when poked with a knife it should easily slide off).
Trim the fat off the meat and then cut into bite-sized pieces.
For the dressing:
4 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 blobs mustard
2 blobs mayonnaise
2 tbsp canola oil
salt and pepper
Whisk together the vinegar, mustard, and mayonnaise.
Pour in the oil in a thin stream while still whisking.
Season with salt and pepper.
Assembly:
cherry tomatoes, halved
radishes, sliced
parsley, chopped
Mix together the meat, tomatoes, and radishes.
Pour over the dressing and mix well.
Garnish with parsley.
The dressing and garnish would work with other leftover meats such as pork or steak.
