salade de museau — France

Muzzle salad is a cold charcuterie preparation of pork muzzle, first simmered until tender then sliced thin and dressed while still slightly warm in a sharp mustard vinaigrette with shallot, parsley and chopped gherkins. The cartilage in the muzzle gives the slices a light, springy bite quite different from a plain cold cut. It is reported from the Lyon area, a region built around its bouchons, small bistros serving hearty, offal-based charcuterie dishes as starters, where cold sliced meats dressed in vinaigrette are a fixture of the menu alongside sausages, tripe and other cuts not typically used elsewhere. To prepare it, the muzzle is simmered for several hours in water with onion, clove, bay leaf and peppercorns until fully tender, then cooled and sliced very thin. A vinaigrette of Dijon mustard, red wine vinegar and oil is whisked together, poured over the warm slices along with finely chopped shallot, gherkins and parsley, and the whole salad is left to marinate so the flavours penetrate before serving, commonly with boiled potatoes or simply bread. What distinguishes this version is dressing the meat while it is still warm from slicing rather than once fully cold, which lets the vinaigrette soak into the slightly gelatinous slices more readily and gives the finished salad a more rounded, absorbed seasoning.