French · Lyon · salad

Salade Lyonnaise

Salade Lyonnaise reads salinity 7.0, umami 6.5 and richness 6.3 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a French · Lyon salad, about 21 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

• Umami & Savory — 8.0 / 10
• Sweet & Fruity — 2.2 / 10
• Sour & Bright — 4.1 / 10
• Bitter & Earthy — 2.1 / 10
• Rich & Fat — 7.1 / 10
• Aromatic & Spice — 4.1 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Salinity 7.0 · Umami 6.5 · Richness 6.3 · Allium 3.7 · Sourness 3.6 · Funk & Ferment 3.2 · Nutty 2.4 · Herbaceous 2.0 · Smoke 1.9 · Sweetness 1.7 · Fruity 1.4 · Citrus 1.4 · Warm Spice 1.4 · Bitterness 1.0 · Heat 0.9 · Earthy 0.8 · Floral 0.6

What's in it (14)

• frisée — 400 g
• salt pork — 200 g
• eggs — 400 g
• country ham — 120 g
• garlic — 8 g
• peanut oil — 27 g
• red wine vinaigrette — 44 g
• dijon mustard — 15 g
• olive oil — 54 g
• shallot — 30 g
• salt — 5 g
• black pepper — 3 g
• chives — 7 g
• water — 1500 g

Time & effort: about 21 min · effort: medium

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 41.5 kcal, 3.3 g protein, 2.6 g fat, 0.6 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat · Contains egg — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (7 steps)

1. Use only the blanched inner leaves of the frisée — the dark green outer ones are tough and bitter in a way the dressing cannot carry. Wash them, dry them properly in a cloth, and keep them in the fridge so they are cold and rigid when the hot fat hits them.
2. Put the lardons in a cold dry pan and bring them up over medium heat for 8 minutes, until the fat has run and they are crisp at the edges but still soft in the middle. Lift them out with a slotted spoon and leave the fat in the pan.
3. Add the groundnut oil to the bacon fat, throw in the bread cubes and the halved garlic cloves and fry 4 minutes over medium heat, tossing often, until the croûtons are gold on every face. Discard the garlic. Bread fried in bacon fat is the point; olive-oil croûtons taste of another country.
4. Whisk the mustard with the 3 tablespoons of vinegar and the chopped shallot, then whisk in the olive oil in a thin stream until the dressing thickens slightly. Season with the salt and pepper.
5. Bring the water to 82°C (180°F) with the remaining tablespoon of vinegar — barely quivering, no bubbles. Crack each egg into a cup, stir the water into a slow whirlpool, slide the egg into the centre and poach 3 minutes. The white should be set and the yolk completely liquid; that yolk is the second dressing.
6. Toss the cold frisée with the dressing, the warm lardons and the croûtons, working fast so the leaves wilt only slightly. Divide between four plates, set a poached egg on each, scatter the chives, and grind over more pepper than feels reasonable.
7. At the table you break the yolk and turn the salad through it. A bouchon serves this as a first course at midday with a pot of Beaujolais, and it is a whole lunch on its own.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

• Cotriade — French · Brittany
• Cervelle de Canut — French · Lyon
• Loaded Baked Potato Soup with Crispy Bacon — American
• Pap with Shisa Nyama — South African
• Oeufs en Meurette — French · Burgundy

Keep reading: what salinity, umami, richness mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.