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HeringssalatPickled herring and beetroot salad

When the carnival ends in the Rhineland and northern Germany, Ash Wednesday brings the Heringsessen, a herring meal shared in pubs and homes to mark the start of the Lenten fast. This rosy salad mixes diced pickled herring with beetroot, apple, gherkin and boiled potato in a creamy yogurt-mayonnaise dressing, and is served with rye bread. Use pickled herring bought ready-made in jars from the chiller, which has been commercially cured, and keep the salad in the fridge. Pickled and cured fish is not cooked, so it is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system; for a safer version use hot-smoked mackerel or cooked fish. The common mistake is dressing the salad while the potatoes are hot, which turns it mushy. Chef's tip: make it the day before; the flavours deepen overnight.

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GurkensalatCucumber and dill salad

Gurkensalat is on German tables from Bavaria to Berlin all summer, served alongside potato pancakes, egg dishes or the Sunday roast, and it is just as common at a garden barbecue. Cucumber is sliced almost paper-thin, salted briefly, then dressed with a little vinegar, sugar, onion and lots of fresh dill, so it is cool, sharp and soft-crunchy. Some households stir in soured cream; this vinaigrette version is vegan. It is very light, with about 1 g of protein a portion, so it is purely a side. The most common mistake is skipping the salting: unsalted slices weep water into the bowl and dilute the dressing within minutes. Chef's tip: squeeze the salted slices gently in your hands before dressing; they bend like ribbons and take up the dill dressing much better.

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Feldsalat mit warmem KartoffeldressingLamb's lettuce with warm potato dressing

In Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria, Feldsalat (lamb's lettuce, also called Ackersalat or Nüsslisalat) is the winter salad, eaten from October to March as a starter or beside Spätzle and egg dishes. The small, tender rosettes are dressed in a warm, creamy Swabian dressing made from a boiled potato mashed with stock, mustard, vinegar and oil, which coats the leaves without weighing them down. Traditional versions use meat stock and bacon; this one uses vegetable stock and crisp fried onions, so it is vegan. It gives about 3 g of protein a portion, so it is a side; add toasted pumpkin seeds for more. The most common mistake is not washing the leaves well: grit hides deep inside the rosettes, so wash in two or three changes of water. Chef's tip: dress the leaves only at the table; the warm dressing wilts them within minutes.

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Grüner BohnensalatGreen bean salad

In German kitchens from Swabia to Westphalia, green bean salad comes out in high summer when beans are cheap and plentiful, as a side to fried eggs, potato salad or grilled food, and it travels well to picnics. The beans are cooked until just tender, then dressed warm with vinegar, oil, onion and Bohnenkraut (summer savory), the peppery herb Germans always pair with beans. Many cooks add bacon; this version is vegan. A portion gives about 3 g of protein, so it is a side; add a handful of white beans to make it more filling. The most common mistake is undercooking the beans so they squeak: German bean salad is meant to be tender, not crisp, so cook until a bean bends without snapping. Chef's tip: dress the beans while they are still warm and let them sit for 30 minutes; they absorb the vinegar and taste far better than freshly dressed.

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Salpicón de aveCold chicken salad

Salpicón de ave is the cold supper of Argentine summers, made in Buenos Aires flats and on estancias alike when it is too hot to cook much, and a favourite way to use the chicken from a puchero or Sunday roast. Shredded chicken is mixed with diced pepper, tomato, spring onion, sweetcorn and boiled egg, bound with mayonnaise sharpened with lemon and mustard, and served chilled with crusty bread or on lettuce. The common mistake is dressing it while the chicken is still hot, which melts the mayonnaise into an oily puddle; let everything cool first. Chef's tip: dress the chicken with the lemon juice and a pinch of salt before the mayonnaise goes in, so the meat itself is seasoned, not just its coating.

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Rote-Bete-SalatBeetroot salad

Rote-Bete-Salat is on the table in German homes through autumn and winter, beside potato pancakes, fried eggs or simply bread and butter. Cooked beetroot is cut into slices or batons and dressed with onion, vinegar, oil and a little caraway or grated horseradish, so it is sweet, earthy and sharp at once. It is vegan, gluten free and keeps for days in the fridge. The most common mistake is serving it straight after dressing: give it at least 10 minutes, or better an hour, so the beetroot soaks up the flavour. Chef's tip: wear gloves or rub your hands with lemon juice afterwards, as beetroot stains everything it touches.

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German party pasta salad (Nudelsalat)

In Germany a big bowl of Nudelsalat is the backbone of a Kindergeburtstag, a summer barbecue or a school outing: short pasta, ham, peas, sweetcorn and chopped gherkins bound in a mayonnaise and yoghurt dressing, made the evening before so the flavours settle. This version lightens the dressing with yoghurt and gherkin brine. It contains gluten, egg (mayonnaise) and milk. Chef's tip: dress the pasta while it is still slightly warm, then add a splash more dressing just before serving, because the pasta drinks it overnight.

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KäsesalatCheese salad

In Bavarian beer gardens and Swabian Vesper stubes, Käsesalat is the cheese lover's answer to sausage salad: matchsticks of Emmental tossed with red onion, gherkins and a sharp vinegar dressing, eaten with a crusty roll or a Breze. It turns up on Saturday evenings at home too, made in ten minutes from what is in the fridge. The cheese soaks up the dressing and goes tender and tangy, while the onion and gherkins keep it crunchy. Traditional Emmental is made with animal rennet, so choose a vegetarian Emmental-style cheese if that matters to you. A common mistake is serving it straight away; the flavours need a short rest. Chef's tip: cut the cheese into thin strips rather than cubes, so the dressing coats every piece.

