Chef Juliette
Smelt (Éperlans)
Tiny éperlans, lightly floured and fried until their tails stand crisp, arrive in a generous heap on a napkin with fried parsley and grooved lemon, a weeknight lesson in heat and restraint.
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Gotha and Milan Salami
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 382, Gotha and Milan Salami, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Two distinguished cures, one exact knife: Gotha and Milan salami overlapped into a generous crown with parsley at its centre, proving that a proper hors-d'œuvre needs no cooking when the slicing is precise.
Appetizers & Snacks
French
Dinner Party
Picnic
Make Ahead
15 min
Active Time
0 min cook•15 min total
Yield4 appetizer servings
Saucissons de Gotha et de Milan (Gotha and Milan salami) teach the discipline of the cold hors-d'œuvre: when there is no cooking to hide behind, the cut is the dish. There is one true thing to know before touching a pan. Don't touch one. Each slice must be thin enough to soften on the tongue rather than demand chewing.
The original entry assumed whole imported sausages in a cold larder, a practiced hand with a long slicing knife, and a platter proportioned for a generous service. For four, 100 grams of each sausage is ample, and the deli counter's slicer is the honest home equivalent if your knife won't make a clean one-millimetre cut. The brigade quantity is scaffolding and goes. The very thin slicing and overlapping crown are the dish, so they stay exactly where they belong.
On the platter, the deeper reds and pale flecks of fat form a generous ring around one curled parsley sprig. Nothing is dressed, sauced, or disguised. Chill the sausages until firm and take your time with the slicing, because that single step decides everything.
Gotha sausage comes from Gotha in Thuringia, while salame Milano belongs to Milan and the charcuterie tradition of Lombardy; their appearance together records how widely the classical French cold larder looked beyond France. French service treated them as hors-d'œuvre, foods valued for curing, precise slicing, and arrangement rather than transformation by sauce or heat. The crown and curled parsley do not claim French origins for the sausages, but show the French table's formal manner of presenting imported charcuterie.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
Gotha salami
Quantity
3½ ounces (100 g)
in one piece with casing removed
Milan salami
Quantity
3½ ounces (100 g)
in one piece with casing removed
curled-leaf parsley
Quantity
1 sprig, or 1 small bunch (about 1 packed cup / 30 g) for the flat presentation
rinsed and thoroughly dried
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Gotha salamiin one piece with casing removed | 3½ ounces (100 g) |
| Milan salamiin one piece with casing removed | 3½ ounces (100 g) |
| curled-leaf parsleyrinsed and thoroughly dried | 1 sprig, or 1 small bunch (about 1 packed cup / 30 g) for the flat presentation |
Equipment Needed
- •Long, razor-sharp slicing knife with a thin blade
- •Small cutting board with a nonslip base
- •Oval or round chilled hors-d'œuvre dish
Instructions
- 1
Firm the salami
Chill both sausages until the fat is firm and the pieces hold cleanly under the knife. Set the serving dish in the refrigerator for ten minutes as well. Remove every trace of tough casing, but keep each sausage whole until you are ready to slice so the cut surfaces don't dry.
- 2
Slice paper-thin
Using a very sharp, thin-bladed knife, cut the salamis crosswise into rounds about 1 millimetre thick. Draw the blade through each piece in one long stroke rather than pressing down, which squashes the round and smears the fat. If the slices buckle or drag, the sausage has grown too warm; chill it for another ten minutes and begin again. If a few rounds tear, tuck their damaged edges beneath the next slice. Ça se rattrape.
If your deli can slice both sausages to about 1 millimetre, let the machine do it. This preserves the essential thin cut; it doesn't change the dish. - 3
Build the crown
Arrange the Gotha slices in one semicircle and the Milan slices in the other, joining them into a complete crown near the rim of the chilled hors-d'œuvre dish. Overlap each round by roughly two-thirds so the slices support one another and can be lifted neatly. Curl the best parsley sprig loosely into the centre. If the crown opens, deepen the overlaps rather than adding supports or decoration.
For the source entry's second presentation, spread the thoroughly dried parsley into a light litter and lay the salami flat over it in two tidy, slightly overlapping groups. - 4
Serve it cool
Let the finished platter stand for five to ten minutes, just until the slices lose their refrigerator stiffness and the fat gains a faint sheen. Serve promptly while the edges remain supple and fresh. The plate needs no sauce and no extra garnish. Cooking well is not cooking fancy. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Ask specifically for Gotha salami and salame Milano. They are distinct cured sausages, not interchangeable labels for any German and Italian salami, and the contrast between them is the point of this entry.
- •A long slicing knife with a narrow blade gives cleaner rounds than a heavy chef's knife. Keep your fingertips curled safely behind the blade and let sharpness do the work; pressure only deforms the sausage.
- •Curled-leaf parsley is deliberate here. Dry it completely after washing, because water trapped beneath cured meat dulls its surface and softens the edges.
- •Serve the salami cool rather than rigidly cold. A few minutes out of the refrigerator lets the cured fat soften enough to carry its aroma without leaving the slices greasy.
Advance Preparation
- •The deli may slice the sausages several hours ahead. Keep the two varieties separate between sheets of parchment, cover them tightly, and refrigerate until assembly.
- •The crown can be arranged up to one hour before serving, covered without pressing on the slices, and kept chilled. Let it stand for five to ten minutes before bringing it to the table.
- •For a picnic, transport the covered platter or separated slices in a well-chilled container. Keep them cold until serving and return leftovers to the cooler within two hours, or within one hour in hot weather.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 58g)
Calories
210 calories
Total Fat
17 g
Saturated Fat
6 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
10 g
Cholesterol
40 mg
Sodium
950 mg
Total Carbohydrates
2 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
1 g
Protein
12 g
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