Chef Elsa
Eiersalat (Austrian Egg Salad)
Cool, creamy Austrian egg salad with sour gherkins and tart apple in a mustard-yogurt dressing, the kind of honest Jause food that tastes like an Austrian Easter table and works beautifully all year round.
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Fisolensalat (Austrian Green Bean Salad)
Created by
Tender Austrian green beans dressed in warm Marinade the moment they leave the pot, absorbing every drop of vinegar and oil while they cool into something far greater than the sum of their parts.
Salads
Austrian
Weeknight
Make Ahead
10 min
Active Time
15 min cook•25 min total
Yield4 servings
Gretel always said you can judge an Austrian cook by their salads. Not the main course, not the Mehlspeisen. The salads. Because a good Austrian salad is the simplest thing in the world, and simplicity is where you can't hide.
Fisolensalat is green beans, dressed. That's it. But the way you dress them is everything. You cook the beans until they're tender, not crunchy, not squeaky, properly tender, and then you hit them with warm Marinade the second they come out of the water. The heat opens the beans up. They drink in the vinegar and oil like a sponge. If you wait until they cool, you'll have beans sitting in dressing instead of beans that taste of dressing all the way through. That's the whole secret of this dish, and it's one I learned standing on a stool in my grandmother Eva's kitchen in Kent, watching Gretel toss beans in a bowl with one hand while she shook vinegar from the bottle with the other.
In my restaurant in Salzburg, Fisolensalat is on the table almost every day in summer. It sits alongside Erdäpfelsalat and Gurkensalat as part of a Gemischter Salat, the mixed salad plate that comes with nearly every main course at a proper Gasthaus. Austrians don't think of salad as a starter or a separate course. It arrives with the Schnitzel, with the Tafelspitz, with the roast pork. It belongs there. And Fisolensalat, cool and vinegar-sharp and full of good onion, is one of the best of them all.
Fisolen is the Austrian word for green beans, derived from the Italian fagioli, one of many culinary terms that entered Viennese German through centuries of Habsburg-Italian exchange. The Marinade tradition of dressing vegetables while hot with vinegar, oil, and onion is a cornerstone of Austrian Beilagensalat (side salad) culture, applied equally to beans, potatoes, and beets. In Austrian Gasthaus cooking, a properly dressed Fisolensalat served at room temperature has been a standard Beilage since at least the 19th century, and the technique of hot-dressing appears in every serious Austrian cookbook from Katharina Prato onward.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
fresh green beans (Fisolen)
Quantity
500g
trimmed
white onion
Quantity
1 small
finely chopped
apple cider vinegar (Apfelessig) or white wine vinegar
Quantity
3 tablespoons
neutral oil (sunflower or rapeseed)
Quantity
4 tablespoons
granulated sugar
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
salt
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
black pepper
Quantity
freshly ground, to taste
fresh chives
Quantity
2 tablespoons
finely cut
savory or bay leaf (optional)
Quantity
1 small pinch or 1 leaf
for the cooking water
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| fresh green beans (Fisolen)trimmed | 500g |
| white onionfinely chopped | 1 small |
| apple cider vinegar (Apfelessig) or white wine vinegar | 3 tablespoons |
| neutral oil (sunflower or rapeseed) | 4 tablespoons |
| granulated sugar | 1/2 teaspoon |
| salt | 1/2 teaspoon |
| black pepper | freshly ground, to taste |
| fresh chivesfinely cut | 2 tablespoons |
| savory or bay leaf (optional)for the cooking water | 1 small pinch or 1 leaf |
Equipment Needed
- •Large pot for boiling
- •Small saucepan for warming the Marinade
- •Wide mixing bowl
- •Colander
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the beans
Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a rolling boil. The water should taste like the sea. If you want, add a sprig of savory or a bay leaf. This is traditional in parts of Austria and gives the beans a faint herbal background that you won't identify later but you'd miss if it weren't there. Trim the beans and snap or cut them into pieces about five centimeters long. Keep them fairly uniform so they cook evenly.
