This salad is a typical preparation of the muleteers who ascended to the Andes Mountains with dried meat (charqui) instead of fresh meat to prevent spoilage, giving it an unparalleled flavor full of proteins and vitamins to withstand the harsh mountain environment.
Contents
How to make Muleteer Salad?
Later on, cheese was added to the recipe, contributed by goat herders who would graze their goats in the summer and share the cheeses they produced from their milk. This addition joined simple ingredients such as onions, salt, olive oil, and lemon.
Nutritional Information
Category: Salads
Cuisine: Chilean
Calories: 400
Preparation: 45 minutes
Cooking: 15 minutes
Servings: 6 people
Chilean Muleteer Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 500 g of Huasco olives
- 250 g of dried meat (horse, llama, mule, or donkey)
- 250 g of goat cheese
- 2 medium onions
- Olive oil
- Cilantro
- Pica lemon
- Salt
- Pepper
Preparation
- Hydrate the dried meat in a bowl covered with cold water, let it sit for 1 hour, drain the water, and dry with paper towels. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to about 170°C (338°F) and cook the dried meat on a baking sheet for about 10 minutes.
- Slice the onions thinly and soften them with salt or hot water. Set aside.
- Cut the goat cheese into small cubes. Set aside.
- In a large salad bowl, add the shredded dried meat, Pica lemon juice, salt, and pepper to taste. Let it sit for about 5 minutes, then add the onions, chopped goat cheese, and washed olives. Mix everything and drizzle with olive oil to taste. Let it sit for another 15 minutes, ideally refrigerated.
- Serve the muleteer salad immediately, very fresh, as an appetizer or as a side dish for other main courses.
The muleteers of Cajón del Maipo
Did you know?
Probably the most famous Chilean muleteer in the world is Sergio Hilario Catalán Martínez, who was the first person contacted by the survivors of the Uruguayan Air Force crash in the Andes Mountains on December 22, 1972.
