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If I had to compile a list of the top five National Dishes of France, right up there would be salade de carottes râpées, or grated carrot salad. It’s everywhere. You’ll find it on many café and bistro menus, Charcuteries sell it by the kilo, and even supermarkets sell it packed up in rectangular containers, ready to go, which office workers and others enjoy for a quick lunch.

romano

Romain, my French partner, makes a great version of this salad. It’s not difficult to make. All you need is a bunch of fresh carrots, ingredients for the dressing, and a little bit of effort, to grate the carrots.

I resist the urge to add other things to this French classic, although if you have some beets, you can grate those in raw (or use all beets to make this salad), but being a Californian, I’ll confess to sometimes tossing in cubes of avocado at the last minute. But being a Frenchman, Romain likes to keep it pure.

carrotsraw

And as a recipe writer, I love the fact that French cooks, and recipes in France, often call for vague quantities of things. It’s something that would drive any measure-happy cook insane. In French recipes, sometimes a “wine glass” of water or milk is called for. A teaspoon is called une cuillère à café (a coffee spoon) and a tablespoon is une cuillère à soupe (a soup spoon.) But they don’t refer to the same standardized measuring spoon Americans use, which is fine; cooking is about making and tasting, and seasonings to suit your tastes, as ingredients can vary.

carrots & dressing

The most important thing to a good bowl of carottes râpées is the size you grate the carrots. “Daveed, it is very important to grate the carrots très fines!” says Romain, and his mother, who was standing right behind him in the kitchen when he was making this salad. She agreed on the size of the carrots. “Oui, Oui…c’est très importante!”

Yes, the size is important. Romain wasn’t convinced about my desire to add Dijon mustard to the dressing, which, once he tasted, agreed was a good addition.

tasting

After making the salad, the carrots may need another dash of lemon or salt or olive oil. Don’t overdress the salad; the carrots should be moistened and glistening, not swimming in dressing.

NOTE: After I posted this recipe, and over the years, a lot of people have asked me about the Moulinex device the French use to make grated carrot salad. Unfortunately, the sturdy metal model most people use in France, of the Mouli Julienne, are no longer being made. The plastic ones they’ve replaced them with aren’t nearly as sturdy and are expensive outside of France. (They cost about €20 in France.) Westmark, a German brand, makes a plastic rotary grater. I haven’t tried it, but it gets favorable reviews online. I also have a grater attachment for my KitchenAid stand mixer that works well.

If you want to get long shreds of carrots, like those shown in the post, you can search for a rotary grater, called a “mouli julienne,” on websites such as Ebay, Etsy, and LeBonCoin (in France.) I’ve also seen them listed as a râpe à légumes, râpe à carottes, a Mouli épluche, and a Moulin à légumes (which, technically, is a food mill.) So check out the photos and read the descriptions carefully before purchasing online.

French Grated Carrot Salad

This classic French salad is featured on crudites (raw vegetable salad) plates in bistros and cafés. It can be served as a main course salad or alongside grilled meats, fish, or chicken. The recipe can easily be doubled. Each batch is different so plan on seasoning the salad with additional lemon juice or salt, if desired.
Servings 4 side salads, 3 main course salads
  • 1 pound (450g) carrots, peeled
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice, or more, to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 1/4 teaspoon honey or sugar
  • 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh herbs, such as parsley, tarragon, chives,or chervil
  • Grate the carrots in a rotary grater or box grater.
  • In a mixing bowl, stir together the olive oil, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, salt, mustard, and honey or sugar. Add the carrots and chopped herbs and toss thoroughly with the dressing.
  • Taste, and season with additional lemon juice, salt, or other ingredients.

Notes

Serving and storage: The salad is best served at room temperature. It can be made up to 24 hours in advance and refrigerated until ready to serve.
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132 comments

    • Matt

    Duly added to the list of things to try in France :) I think this would be best right out the bowl…

    • priya

    lovely! i make the indian version – i add a couple of petals of garlic and cumin seeds heated in some oil to grated carrots mixed with lime juice, salt and coriander.
    of course i’ll try this version too. i love the fresh taste of grated carrots.
    and i love you for not liking ‘al dente’ pasta.
    :-)

      • Aruna Ghose

      I use more or less the same recipe but with the addition of crushed peanuts scattered over it

    • Cenk

    Carrot salad is prepared exactly the same here in Turkey! Although I have to say that I prefer red wine vinegar instead of lemon juice. Oh, and we call a tablespoon “a soup spoon” too! Ha!