Choose the freshest, slimmest beans you can find. Fat, starchy beans past their prime won't absorb the Marinade properly and they'll taste mealy. If you snap a bean and it doesn't break clean, it's too old for this salad. - 2
Cook until tender
Add the beans to the boiling water and cook uncovered for eight to twelve minutes, depending on their thickness. Test one. It should be tender all the way through, with no resistance at the center when you bite it. This is not the place for al dente. Austrian Fisolensalat calls for beans that are properly cooked, soft enough that the Marinade can get into them, firm enough that they hold their shape. Drain them immediately.
Do not shock the beans in ice water. You want them hot when they meet the Marinade. Cooling them down defeats the whole purpose. Drain them and dress them right there, standing at the stove. - 3
Make the warm Marinade
While the beans cook, warm the vinegar, oil, sugar, salt, and a good grinding of black pepper in a small saucepan over low heat. You're not cooking the Marinade, just warming it so the sugar and salt dissolve and everything comes together into one unified dressing. It should be noticeably vinegar-forward. Austrian Marinade is not shy. The vinegar leads and the oil rounds it out. If you taste it and think it's too sharp, it's probably right.
If you can find Hesperidenessig, the traditional Viennese citrus vinegar, use it here. It has a brightness that apple cider vinegar can't quite match. Otherwise, a good Apfelessig or a mild white wine vinegar works well. Stay away from anything too aggressive like distilled malt vinegar. - 4
Dress the hot beans
Transfer the drained beans to a wide bowl. Pour the warm Marinade over them immediately. Toss gently but thoroughly so every bean is coated. Add the finely chopped onion and toss again. The raw onion will soften slightly against the hot beans, losing its harshest bite while keeping its sharpness. This is the moment the salad comes together. You'll smell the vinegar rise from the hot beans and that's exactly what should happen. The heat is pulling the dressing in.
- 5
Cool and finish
Let the salad cool to room temperature, uncovered. As the beans cool, they'll absorb even more of the Marinade. Once they've reached room temperature, taste and adjust. You may want another pinch of salt or a splash more vinegar. Scatter the chives over the top just before serving. Fisolensalat is best at room temperature, not cold from the fridge. If you've made it ahead, pull it out thirty minutes before you eat.
Taste the salad after it cools. Flavors dull as food cools down, so a salad that tasted perfectly seasoned when hot will often need a small correction at room temperature. A little more vinegar usually does it.
Chef Tips
- •This salad improves after an hour at room temperature. The beans settle into the Marinade and the onion mellows. If you're serving it alongside Tafelspitz or Schnitzel, make it first and let it sit while you cook the main course.
- •The ratio of vinegar to oil matters. Austrian Marinade is not a French vinaigrette. It's closer to three parts vinegar to four parts oil, sometimes even sharper. The acidity is the point. It cuts through rich mains like Schweinsbraten and fried Schnitzel.
- •Don't add the chives until just before serving. They lose their color and their fresh bite if they sit in the vinegar too long. They should look bright green against the beans when the dish comes to the table.
- •At my restaurant, Fisolensalat is part of a Gemischter Salat alongside Erdäpfelsalat and Gurkensalat. If you're making an Austrian dinner, make two or three small salads instead of one big one. That's how it's done.
Advance Preparation
- •Fisolensalat can be made up to a day ahead and stored in the fridge. Bring it to room temperature before serving and add the chives at the last moment.
- •The Marinade can be mixed ahead but should be warmed just before the beans are drained. It needs to be warm when it hits the hot beans.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 165g)
Calories
170 calories
Total Fat
14 g
Saturated Fat
1 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
12 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
360 mg
Total Carbohydrates
12 g
Dietary Fiber
4 g
Sugars
3 g
Protein
2 g
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