Sabrina,
First, thank you for sharing this salsa macha recipe! Paxton can always be depended on for the best chile recipes. I am very excited to make a batch of this.
Second, I am so glad I got to see you in France last weekend! For anyone reading, Sabrina and I just spent a long weekend in Normandy celebrating our good friend Liza’s birthday.
Liza and her dad held a combined 100th birthday party to celebrate their 30th and 70th birthdays. A multi-generational crowd assembled at their house for a weekend of food, music, and even some Texas line dancing.
On the day of the party, a local farmer set up a fire pit and a spit and roasted a lamb in the backyard. Sabrina and I were enlisted as sous chefs to help one of Liza’s family friends make the rest of the dinner. We spent an afternoon helping make various sides and salads, like a Moroccan carrot salad, a pasta gratin with emmental, and a mustard-y potato salad, and then we had a feast.
So, here’s a recipe for the carrot salad, plus Liza’s cheat sheet for what cheese you should ask for if you’re in a French cheese shop.
Moroccan Carrot Salad
This is my rough rendition of the version that we made in Normandy. I thought the sambal olek was a very nice addition to give it a bit of heat. I was also reading Ottoloenghi’s recipe, which has ras al hanout – I might try this one next time. Or, Alon Shaya has a version with roasted carrots and harissa, which also sounds nice.
Ingredients
A bag of carrots
Olive oil
1-2 lemons
A few cloves of garlic
A few teaspoons of cumin
A tablespoon or two of sambal olek
Half a bunch of cilantro
Put a pot of water on to boil, and salt it well. Peel the carrots and slice into coins (about half an inch thick, but it’s really up to you). When the water comes to a boil, drop in the carrots and cook them until they’re tender, but still have a slight crunch. I would guess this would take 10 minutes?
In the meantime, mince the garlic and put it in a big mixing bowl. Squeeze a lemon over the garlic and let it rest for a few minutes. Then, add a few glugs of olive oil, a teaspoon or so of ground cumin, and a generous sprinkling of salt. Add a tablespoon of sambal olek too. Stir this up and taste it – add a bit more of any of the seasonings if you need.
When the carrots are ready, drain them and toss the hot carrots in the bowl with the dressing. To finish it, chop up the cilantro and stir that through.
Bonus content: a cheat sheet for French cheese
The top 3 cheeses to buy, thank you to Liza for showing us these.
Comte
A French mountain cheese that is nutty and creamy, despite being a hard-ish cheese. It is best when it is aged! I think the 32-month version is the tastiest, but they are all good.
St. Marcellin
A gooey, creamy little round of cheese, perfect for scooping baguette or crackers into (or I think it would be nice with fruit)
Savarin
Extremely milky and creamy and decadent, and comes highly recommended by Sabrina.
A running letter between long distance friends who love to eat
Do you miss your best friend? Are really hungry you right now? If the answer to either of these is yes, you know what to do.