Basque Salad (Southwestern French Salad)

On our last time in Paris we went to a Basque restaurant and we had a Basque Salad (Southwestern French Salad). It was so simple, and so good that it is one of the foods we remember the most from that trip.

Jump to:

• 😍 How we fell in love with it
• 🥗 Why Basque salad?
• 📋 Ingredients
• 🍳 How to make it
• 💭 Tips to make this salad
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

😍 How we fell in love with it

As I've said, on our last trip to Paris we went to a restaurant called Gladines, in the Saint Germain neighborhood and had the most delicious salad!

It was lunchtime, we were hungry, the restaurant was full of locals and the food people were having on the tables by the sidewalk was very appetizing.

We sat at the table and barely looked at the menu. When the waitress came to take our order the three of us pointed to a salad a girl on the table behind us was having, and the order was made!

It was a huge salad with greens and tomatoes, served on a bowl with cheese, cured ham, house-made potato chips and a fried egg on top.

We could not take our eyes off of it! We had to have it.

And it was AMAZING!

Simple ingredients and a fantastic flavor!

When we came back home we made it right away. And it's so good that we keep making it from time to time.

🥗 Why Basque salad?

We call it "The Parisian Salad" but we should call it Basque Salad, as the restaurant only served Basque food - food from the Southwest part of France.

The original salad had a fried egg, but since it already has potato chips, we decided to reduce the fat by using a boiled egg. And we ended up liking it even more!

📋 Ingredients

• Lettuce
• Tomato
• Cured ham
• Potato chips
• Boiled (or fried) egg
• Cheese (Cantal or cheddar)
• Red wine (or balsamic) vinegar
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper

That's it.

🍳 How to make it

Making this salad is no mystery. It is pretty simple!

• Place lettuce on bowl.
• Add tomatoes, cheese, cured ham, potato chips and eggs.
• Drizzle with vinegar and olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Toss it as you're eating (you might need to add more dressing half way into it).

💭 Tips to make this salad

• To make the perfect boiled egg, place it in a pan with cold water and take the pan to the stove over high heat. When it begins to boil, turn off the heat and leave the egg in the water for 3-4 minutes. Remove from water and peel it.
• To make the potato chips at home you just have to slice the potatoes very thinly (a mandoline slicer is the perfect tool) and fry them with vegetable oil.
• If you don't want to make your own potato chips, make sure you buy the ones made of real potatoes.
• This salad is seasoned only with olive oil, red wine vinegar (balsamic vinegar if you prefer a milder flavor), salt and pepper.
• You can use a mix of lettuce. We used leaf lettuce, but any mild flavor lettuce will do.
• Use a large bowl, as it is huge!

📖 Recipe

For more salad recipes click here.