    • Sarah

    Hi David,

    That looks fantastic. I used to always have Moroccan carrot salad at a local cafe (grated carrot, sultanas, almonds and dressing), so I think I’ll love the version parisienne.

    xox Sarah

      • Kim

      I always add golden raisins to my carrot salad.

    • krysalia

    hahaha, that’s so true, grated carrots are way better eaten with fingers :)

    In the north of France, we also put them in sandwiches, and i love to accomidate them as an entrée them with some kind of sweet dressing: lemon juice, olive oil, some dijon mustard (a small coffee spoon), a dab of honey. Then in the salad I add some Cerneaux De Noix De Grenoble and currants. I serve this sur des feuilles d’endive . It’s really delicious with fresh, crunchy, tasty carrots finely grated.

    • tom

    Yum….I truly miss those carottes in France….but even more so, I miss the celery root dish. I have never been able to find a decent one in the US, and I have no idea if the root itself is actually different, or is it because the French have prepared them for so long, they are used to making them taste better? I dunno…but celery root is my fav.

    As for the seared tuna/al dente pasta issue, my problem is that too many places in the US just never get it right…either the tuna is raw or overcooked (even when ordered “seared”), or what is allegedly “al dente” pasta is basically raw and uncooked in the center of the noodle…not a pleasant taste sensation at all when you bite into it.

    Not surprisingly, the Italians get it right…al dente means the pasta has a little resistance to it when you bite in, not raw/uncooked, and not limp/overcooked like a dead worm, either.

    • jo

    Ah….thank you! I am working on culling recipe ideas for my Everyday French week with the 11+ crew and we’ve already done so many of the staples….I was thinking of making these and possibly concombres as well so this is rather timely. They look great.

    • jo

    and might i add that stubble and a “wifebeater” makes eating carrots look dare i say rather….tempting.

    • selena

    my french friend taught this to me, and i love it with shredded beets and mustard vinaigrette. keep the beets and carrots separate until the last minute or else the whole thing’ll be red, and it won’t look as pretty.

    • Janet

    cuill “è” re Daveeed, cuill-è-re please…
    cuillère!

    • Adele

    My French uncle used to make this salad, and I’ve always loved it. We used to live in the same three-family house — he married, later in life, to one of my father’s older sisters — and as a small child I’d climb up to the top apartment whenever Uncle Eli was cooking. I think he used red wine vinegar instead of lemon juice, and the sweet/tangy combination has always been one of my favorites. I started making it at home only a few years ago, and I always make w-a-a-a-a-y more than I think I need, because a lot of it goes missing (gotta keep tasting to check the balance of flavors!) before it gets to the table. My uncle also used to make a similar salad with green beans, tossing them in the dressing while they were still warm, and serving them at room temperature.

    • David

    Janet: Merci…and oddly, I just had a French friend over for lunch and I was asking her about a particular concordance—and she didn’t know.

    Even the French have trouble with French! ; )

    Now if someone could just come up with a French replacement for the word ‘crumble‘…

    • Marguerite

    Quelle coincidence! I was going to make this tonight for some friends and as french as it is, I love to add arugula instead of parsley.
    The whole undercooked/al dente thing is just very chichi, it’s like people (espec. here in germany!) who add TONS of garlic to a dish and then call it ‘gourmet’!
    Great photos, great ‘marcel’!

    • krysalia

    what was the concordance problem ?

    About crumble, what about “croutu” ? at least this is a fun word :)
    un saupoudré” can be fancy, too :)

    and yes, even the french have trouble with french, it can easily be seen on the frown faces of the poor children during grammar classes :) (one page for the rule, ten pages for exeptions (and there’s even exceptions to the regular exeptions :D) .

    Well, what i used to tell to my students was : “A vaincre sans péril, on triomphe sans gloire” => you’ll get much pleasure and glory to succeed with such a challenge :)

    • laurie

    I totally agree with you on the al dente pasta, I prefer mine cooked through but not mushy, for sure.

    • Alexa

    Ah les carottes rapees… A staple in my house. I actually crave it when I go a while without it–it’s the french thing- see I didn’t leave out the “It’s”. There’s just something about those thinly shredded carottes bright orange against the deep green of the parsley. I put a little bit of garlic in my dressing and a big amount of parsley. Talking about shredded carrots, I cringe when I see the pre-made packages of shredded carrots in the store, way too thick and so dull looking. Your pictures are just lovely and spontaneous looking!

