Crisp green salad dressed with Styrian pumpkin-seed oil (a dark green-to-black, intensely nutty roasted-seed oil) plus apple-cider vinegar and salt, often scattered with toasted pumpkin seeds. The seed oil, not the leaves, is the star.
Styrian pumpkin-seed oil (Steirisches Kürbiskernöl) has held EU PGI status since 1996 — pressed from roasted seeds of the Styrian pumpkin variety (Cucurbita pepo var. styriaca) grown in geographically defined parts of Styria. Nicknamed 'green gold,' the oil is the point; this salad is its most everyday showcase.
Dark green oil pools on the lettuce; the toasted-pumpkin-seed aroma fills the room before the first bite.
The cold-pressed roasted-seed oil carries a deep color and intense nutty aroma; sharp apple-cider vinegar adds acidity to cut the richness without competing with the oil's nuttiness.
Variations
Swap the leaves for sliced waxy potato and the same oil-and-vinegar dressing makes a potato salad; a scatter of toasted pumpkin seeds on top is standard. A version with chanterelle mushrooms also exists.
On the Palate
Where Steirisches Kürbiskernöl-Salat sits in the Austrian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4How it's made
4 steps · 15 min active + 30 min waiting
- 15 min
Wash and dry 200 g mixed lettuce leaves; tear into bite-size.
- 22 min
Whisk 60 ml Styrian pumpkin-seed oil + 30 ml apple cider vinegar + 1 tsp salt + black pepper.
Watch outWhisk the pumpkin-seed oil and cider vinegar until it thickens and clouds into one dressing — that emulsion is what lets the nutty oil coat every leaf instead of pooling.
- 33 min
Toss lettuce with dressing; sprinkle 30 g toasted pumpkin seeds on top.
Watch outToast the pumpkin seeds only until they smell nutty and start to pop — pull them the moment the aroma hits, past that they turn bitter fast.
- 45 min
Rest 5 min for oil to coat; serve at room temp.
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