Jewish Salad with Processed Cheese and Garlic

Making the salad

1. The salad is so simple and popular that even a child can make it. Just grate all the ingredients on a fine grater, mix them and dress with mayonnaise. Like everybody’s, no better and no worse. But as one actor proved, even fried potatoes can become a “delicatessen” dish if you want it to. Or the other way round.

   

2. Hard-boil two chicken eggs. Eggs are usually kept in the fridge, so don’t put them into boiling water: they will most likely crack and leak. Put the eggs in cold water and set the saucepan on the heat.

3. Count 10 minutes from the moment the water starts boiling, then cool the eggs under cold running water.

4. Peel the eggs right away. Separate the cooked white from the yolk.

   You need processed cheese without flavorings and additives. I remember that in my childhood the most popular one was “Druzhba”, and this salad was made with Druzhba cheese. Today there is a wider choice, but make sure the ingredients don’t include palm oil, obscure names and the ubiquitous “E-numbers”.

5. Grate the processed cheese on a fine grater.

   

6. Grate the egg white and add it to the cheese.

   The amount of garlic is strictly up to you, but to my taste a garlic and cheese salad should have a strong garlic flavor. Usually you add one large clove of homegrown garlic per processed cheese bar, which makes the salad pleasantly sharp. Our local garlic varieties are many times more aromatic and “garlicky” than imported ones. Go by your own taste.

7. Grate the garlic.

   

8. Mix the processed cheese, egg white and grated garlic.

9. Add the mayonnaise. Of course, you can buy mayonnaise, and a pretty good one at that. But homemade mayonnaise is easy to make yourself, following the principle of aioli sauce — the same one we use for shrimp. It’s quick and easy.

   Keep 1 tsp of mayonnaise (5 g) aside: you’ll need it to decorate the appetizer.

10. Using a fork, mix the ingredients of the garlic salad thoroughly, mashing any lumps and making sure everything is evenly combined.

    

A salad in three colors

1. The garlic Jewish salad is basically ready. But we’ll go further: our goal is a beautiful appetizer worthy of a festive table.

2. Divide the salad into three parts and put them into separate bowls. One third of the salad stays as it is, a pleasant, almost white shade.

   

3. Pull the leaves off the prepared basil sprig and chop them with a knife.

4. Put the basil into a mortar and add 1 tsp of mayonnaise (5 g). Grind the mayonnaise and basil together as thoroughly as you can so the mayonnaise turns green. Some larger pieces of herb in the sauce are fine and even welcome.

5. Add the colored sauce to the second bowl of processed cheese salad and mix well. The salad will take on a pleasant pale green shade.

6. Into the third bowl grate all of the egg yolk that was set aside, and mix the same way. Depending on the color of the yolk, the Jewish salad will turn from yellow to orange. Now you can start decorating.

   

Serving

1. In the simplest and quickest version, just spoon the Jewish salad into salad bowls and serve it as an appetizer.

2. I recommend preparing small tartlets from unsweetened dough in advance. You can buy them ready-made, or buy puff pastry, cut it into squares or circles and bake the tartlets yourself, like mini pizzas.

   

3. The second option is croutons from white bread toasted on a grill, which is the best option and takes no effort or time. Just toast the bread and, if you like, rub it with a clove of garlic.

4. If you chose the tartlets, put all three processed cheese salads into small plastic bags and, snipping off a corner, squeeze the salad onto the tartlets.

5. Then move the appetizer onto a platter, first covering it with green lettuce or romaine leaves. If you like, sprinkle with a pinch of herbs and grated egg yolk.

   

6. When serving with croutons, put the salad on the croutons as little balls or half-spheres. Arrange the croutons on a plate and add more croutons without salad. Toasted bread is a tasty snack on its own, and the salad will be enough for more croutons.

   

   A simple Jewish salad with processed cheese is an almost perfect appetizer. We even took it along on an overnight fishing trip and, while the camp was being set up, managed to have a proper snack without losing time on cooking or getting distracted.