The Hirshon Latvian Potato Salad – Rasols

When food is involved, every Latvian will have their own recipe for everything and anything. Most heated discussions, however, revolve around the best pīrāgi dough and what is the correct way to make rasols. You see, I grew up in 80-ies with rasols made from potatoes, green peas, salted cucumber, “doctor’s sausage” and eggs. I know other families added boiled carrot and/or grated apple (but that’s just wrong as far as I’m concerned). But ask any Latvian that left the country pre-WW2 and they will tell you that rasols must have boiled beetroot and herring in it.

Rasols was inspired by Russian or Olivier salad, invented in 1860s by Lucien Olivier, then the chef of famous restaurant Hermitage in Moscow. His recipe was a closely guarded secret, but the salad did contain rare and expensive ingredients – grouse, crayfish, caviar, smoked duck, capers – which would explain the richness of pre-war rasols. During and after the war many ingredients were not available and were replaced by simpler and cheaper substitutes – sausage for grouse, eggs for crayfish and pickles for capers – resulting in the version most Latvians will recognise as theirs.

So what is real, undiluted rasols?

According to Household Almanac (“Mājturības kalendārs”, photo above) published in 1937 in Riga, recipe is as follows:

Take 1 herring, 3 lampreys, 2 eggs, 200g veal roast, 200g potatoes, 300g apples, 2 salted cucumbers. Debone soaked herring and cut in pieces. Boil potatoes with skin on, then peel and cut. Peel apples and cut. Roast, lamprey, cucumbers and hard boiled eggs also need to be chopped in fine pieces. Mix everything with 400g of sour cream with added pinch (“naža gals”) of mustard. Boiled beets also suit rasols, but it is better to cut them nicely and use as a garnish on the top of salad. Herbs can also be used as garnish. 

My version of this recipe omits the usual sausage and goes for an ovo-lacto vegetarian version. I have played with the recipe to make it My own – I omit the green peas, add in pickled carrot instead of pickled beet (to avoid staining the salad purple), added in a touch of Latvian herbs and garlic and uniquely, a drop of the world-famous Latvian herb bitters!

You can buy this – FINALLY – in the United States – get it here.

I hope you enjoy My version of this wonderful dish, Citizens!

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The Hirshon Latvian Potato Salad – Rasols

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

• 6 Yukon Gold potatoes
• 4 eggs
• 2 pickled eggs (optional – if unavailable, use regular eggs)
• 4 Polish-style pickles
• 1 Asian cucumber or 2 small fresh cukes, seeds removed
• 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and cored and kept in acidulated water (water with a bit of lemon juice or vinegar in it to prevent browning)
• ***
• Approximately 1/2 cup pickled carrots – made from:
• 1 pound carrots, cut into 3 1/2- by 1/3-inch sticks
• 1 1/4 cups water
• 1 cup cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 garlic cloves, lightly crushed
• 1 1/2 tablespoons dill seeds
• 1 1/2 tablespoons salt
• ***
• Salad dressing ingredients:
• 3 large dollops mayonaise (Russian-style preferred, or use Duke’s or Best Foods/Hellman’s, if possible)
• 2 large dollops Smetana (sour cream if unavailable)
• 2 teaspoons Russian mustard (Mother-in-Law style, VERY sharp)
• 2 teaspoons Cider vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons white horseradish from the bottle
• 1 tiny dash Riga Black Balsam-brand bitters (VERY optional)
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh dill (optional)
• 1 teaspoon minced scallion (optional)
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic (optional)
• minced Dill and minced celery leaves for garnish

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Instructions

1. For the pickled carrots:
2. Blanch peeled carrots in a 4-quart nonreactive saucepan of boiling salted water 1 minute, then drain in a colander and rinse under cold water to stop cooking. Transfer carrots to a heatproof bowl.
3. Bring remaining ingredients to a boil in saucepan, then reduce heat and simmer 2 minutes. Pour pickling liquid over carrots and cool, uncovered. Chill carrots, covered, at least 1 day for flavors to develop.
4. Carrots keep, chilled in an airtight container, 1 month.
5. Boil potatoes until fairly soft (but not until they are falling apart). Hard boil eggs. Remove skins from potatoes, and shells from eggs. Dice into fairly large chunks (about ½ inch (1 – 1.5 cm) in diameter). Dice other ingredients into smaller pieces. Put all diced ingredients into a very large bowl.
6. Make salad dressing. Start with smaller amounts, and keep adding sour cream, vinegar, mustard, etc. until it tastes good to you. The salad dressing should taste somewhat salty and tart.
7. Add salad dressing to diced ingredients. Stir well. Cover. Refrigerate at least overnight.