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FleischsalatSausage salad

Every German butcher sells Fleischsalat in tubs, and it is spread thickly on bread rolls for Abendbrot or a workday second breakfast from Cologne to Leipzig. It is made from Lyoner or Fleischwurst, a mild cooked pork sausage, cut into fine strips and folded into mayonnaise with gherkins and a little of their brine. Making it at home lets you use less mayonnaise and add yoghurt for freshness. A common mistake is cutting the sausage into thick chunks, which makes it heavy; thin matchsticks are what you want. Chef's tip: chill it for an hour before serving so the gherkin brine flavours the sausage.

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SpargelsalatWarm asparagus salad

Asparagus farms along the Baden Spargelstraße and in the Lüneburg Heath sell their spears straight from roadside huts in May, and this lukewarm salad is how many households there eat the first bundle. White and green spears are cooked just tender, cut into lengths and dressed while warm in a sharp vinaigrette of white wine vinegar, mustard, shallot and plenty of chives, so they soak up the flavour. It goes with new potatoes, or as a light lunch with bread. A frequent mistake is overcooking white asparagus until it is limp and stringy. Chef's tip: dress the spears while still warm and leave them for 15 minutes; cold asparagus barely absorbs the dressing.

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EiersalatEgg salad

Every German bakery counter and many Sunday breakfast tables have a bowl of Eiersalat, spread thickly on halved Brötchen or rye bread at Abendbrot. This home version keeps it light: chopped hard-boiled eggs bound with a little mayonnaise and yoghurt, sharpened with mustard and gherkin and finished with lots of chives. It is also the usual way to use up dyed Easter eggs in the week after Easter. The classic mistake is overcooking the eggs, which leaves grey-green rims and a sulphur smell. Chef's tip: chop the eggs with a fork or an egg slicer, not a blender, so the salad keeps soft little pieces of white and yolk.

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Bayerischer WurstsalatBavarian sausage salad

Bavarian Wurstsalat is the Brotzeit plate of the beer garden: thin strips of Regensburger or Lyoner, mild cooked pork sausages, tossed with onion rings and gherkins in a sharp, slightly sweet vinegar dressing, and eaten with a pretzel in the shade of chestnut trees. At home it is a fast summer supper on a warm evening. Swabians add cheese and call it Schweizer Wurstsalat. A common mistake is drowning it in oil; the dressing should be mostly vinegar and gherkin brine. Chef's tip: leave the dressed salad for 30 minutes in the fridge so the onion softens and the sausage picks up the vinegar.

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Bayerischer KrautsalatWarm-dressed cabbage salad

Every Bavarian inn serves this pale, glossy cabbage salad beside roast pork and dumplings, and it is just as good on its own at a summer barbecue. The white cabbage is shaved very finely, salted and kneaded, then dressed with hot vinegar, oil and caraway so it softens while keeping a crunch. Many cooks finish it with crisp bacon bits; this version leaves them out and is vegan. The common mistake is dressing it cold and serving it at once: it needs the warm dressing and at least half an hour to turn silky. Chef's tip: shave the cabbage as thin as paper; thick shreds never soak up the dressing properly.

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Ensalada de papa y huevoPotato and egg salad

Sunday asados in Argentina tend to come with two salads: the green ensalada mixta and this one, chunks of boiled potato and hard-boiled egg dressed while warm with oil, vinegar, salt and plenty of parsley. Some households stir in mayonnaise, which takes it close to ensalada rusa, but the oil-and-vinegar version is lighter and lets the potatoes taste of themselves. It is mild, soft and slightly tangy, and good at room temperature, which is why it suits an outdoor lunch that goes on for hours. Dressing cold potatoes is the error that leaves the salad bland: warm potatoes soak up the vinegar and oil, cold ones don't. Choose waxy potatoes that hold their shape, and cook the eggs fully for 10 minutes. Chef's tip: sprinkle the vinegar on the hot potatoes first and wait five minutes before adding the oil; the potatoes absorb the acid and the salad tastes seasoned all the way through.

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Ensalada mixtaLettuce, tomato and onion salad

Simplicity is the whole idea of the ensalada mixta, the salad that comes with almost every order at a parrilla and sits beside the meat at every family asado: crisp lettuce, ripe tomato and thinly sliced onion, dressed at the table with oil, vinegar and salt from the cruets. There's no mustard, no sugar, no herbs, so the quality of the tomatoes and the crunch of the lettuce carry it. It is cool, sharp and refreshing, and cuts through grilled meat, provoleta and fries. The usual blunder is dressing it too early: the salt pulls water from the tomato and the lettuce goes limp in minutes, so toss it just before it goes to the table. Round butterhead lettuce (criolla) is the classic, but any crisp lettuce works. Chef's tip: soak the sliced onion in iced water for 10 minutes and drain; it stays crunchy but loses its harsh edge.

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Schwäbischer KartoffelsalatWarm potato salad

Swabian potato salad is nothing like the creamy kind. In Stuttgart and across Baden-Württemberg it is made with waxy potatoes sliced while still warm and soaked in hot stock, vinegar, onion and oil until it turns glossy and slightly 'schlonzig', a local word for that loose, juicy texture. It is eaten lukewarm, never fridge-cold, beside Maultaschen or vegetarian schnitzel, and at every summer garden party. This version uses vegetable stock. Chef's tip: pour the hot dressing over the potatoes while they are still warm; cold potatoes won't drink it in and the salad stays dry.

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FattoushToasted pitta and herb salad

A fresh, crunchy Lebanese salad of tomatoes, cucumber, rocket, celery, spring onions and green pepper with lots of mint and parsley, tossed just before serving with crisp toasted pitta and a sharp lemon, garlic and olive oil dressing. Serve as a starter or alongside falafel and dips.

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