David Thompson's green papaya salad
There are many versions of this spicy north-eastern salad that is traditionally made, crushed and dressed in a wooden pestle and mortar: The salad can be flavoured with salted land crabs, dried prawns or fermented fish.
The traditional way to shred a papaya, as seen on the streets of Bangkok, is to hold it in one hand while it is cut and shredded vigorously with a large, sharp knife held in the other hand. Every so often the knife is used to pare away the papaya, yielding a somewhat coarse, uneven shred. Many home cooks, however, use a handheld grater. It is certainly easier and faster but the uniform cut means the papaya loses some of its rustic appeal.
A special pestle and mortar is used for making this salad: the terracotta mortar is deep and conical with tall sides that prevent splattering, and the pestle is made of wood. A more regular granite one will do, but beware of the tomatoes!
Green papaya salad is always eaten with rice: steamed sticky rice or occasionally jasmine rice dressed with coconut cream and sugar. A stall selling grilled pork or sweet pork can usually be found nearby – it is the perfect companion.
Serves 2
garlic cloves 3, peeled
salt good pinch
roasted peanuts 2 tbsp, coarsely crushed
dried prawns 2 tbsp, rinsed and drained (available from Asian supermarkets, or online specialists)
lime 2 slices or small wedges – optional
cherry tomatoes 6, quartered
snake beans (or green beans) 2, cut into 1 cm lengths
bird's eye chillies 4–6 , to taste
green papaya 250g, shredded, from about 1 small papaya
shaved palm sugar 3–4 tbsp, to taste
fish sauce 2-3 tbsp
lime juice 2-3 tbsp
tamarind water 1 tbsp
steamed rice and raw vegetables to serve
Using a pestle and mortar, pound the garlic with the salt then add the peanuts and dried prawns and pound to a coarse paste. Add the lime (if using), bruising it with the pestle, then add the cherry tomatoes and beans to the mortar and carefully work everything together. Next add the bird's eye chillies, barely crushing them. The more they are pounded, the hotter the dish – and how hot you want it is up to you. Add them earlier if you're after revenge.
Finally, add the green papaya and lightly bruise with the pestle, while turning and tossing the mixture with a large spoon held in your other hand. Season the salad with palm sugar, fish sauce, lime juice and tamarind water. It should taste sweet, sour, hot and salty.
Place a mound of steamed rice on each plate. Spoon over the green papaya salad and eat with fresh raw vegetables, such as cabbage, green beans and betel leaves.
From Thai Street Food by David Thompson (Octopus, RRP £25)
Buy it from the Guardian Bookshop here
Anissa Helou's tabbuleh
Tabbuleh is basically a parsley and tomato salad with a fair amount of mint and a smattering of burghul and spring onions. However, despite the salad having gone global, it is still rare to see it made properly in the west, with a lot more herbs than burghul. When I was a child I loved perching on the cool marble worktops in my grandmother's kitchen to help her bunch up the parsley, being very meticulous about aligning the sprigs where the leaves started, so that my grandmother could chop the parsley in neat slivers with a minimum of stalk attached.
I also helped my mother in our kitchen, where we had the same worktops – most Lebanese kitchens at that time had white marble work surfaces. And today I chop the parsley exactly as my mother and grandmother did all those years ago. I hate to say it but there are no short cuts. Using a food processor to chop the herbs is not an option because it turns the herbs to mush. You just need to hone your knife skills, which you'll also need for dicing the tomatoes, plus a very sharp knife to avoid crushing them. As a final tip, drain the diced tomatoes before adding them to the salad. This will keep your tabbuleh crisp and make it last longer.
Serves 4–6
fine burghul 30g
firm ripe tomatoes 600g, diced into small cubes
spring onions 50g (about ½ bunch), trimmed
flat-leaf parsley 400g, most of the stalk discarded
mint 70g, with the leaves picked from the stalks
ground cinnamon ¼ tsp
ground allspice ½ tsp
finely ground black pepper ¼ tsp
sea salt
lemon juice of 1 or to taste
extravirgin olive oil 150ml
little gem lettuces 4, quartered
Rinse the burghul in several changes of cold water, then drain well and put in a bowl. Stir with a fork every now and then to help fluff it up.
