Here in Québec, we’re known for our love of doing things a little differently. In the rest of Canada, we enjoy a long weekend in late May, in commemoration of Queen Victoria’s birthday, which was on May 25th.
The liquid yolk from the poached egg adds a rich creaminess to the vinaigrette.
Feelings toward the monarchy are not quite as warm in Québec, and the holiday was given a new name in 2002: la Fête des Patriotes. The holiday is emblematic of the independence movement in Québec, and like Memorial Day in the US (which generally falls a week later), it’s the unofficial first weekend of summer.
Lardons are little matchsticks cut from smoked pork flank or thick-sliced bacon.
Although it’s nearly too hot this weekend to cook anything at all, we thought this classic French salad would be a perfect way to mark the occasion. After tasting this for the first time at Pastis in NYC, it instantly earned a permanent place on my ‘last supper’ menu.
Lemon zest croutons toasted in olive oil.
Slightly bitter greens, slightly wilted by a warm dressing of bacon fat and red wine vinegar. A poached egg, whose yolk adds still further richness to the greens. And bacon. And croutons. And lots of pepper. It’s a meal unto itself, but will make you hungry for more. At once rustic and sophisticated, simple and sublime, this is a perfect salad for a hot summer night.
Feathery fronds of bitter frisée, waiting to be richly dressed.
Frisée aux lardons
Serves 4 as a light main course
2 C bread cubes from a brioche or baguette
the zest of half a lemon
olive oil
4 medium heads of frisée
300 g smoked pork flank or slab bacon, cut into lardons
4 eggs
3 tbsp. sliced shallots
¼ C red wine or sherry vinegar, plus more for poaching
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. freshy ground black pepper
salt to taste
1. Bring a large skillet of water to a bare boil.
2. Make the croutons: in a large cast iron or non-stick skillet, warm two tablespoons of olive oil and the lemon zest over medium heat. Add the bread cubes and season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 8 minutes, or until the bread is well toasted, stirring frequently. Put the croutons into a large salad bowl.
2. Remove the root end of the frisée, wash, dry, break into bite-sized fronds, and pile them into the salad bowl, on top of the croutons.
3. Fry the lardons in a skillet over medium-low heat, until the fat is rendered and the lardons are well-browned, about 10 minutes.
4. Poach the eggs in the skillet of simmering water: for each egg, swirl a few drops of vinegar in a soup ladle, to coat its sides. Crack the egg into the ladle, lower the underside of the ladle into the simmering water for a few seconds, then slowly slide the egg into the water by rotating the ladle towards you. Poach the eggs for 3 minutes, coaxing the white toward the centre with a small fork during the first minute of cooking, if necessary. Remove the eggs with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. You may wish to trim the whites with a small paring knife.
5. When the lardons are browned, add the sliced shallots and vinegar, raise the heat, and boil for a minute or so to reduce slightly. Add enough olive oil to make about 2/3 C of liquid (the amount of olive oil needed will depend on the amount of fat rendered from the pork). Add the mustard and black pepper and whisk to combine. The vinaigrette will smell very strong, and may not emulsify. Don’t worry.
6. Pour the vinaigrette with the lardons and shallots over the frisée and croutons, and toss well to coat. Serve the salad onto plates, topping each one with a poached egg, and season with salt and pepper.
I’ve always adored the texture of frisee in my mouth. For some reason, whenever I use it in salads, it actually holds a lot of the dressing flavor unlike if I used lettuce or cabbage which seems to have a filmy texture on top causing the dressing to just slide right off.
So, naturally, I like that you used frisee in this recipe. Paired with bacon and egg all that smokey goodness seeping right in.
Amazing! Let’s use the word lardons as a codeword for bacon now.
Wei-Wei
Okay, but somehow I don’t see chocolate bars with lardons on the horizon.
Wow! Memories of life in Québec!
If you cannot be sure of the origins of the bacon (I live in Germany, things like the origins of meat are sometimes better left alons…)it can be substituted for smoked salmon…
Ja, lecker!
I had forgotten about this salad – a favourite I made over and over when I went to Paris. Thanks for reminding me! And that shot of the brown eggs… I exclaimed out loud when I saw it. Unbelievable
xoxoxox
This is my all time favorite salad. Think I’ll make it tonight. The dressing recipe looks really nice, and as always the photography is stunning. Keep up the amazing work. Best Jonathan
Looks awesome! I love salads, this looks very elegant! I love ‘pure’ food, just a few simple ingredients to make a wonderful dish together. This looks like one! Will probably try to make this some time soon!!!