Q: I just returned from Heidelberg, Germany, where I had many wonderful salads that I would love to recreate. There were many variations but the basic theme was lettuce (green, like butter or leaf), shredded carrots, sometimes cherry tomatoes, and two little mounds of shredded veggies — one white and one dark purple-red.
I am mystified by the last two veggies — cabbage? Beets? The dressing was generally a vinaigrette (not creamy, lots of herbs). I should have asked while I was there but I didn't really realize how much I liked the salads until I left! I am hoping that someone who either lives or has traveled in that area of Germany can help me out.
Sent by Kate
Editor: Kate, we haven't been to Germany, but we guess that the veggies are probably cabbage. You also might want to check out this radish salad recipe at Epicurious:
• White Radish Salad at Epicurious
Readers, do you have any more helpful info for Kate?
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red cabbage and celeriac. The cabbage is usually marinated for a while in a vinaigrette. The celeriac tends to have a creamy dressing.
Celeriac most definitely.
which restaurant in Heidelberg?
Kate the questioner here, thanks for the celeriac tip, I had not thought of that! I had many incarnations of this basic salad but the one that sticks in my mind most was at the Schnitzelbank, on Bauamtsgasse just off the Hauptstrasse.
This probably isn't much help, but my great-grandmother was from Germany and our favorite family recipes were cucumber salad and German potato salad. Needless to say, we used a lot of apple cider vinegar! I've not had much experience with celeriac, and we never really used much red cabbage but instead green cabbage in our recipes. Perhaps it was substitution due to availability.
Definitely the White Radish! Celeriac would only be used cooked and in creamy white dressing. And celeriac is a winter veggie. White Radish is a spring vegetable. Try the recipe at Epicurious, it seems like a good version. (Greetings from Sweden from Anneli who lived near Heidelberg for a couple of years)
dear kate,
considering the rest of schnitzelbanks menue i guess it was Krautsalat, the german cole slaw...
http://www.steffensdinners.com/content/krautsalat_%28german_cole_slaw%29
did it look like this?
http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/DGyoVB9PdI9_jw0CNi_OPg?select=TxEfFOwOk43NZPe-9xZaow
I live just over the border in Switzerland and here it's always white radish/Daikon. Rarely celeriac.
elsa13:
Yes, it looked like that salad, basically, except are there potatoes on the left? There were generally no potatoes. That photo looks like red cabbage in the foreground on the right, with the white radish (thanks Anneli for the link!) above it (counterclockwise), and another dark red vegetable (beets?) just visible on the top left. The salad that I am trying to recreate just had the white radish and dark red veggie, with the carrots and greens. But that salad looks awesome. I wish I had one right now!
@Anneli: Celeriac is eaten cold (uncooked) and shredded too, it's delicious! It does oxidize though if left without some dressing (lemon or lime juice or mayo). Cooked I have only had it in a stew with potatoes or mashed in a cream. Red cabbage finely shredded and only dressed fresh with some vinegar is yummy too! I'm thinking they were either white & red cabbage (if they had the same structure) or celeriac & red cabbage.