    • David

    Alexa:

    So French!

    ; – )

    • Janet

    … pas de quoi David, c’est un plaisir!

    I used to bake crumbles once a year with my students and when I asked them to suggest some kind of a translation I often heard:
    “ben, un crumbeul c’est un crumbeul quoi!”.
    once,anyhow, I got:
    “un émiettié ou un émiettage Madame” which, although l’Académie Française never ever thought of such words,I gladly and enthusiastically accepted…

    as for your concordance (des temps I suppose), what was the exact problem?

    • Barbra

    This post has given me a craving for carrot cake. Et un beau pompier, bien sûr.

    • Dave

    Daveed:
    your photos “sont toujours très beau”
    but the parsley is particularly striking, it’s as if the greens will jump off the cutting board.
    Was this taken with your 60 mm lens?
    merci.

    Yes, it was taken with my 60 mm macro. I love that lens, but it helps that the flat leaf parsley is so beautiful, too! – dl

    • Dawn in CA

    “The most important thing to a good bowl of carottes râpées is the size of les carottes.”

    Mais non, Daveed! The most important thing is un beau aide de cuisine. “Oui! Oui!…c’est très importante!” I think your partner fits the bill. ;)

    • Jennifer

    Magnifique! Merçi pour la recette. I will be sure to try this out in my kitchen and, of course, sample the real deal when I’m in Paris.

    • Laura

    Oh David, what memories you brought back. My favorite french cousin, Sam, taught me to make this when I was ten or eleven when I needed to bring something for international day at school (Can you just imagine?). Needless to say it was a huge success and it is still one of my favorites.

    By the way, it is lovely to see and hear about Romain.

    • Rebecca

    Great and summery! I will make this soon…thanks for keeping me in touch with Paris. Yesterday on Sesame Street Grover’s travels were to Paris, where ‘Sophie’ and her papa went to the farmer’s market, then the butcher, fromagerie, and boulangerie…I was devastated in an instant by how beautiful and fresh everything looked–even the bakery staff!! (Making my trip to the store look abysmal, of course…) I wanted to run off to Paris, but instead am reading your blog, David! xo!

    • La Rêveuse

    I miss this–it and celery root salad were always on our table in Paris. Num. I found the reason for peeling, though–the carrots (at least there) had a very bitter skin on them. It was quite noticeable.

    And THANK YOU for the al dente and tough, undercooked green beans thing. I thought I was the only one who hated that. Pasta should not stick to your teeth, and green beans should not leave a starchy film and make an audible crunch. If I wanted them raw, I’d eat them straight out of the garden.

    Like I do with peas. :)

    • Abra

    I too love this salad, only at home I make it with argan oil, which I think has a mysterious affinity for carrots as well as beets.

    • Oakjoan

    The celery root and carrot salads were part of the first meal I ever had in Paris. It was back in 1836, at a cafe in Montmartre. 3 of us newly-arriveds were sitting there when a large cart, full of all kinds of dishes, was wheeled up next to our table.

    First we were very afraid that we’d have to pay big bucks for this. We didn’t order it, did we? In time, of course, we found that it was the trolley of apps.

    All of us were very impressed.

    PS: I, too, like a bit of cumin in my carrotes rappees. Since Full Belly Farm has been providing carrots for several months, we’ve had lots of carrot soup, carrot soup with red pepper puree on top, and carrot salads.

    • Jeremy

    You know that famous assiette de crudite was always my favorite as a child, my mom used to always butter our radishes or make endive with beets and shallots. Carrot salad is great with some raisins too, a chef friend used to serve it with poached salmon! Glad you brought up some of the great raw vegetable memories I have of France. You stirred up my bowl, thanks David!

    • Matt’s Kitchen

    I’m curious which cartoon characters would be on those juice glasses. Certainly not Pepe Le Pew!

    • Wandering Chopsticks

    I made a similar grated carrot salad last year when I came upon four-colored carrots at the market. I used vinegar instead of lemon juice. When they became too vinegary the next day, I simply used the leftovers in a Vietnamese sandwich. The pickled carrots and daikon in a banh mi are basically the same thing, except julienned instead of grated.

