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Detroit-Style Maurice Salad

A Detroit lunch-counter salad layers crisp greens with julienned ham, turkey, Swiss, pickles, and olives under a tangy dressing built around fully cooked egg.

Iceberg and romaine are topped with ham, roasted turkey, Swiss, sweet pickle, black olives, and creamy dressing.

This Detroit-style Maurice salad takes its character from the contrast of cold crisp lettuce, savory deli matchsticks, sweet pickle, and a creamy dressing. The small, even cuts make every forkful balanced, while the dressing goes on only at the last moment.

A lunch-counter composition

The appeal of a Maurice salad is its deliberate arrangement of familiar deli ingredients. Iceberg and romaine give it a cool crunch, while ham, roasted turkey, Swiss, sweet pickle, and black olives bring salty, mild, tangy, and briny notes together.

Use fully cooked egg in the dressing

A hard-cooked egg gives the mayonnaise dressing body and a softly textured finish. Cook it until both white and yolk are completely firm, then chop it finely so it blends through the sauce instead of forming large pieces.

Finely chopped hard-cooked egg, parsley, mayonnaise, and pickle brine form a thick dressing in a bowl. — Finely chopped hard-cooked egg is whisked into the tangy mayonnaise dressing.

Keep every cut neat

Matchsticks about as wide as a pencil lead and a couple of inches long are easy to pick up with the lettuce. Cut the pickle into similarly slender strips, and keep the lettuce ribbons broad enough to stay crunchy.

Dress at the table's last moment

A wide bowl makes it easier to distribute the toppings without crushing the leaves. Begin with about half the dressing and add only enough more for a light sheen; dry greens help it cling instead of sliding to the bottom.

A close view shows crisp lettuce lightly coated around distinct deli, pickle, and olive strips. — The finished salad shows glossy, lightly dressed lettuce and distinct strips of ham, turkey, Swiss, and pickle.

Adjust by coating, not by volume

If the greens look wet or dressing gathers at the bottom, stop adding sauce and toss once more gently. Any dressing left in the bowl can be passed separately, which keeps portions crisp and lets diners choose how creamy they want each bite.

Detroit-Style Maurice Salad

4 lunch servings

30 minutes total

Ingredients

• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp distilled white vinegar
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp sweet pickle brine
• 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tsp granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/8 tsp white pepper
• 1 small head iceberg lettuce (about 8 oz), chilled
• 2 romaine hearts (about 8 oz), chilled
• 4 oz deli ham, thinly sliced
• 4 oz roasted turkey breast, thinly sliced
• 4 oz Swiss cheese, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup sweet pickles
• 1/4 cup sliced pitted black olives

Method

Hard-cook the egg
Place the egg in a small saucepan and cover it with cold water by 1 inch. Bring to a full boil over medium-high heat, cover, turn off the heat, and let stand for 10 minutes.
Look for: The water reaches a rolling boil before the covered pan comes off the heat.
Cool and peel the egg
Run cold water over the egg for 2 minutes, then crack and peel it once cool. The yolk and white should be completely firm, with no soft or liquid center.
Look for: The egg feels cool to the touch and its white and yolk are fully set.
Whisk the Maurice dressing
Finely chop the hard-cooked egg. Whisk it with mayonnaise, Dijon, vinegar, Worcestershire, pickle brine, parsley, sugar, salt, and white pepper until creamy, lightly sweet, and thick enough to cling to a spoon without weeping liquid.
Look for: The fully cooked egg is finely distributed and the dressing holds a soft ribbon from the whisk.
Wash and dry the greens
Separate the iceberg leaves and rinse them with the romaine hearts under cool water. Spin or pat them completely dry, then refrigerate while you cut the other ingredients so the leaves remain cold and crisp.
Look for: No droplets remain between the leaves or in the rib folds.
Cut the lettuce
With a sharp knife, slice the chilled iceberg and romaine crosswise into ribbons about 1/2 inch wide. Keep the pieces bite-sized and similar in length so the dressing distributes evenly.
Look for: The ribbons are crisp, roughly uniform, and short enough to lift easily on a fork.
Julienne the deli ingredients
Stack the ham, turkey, and Swiss slices, then use a sharp knife to cut each stack into neat matchsticks about 1/8 inch wide and 2 inches long. Separate the strips so they do not stay clumped together.
Look for: The ham, turkey, and Swiss form distinct, narrow strips of similar size.
Slice the pickles
Cut the sweet pickles lengthwise into thin strips about 1/8 inch wide, then drain the sliced black olives well. Keep both toppings separate until the salad is assembled.
Look for: The pickle strips are slender and the olives have no brine pooled around them.
Arrange the salad
Place the cold iceberg and romaine in a wide chilled serving bowl. Scatter the ham, turkey, Swiss, pickle strips, and black olives evenly over the greens, keeping the lettuce loose rather than packed down.
Look for: The colorful toppings are distributed across the bowl and the lettuce remains fluffy.
Dress just before serving
Add about half the dressing and toss gently with tongs. Add more a spoonful at a time, tossing between additions, until every ingredient is lightly coated and the bottom of the bowl has no puddle.
Look for: The leaves look lightly glossy and retain their crisp edges without dressing collecting below.
Serve immediately
Divide the Maurice salad among four plates and serve at once, passing any remaining dressing at the table. Keep the undressed greens and dressing separate if the meal is delayed.
Look for: The salad is cool, crisp, and evenly dotted with ham, turkey, Swiss, pickles, and olives.