Put the diced tomatoes in a separate bowl and set aside while you thinly slice the spring onions and chop the herbs. A word of warning: do not chop the herbs with a mezzaluna – this will only bruise them. Instead, use a razor-sharp knife and gather as much as you can handle in a bunch and slice very thin to end up with nice, crisp thin strips.
Drain the tomatoes of their juice and put in a large bowl. Add the spring onions and herbs and sprinkle the soaked burghul all over. Season with the cinnamon, allspice (or seven-spice mixture) and pepper, adding salt to taste. Add the lemon juice and olive oil and mix well.
Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Serve immediately with the quartered little gem lettuces.
From Levant by Anissa Helou (HarperCollins, RRP £20)
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Nigel Slater's two-bean, beetroot leaf salad
Not a true green salad but a seasonal mixture of fresh leaves and tiny beans with a cucumber dressing. Summer in a bowl.
Serves 2–4
borlotti beans 200g
olive oil a little
broad beans 350g
beetroot leaves or red chard 4 handfuls
For the dressing
olive oil 80ml
basil a small bunch
green peppercorns in brine 1 tsp
Dijon mustard 2 tsp
caster sugar ½ tsp
cucumber half
spring onions a bunch
Pod the borlotti beans and cook them in boiling, lightly salted water, then drain and tip them into a bowl. Pour over a little olive oil and toss the beans gently to coat. Pod the broad beans and boil them in salted water for 6–8 minutes until tender, then drain them.
Unless the broad beans are very small, pop each from its thin skin with your fingers, then add to the borlotti.
To make the dressing, pour the olive oil into a blender or the bowl of a food processor, add the basil leaves and their stems, and blitz to a smooth, creamy, bright green purée. Scrape into a bowl large enough to take the finished salad.
Drain the green peppercorns of their brine, rinse them briefly, then stir into the dressing together with the Dijon mustard, sugar and a little salt.
Peel the cucumber lightly, removing only the toughest, darkest green skin, then split the cucumber in half lengthways. Using a teaspoon, remove the seeds from the core and discard, cut the flesh in half once more and then cut into small chunks and stir into the dressing.
Discard the tough dark-green part of the spring onions, then finely slice the white and pale green stems. Wash and trim the beetroot leaves then toss with the spring onions and beans. Add the dressed cucumber and serve.
Elizabeth David's insalata di patate
To make a good potato salad it is essential to have yellow, waxy potatoes. They must be cooked in their skins, and care must be taken that they are firm and not overcooked. Peel them while they are still warm, cut them into dice, and season them straight away with salt, pepper, a good deal of the best olive oil, and a little lemon juice.
Garlic and raw onion can then be added, and whatever herbs may be available. The Italians often add capers and anchovies, which make a welcome change, but the mixture becomes monotonous if used too often.
From Italian Food by Elizabeth David (Penguin Books, RRP £12.99)
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Sam Harris's salad of farro, roasted aubergines, cucumber and mint
Farro is often overlooked in the UK, but in Tuscany it's used frequently in all manner of dishes. Its nutty robust flavour can happily replace meat as a vegetarian option, but also marries well with any protein as an accompaniment.
Serves 4–6
onion 1, finely chopped
olive oil
garlic 2 cloves
farro 500g
water to cook
aubergines 2
red wine vinegar 2 tbsp
cucumber ½, regular sized
parsley and basil combined 1 tbsp, chopped
mint 3 tbsp chopped
lemon zest of ½
yoghurt 2 tbsp
dried chilli flakes a pinch
Sweat the onion in olive oil until translucent, then add the garlic and raise the heat and cook out. Add the farro, turn over in the oil and add enough cold water to cover, bring to a simmer and cook until tender, stirring all the time. This should take around 30 minutes, but you will need to add more water as you go to prevent the farro from drying out. Once tender and cooked, drain and allow to steam dry, then chill.
For the aubergines, set the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. Cut the aubergines into chunks, place on a baking tray, season and lightly drizzle with olive oil and roast for 20–30 mins until cooked and charred on the edges. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with about 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar.
Cut the cucumber into bite-sized pieces and set aside. Once the farro, aubergines and cucumber are ready, place in a large mixing bowl, and add the herbs, the lemon zest, 6 tablespoons of olive oil and taste for seasoning – it will probably need salt.
Tip on to a large serving platter, drizzle the yoghurt on top and sprinkle over the chilli flakes.
Sam Harris, Chef Patron of Zucca, London SE1
