Farmer's Salad With Yogurt Dressing

"Farmer salads" have been often and naturally thought of as mainly having ingredients many farming households might well have on hand: cucumbers, onions, tomatoes, garlic, bell peppers and eggs. In addition though, some farming families made their own head cheese, as well as their own cheese, and these could be used to make a salad more substantial. In German areas of Europe, the homemade cheese was/is called by a variety of names, but in Hessen, it is called "Handkäse," * literally "hand cheese," because the whitish/light yellowish cheese was shaped by hand, while in the region of the Harz Mountains it is called "Harzer (Käse)," and in Austria it is often called "Quargel," a word "I believe" German derived from Slavic. In modern times head cheese and cheese (by whatever name) are more often commercially produced, but that doesn't mean that some individuals or families have abandoned making them at home. "Souse" is an American term for head cheese made with vinegar. In Britain, head cheese, with or without vinegar, is called "brawn."  
   
I "patterned" this recipe after Bavarian/Austrian salad recipes, and in Austria and Bavaria such salads are often served with rolls called "Salzstangen" or "Salzstangerl," which are rolls coated with coarse salt and (usually) caraway seeds. Certainly in the past, such a dressing for the salad would have been more likely to have been made with sour cream; again, a product readily available to farmers.   

Ingredients (5 or 6 servings):

1/2 medium red onion, chopped
1 seeded or seedless cucumber, peel on, or peeled, or partially peeled (your preference)
4 chopped Roma tomatoes (also called 'plum tomatoes'), or 20 to 25 grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 chopped red or green pepper
1/4 cup pitted black olives (Kalamata or niçoise), halved
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Toss all ingredients together well. 

For each serving:
1 or 2 thin slices of souse, cut into small pieces
1 or 2 thin slices Emmentaler cheese (Swiss cheese),** cut or torn into small pieces
1 hard boiled egg, halved 

For the yogurt dressing:

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons oil (olive, canola, vegetable or even give extra virgin olive oil a try)
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons honey
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons rosemary, chopped   
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix all ingredients together well. If the dressing is too thick for you, add a little more oil. If you add more vinegar, you may have to consider adding more honey, but that depends upon your own taste.

* "Handkäse" ("Handkäs" is the common form in Hessen) is one of the specialty dishes of Frankfurt-am-Main in Hessen, where it is served in a dressing of cider vinegar, oil, hard apple cider, pepper, caraway seed and chopped onion, and called, "Handkäs mit Musik" (Hand Cheese with Music). It is "traditionally" accompanied with a glass of hard apple cider (in standard German called "Apfelwein," but called "Ebbelwoi" in the Hessian dialect of Frankfurt). "Handkäse" is not exclusive to Frankfurt, but rather it is common in other parts of Hessen as well. And I'm sure you're hanging by your thumbs wondering what the "with music" means. Well, there are two stories tied to the meaning, the most prominent of the two, but perhaps not originally the meaning, has to do with the onions causing intestinal gas; thus, "music," if you get my drift. This led to a little joke when people from outside of Frankfurt or Hessen would ask, "What and where is the music?" The standard answer became, "Die Musik kommt später" (The music comes later). The other story is that the oil and vinegar were kept in glass bottles for the person to pour on the desired amount of each. The bottles clinked together; thus, "music." When I've had "Handkäs mit Musik" in Frankfurt, it was always served that way, with the oil and vinegar bottles brought to the table with the onion topped hand cheese.

** In the U.S., "Swiss cheese" is the type of cheese in Switzerland and German cultural areas in Europe called "Emmentaler," after the area of its origin; the Emme River Valley (German: Emmental), near the city of Bern.

WORD HISTORY:
Shift-This word is distantly related to the verb "shed" ("to give off something, to get rid of something"), a word from the Germanic roots of English. It goes back to Indo European "skei(t)," which had the notion, "to cut, to cut off, to separate (from)." This gave Old Germanic "skiftjanan," meaning, "to put into order by separating, to arrange." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "sciftan," meaning, "to separate, to divide up, to arrange, to place in order." This then became "schiften," then "shiften," before the modern version. The meaning, "to move from one place to another," as in, "The corporation will shift its headquarters from Dallas to Denver," came from the idea of "arranging, allotting" (but actually "rearranging, reallocating"). It also took on the meaning, "to be able to take care of oneself," as in the expression, "shift for oneself," perhaps from the idea of "to keep one's life in order?" The noun developed from the verb circa 1300 and with numerous meanings, including "a set time for work;" as in, "I work the day shift from 7 until 3," and this meaning seems to date back in time, as it is also in some other Germanic languages, and it remains as a primary noun meaning in English, along with "movement, change," as in "a shift in public opinion." Relatives in the other Germanic languages: German has the verb "schichten" (to stack, to layer), which was borrowed from Low German and the noun "Schicht" (a level, a layer, and also, a group of people doing the same general work during a given period of time, also sometimes rendered as "Schichtarbeit;" that is, "shift work"), Low German has the verb "opschichten" (to stack up, to build up; the base word was once spelled "schiften"^), West Frisian has the noun "skift" (classification, category), Dutch has the verb "schiften" (to divide or stratify), Danish has the noun "skifte" (a change over) and the verb "skifte" (to alternate, to exchange), Norwegian has the noun "skifte" (a change or turn) and the verb "skifte" (to switch or change), Icelandic has the verb "skipta" (to divide up, to switch or exchange), Swedish has the verb "skifta" (to change, to shift, to divide) and the noun "skift" (set working period).  

