Vogerlsalat mit Kernöl

The first time I really understood Kernöl, I was ten years old, sitting at a Buschenschank in southern Styria with Gretel and my grandmother Eva. A woman brought out a small white bowl of Vogerlsalat, and the oil on top was so dark it looked almost black. I thought something was wrong with it. Gretel dipped a piece of bread into the dressing and handed it to me. That taste, roasted and nutty and unlike anything I'd had before, is the reason I fell in love with Styrian cooking before I even knew what Styria was.

Vogerlsalat is what the Austrians call lamb's lettuce, those small, spoon-shaped rosettes that grow in cool weather and taste like mild hazelnuts crossed with fresh grass. The Viennese name comes from Vogerl, little bird, because the leaves look like tiny green wings. You can find it at every Gasthaus and Heuriger in Austria from October through March, always dressed with Steirisches Kürbiskernöl, the dark pumpkin seed oil that is to Styria what olive oil is to Tuscany.

This salad has three ingredients that matter: the greens, the oil, and the vinegar. That's it. There is no technique to hide behind. If your oil is good and your vinegar is sharp and your lettuce is fresh, you'll have something beautiful. If any one of those three things is wrong, there's nowhere to hide. Gretel always said that the simplest dishes are the hardest to cheat, and she was right.