Salade tournaisienne and mutiau, a winter dish for Lundi perdu
Lamb's lettuce, chicory, apples, beans and pickled vegetables: a festive salad, often served with brawn, that tells another side of Tournai's story.
A salad that is a course in its own right
In Tournai, salade tournaisienne is more than a few leaves placed beside the meat. The tourist office presents it as the third course of Lundi perdu, following a small sausage and rabbit. Its ingredients include lamb's lettuce, apples, chicory, white beans, cooked onions and pickled red cabbage. With mutiau, a form of brawn, it becomes a substantial plateful. Vegetables therefore have a much greater role than mere decoration.
A winter celebration and a menu that works together
Lundi perdu is a January gathering associated with Epiphany and Tournai's social traditions. The tourist office's food guide describes the sequence of the menu and the salad's role in the meal. There is no need to arbitrarily date every ingredient to the Middle Ages. A wider tradition and the composition of a plate can evolve at different speeds. That is precisely what makes the speciality a living one: it remains recognisable without having to be a frozen culinary document.
Raw, cooked and pickled
Its appeal comes from several different elements. Leaves and chicory contribute fresh vegetable flavours; apples change the texture and add their own sweetness. White beans bring substance, while cooked onion has a different role from a sharply flavoured raw onion. Pickled red cabbage adds another dimension again. This diversity explains why the salad can hold a substantial place in the meal. The vegetables are not all trying to create the same sensation.
Mutiau, a companion on the plate rather than anonymous garnish
The tourism source describes mutiau as a brawn speciality with aromatic ingredients, including garlic and parsley. The brochure also mentions versions based on pork cheeks and beef tongue. These descriptions show why it is important to know the maker's recipe rather than imagining one universal meat behind the name. Served with the salad, mutiau creates a contrast of texture and flavour. Ham is another documented accompaniment, without making charcuterie compulsory in every version.
A tradition with variations
The tourist office distinguishes a traditional base from more contemporary additions. This allows us to discuss a recipe's transmission without presenting a family's variation as a mistake. The 2026 groups brochure confirms that salad and charcuterie still feature in local menus. Availability and ingredients should be checked for each meal, particularly in the case of allergies.
Photos and credits
Photo 1 — Chicory at a market: one of the vegetables used in salade tournaisienne, before preparation. Dinkum · CC0 · Source.