^ While I'm uncertain of this, when German borrowed the word from Low German, it "seems" the standard German spelling and pronunciation as "schichten" may have eventually transferred to Low German; thus, no "f" in modern Low German and modern standard German. 

Head Cheese & Souse: Presssack, Presskopf

To start, I'll use the general term "head cheese," a food product that dates back at least several hundred years to the use of cooked hog heads or beef heads, as well as sometimes the cooked internal organs, ears, tails or feet of these animals. The meat was then stripped off and put back into the broth, which would set up because of the gelatin-like nature of the broth, brought about by collagen extracted from the animal parts while they were cooking. Later, commercially marketed gelatin was often added to cooked meats, vegetables, and/or hard cooked eggs to make these kinds of foods. Generally such a dish has been called "aspic" or some specific terrine. Head cheese has long been popular among German cultures; that is, German areas outside of Germany, as well as within areas that have come to comprise Germany itself.  

When I was a kid, people in my neighborhood called it, "hog's head cheese," and I do still see some use that more fully descriptive terminology, although most often I see just "head cheese" nowadays. In the U.S., if the same basic product had vinegar in it, was/is called "souse." A few old timers back then called it "sultz" or "presskop," as my neighborhood had been a destination for a large number of German immigrants from the 1850s until right before World War One, and these were forms of German "Sulz," a south German term and Sülze in many other areas, and "Presskopf," literally, "pressed head (meat)." Don't get comfortable, because there are even more regional names in German, one of which is "Presssack (yes, 's' three times in a row), as well as "Schwartenmagen," "generally" used more in the Alemannic German dialect areas of southwestern Germany and Switzerland (perhaps in the Alsace part of France too, where that is the German dialect), and there is also "Schweinskopfsülze," and there are likely even more terms. In England and Britain, in general, the term for this food is "brawn."

German areas have long had "pauses" in the workday for some food and drink (some areas have this "break" in mid morning, others in mid or late afternoon), and this is besides lunch. There are also many terms for these "breaks": Brotzeit (much of Bavaria, literally "bread time"), Vesper (yes, from the religious term, and used in southwestern Germany), zweites Frühstück ("second breakfast," used in northern Germany), Gabelfrühstück (literally, "fork breakfast," some parts of Austria), Marende (in the South Tirol, a word German got from Italian), Jause (Austria, a word German got from Slovenian), Zvieri (Switzerland), and German has also picked up the word "Brunch" from English, a combination of "lunch" and "breakfast." Trust me, I'm certain there are more! This dish is not an uncommon part of a "work break," although there are variations to it. 

Ingredients:

head cheese and/or souse (brawn)
onion, cut into rings
oil
vinegar
sugar
black pepper
salt

Mix the oil, vinegar and sugar together well in a bowl or cup. Roll up a couple slices of head cheese and/or souse and put them on a plate, top them with some freshly sliced onion rings, then spoon some of the dressing over this. Sprinkle on some salt and black pepper to taste. Serve with rye or pumpernickel bread, along with some butter.   

I had some pickle spears along side ...

WORD HISTORY:
Sward-This is not a common word in American English (also Canadian English?), but it is still used somewhat in the UK and it has some literary/poetic use. Whether the ultimate origin of this word is Indo European is uncertain, although Latvian^ has a form meaning, "swine skin." While far from a certainty, it is very possible the Latvian word is a borrowing from Low German, as many Low German speakers had a great deal of contact with the Latvians dating well back in history. Anyway, Old Germanic had "swardu," seemingly with the meaning, "thick, hairy skin;" thus also, "skin of the head (skin under or covered with hair"). This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "sweard," meaning, "tough skin, hide/rind;" thus also the figurative, "turf" (skin with grass, Earth's hide/skin). This then became "sward," but the main meaning shifted to the existing figurative meaning, "turf/sod," and in fact, the compound, "greensward" came into being; perhaps as an English rendering of Low German "grönswarde"  or Old Norse "grassvörðr," separated out as "gras" and "svörðr" (=svörthr), literally, "grass(y) skin," but actually, "an area of earth covered with grass;" thus also, "meadow land." Relatives of "sward" in the other Germanic languages: German has "Schwarte" (thick, hairy skin/, usually of a hog; rind on bacon), Low German "Swoor" (thick skin/rind and earlier spelled as "swarte"), Dutch "zwoord" (bacon rind), Frisian once had "swarde," but I'm not sure about a form in modern times, Danish "seems" to only still use the compound with a form of "sward" in it, "grønsvær" (turf), Norwegian "svor" (rind), Icelandic "svörður" (turf). I didn't find a form in modern Swedish.    

^ Latvian is a Baltic language of Indo European derivation; thus, it is related to English, but further down the family tree. In more modern times linguists have generally put the Baltic languages (Latvian and Lithuanian) in with the Slavic languages as, "Balto-Slavic." True Prussian was also a Baltic language, but it died out in the 1700s. I say "true Prussian," as Prussia was once a region of the Baltic people "Prussians." Germans took over the region and mixed with the Prussian population and the German language prevailed, but the Germans still called the region "Prussia" (Preussen/Preußen, in German), which became one of the main German states and rose to be the main rival of Austria as the leading German state. Eventually it was Prussia that united Germany into a modern nation, but not until 1871.