BTS:
self-made wooden black board as the floor
the by now famous metal-sheet as back wall
natural light from the right
two black boards on the right to direct the light and create shadows
white cardboard from the left to fill in shadows

I chose a setup like this because this salad is, let's face it, no beauty, so I wanted the viewers attention taken away from the finished product and take it to it's ingredients, but still have the finished salad in the picture. I had quite a few ideas for this, including some flatlay options, but I only had the stamina for this one. Who knows, maybe I'll recall it for another challenge.

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Recipe:
You need boiled beef (Tafelspitz), gherkins, apples (it has to be Boskop, no excuses), Ketchup (Heintz or Kraft) and a tartar sauce (Appelt or Thomy work best). The secret of this dish is in the beef broth you get from boiling the beef to perfection. So you need to boil the beef yourself. I usually do it the day before. 2 kilos translate to about 4 big Boskop apples. Boil the meat like you would for a really good soup (i.e. add vegetables such as carrots, leeks and knob celery as well as spices such as salt, pepper, cloves, juniper, bay leaf and parsley. Put it all in a big pot with the meat, top up with water and then bring to the boil. Let it simmer for at least two hours. Then let the meat rest in the broth over night. The salad is made up of equal parts apple, beef and gherkins. Once your meat is ready, the tedious part starts: the chopping. Chopping finely, that is. It takes its time but the finer you chop, the better it tastes. Aim at 3x3mm fine cubes of each ingredient. Start with the meat. Decide how many apples you're going to use. You can weigh them and that will give you an idea how much meat you will need. The same with the gherkins. You should peel the apples before chopping them. Immediately combine the chopped meat and the apples, then start on the gherkins. Now I use a mix of differently pickled gherkins. Add those and then add a few teaspoons of the pickled liquids. Also add some of the broth. There should be no liquid in the bowl. Add tartar sauce, about two to three teaspoons per apple. Add one by one and check. The dressing is supposed to coat the ingredients, but no more. Then add a little less ketchup (2 teaspoons per apple). Check for the consistency. If you feel it can do with a bit more moisture, add some of the broth, but not too much.
This salad is best after it was left sitting for a while so all the flavours mix nicely. It's best with a nice roll with some butter and garlic salt on it. We used to eat it with meat fondue on Christmas Eve, which is amazing.
The broth you made makes the best soup, as you have left the meat in there over night (or even longer). I usually freeze it in portions and then eat it over time.

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A very beautiful set up!

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I love how you've set-up the various ingredients for this image; and the ise of the chunky wooden boards. I'm glad you have something positive to take away from your traumatic family experience.

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