    I think you should make a carrot ice cream! Sort of like Indian halva(?) with raisins. Or maybe I will. :)

    • delphine

    mmm yummy. There is something quite delightful about the thin, crunchy carrots and the delicate dressing. Though the version that I had was on the train to bordeaux so I am sure that your version is much tastier.

    • Paul.

    When I first moved to Paris, I was lucky enough to stay with a French family while I was finding an apartment of my own. The mother of this family took it upon herself to see that I assimilated, enduring such things as my clumsy French and my American lack of civilization.

    One day I was helping her prepare dinner and I coould not understand what she was asking me to do. Finally, she abandoned French (which I wasn’t getting) and frustrated English asked me to “please rape the carrots.” I’m not sure which embarassed her more: the look of horror on my face or her translation faux pas.

    I’m afraid that, to this day, les carottes rapées make me blush.

      • Gail

      Thank you for the wonderful belly laughs!!!!!

    • Rita

    omg! my mom force fed me carrot for more than 12 yrs, in an attempt to improve my eyesight (failed miserably)…and now i hv carrot-phobia…well maybe unless the carrots were unrecognizably drowned in truckloads of bacon ^_^

    • Sandra

    I’ve had Americanized versions of this–some with raisins and honey, which was exceptionally sweet and very unexpectedly tasty. Then there are also the carrots mixed with grated cabbage, etc–cole slaw. But that’s another mixed bag or bowl if you will, and depending on how its made might or might not be as good as the carrottes rape …. And I’m sure the French probably wouldn’t be too crazy about all the mayo in that.

      • Prom Gal

      The carrots with raisins, honey, pineapple and mayonnaise dressing is Israeli carrot salad. Very popular in Israel, and in NY where there are a lot of Israelis. It is delicious.

    • Hande

    I am just becoming friends with a certain Romain, and am always very shy about speaking out his name, because I just know that I am not pronouncing it correctly (I don’t speak any French). So he calls you “Daveed”, how about the other way around?

    • clotilde

    For Matt: the characters on the glass are Boule et Bill. They’re from a hugely popular Belgian comic book about a little boy and his dog (a cartoon was made later, but they’re originally from a bande dessinée). And the glass is most likely a former jar of mustard: you can buy those at French grocery stores — mustard jars with cartoon/comic characters printed on them that you keep and use as juice glasses afterward.

    • Randi

    Forget the salad, lets hear about your partner. I always hoped you had a fellow all to yourself in romantic gay paris!!

    • Susan

    I bet a little mint would be good in this dish too.

    I have a hand julienne scraper, it looks like a vegetable peeler. It makes the thinnest, most delicate little strips. Great tool for use on cheese and for flaking chocolate as well.

    • Dr. CaSo

    Daveeeeeed, I love you :D I have been living in North America for more than 12 years now and still can’t stand the half-cooked green beans! Et j’adore la salade de carottes! Thanks for making me laugh (and thanks to krysalia for having given me the link to your blog (the WTF post))! (PS. Funny: in English, it’s caRRoTs, and in French, it’s caRoTTes).

    • chanelle

    just made this last night and it was SO GOOD. alas, we did not have a french juice glass with cartoon characters on it, so i am not sure if it was as amazing as yours, but i think we came pretty close.
    ;)
    thanks for sharing the “recipe”

    • Maureen

    My mother had a group of different carrot salad recipes she served. One of them she would add raisins and dressed it with a mix that started with whipped cream.

    • Lu

    How have I been to Paris 4 times and have never seen nor had this salad? I’ve been looking for (yet another) reason to return. I looked at Susan’s “French Farmhouse Cookbook” and see that her recipe uses tarragon instead of parsley. So my question is: do the French not agree on the ‘herb’ of choice? I would think that the ‘estragon’ could overpower the dish.

    Thoughts, DL?

    PS – Randi’s comment above is cute. So, are you gonna answer?! :)

    • casacaudill

    We had this salad at La Cave de L’Os à Moelle while we were in Paris in February and it was such a great way to start off what was one of our best meals the entire trip. Thank you for posting the recipe – I think tomorrow I’m going to make this to go alongside our roasted chicken.

    • timhenk

    Finally, someone who agrees with me about al dente pasta!!! Great work on the blog, David.

    • David

    Lu: This is one of those homey French dishes, so I think any additions, like which herb you use, are based on what you have on hand. Tarragon would be lovely, but flat leaf parsley is widely-available in Paris, so that’s the herb of choice around here. (French tarragon isn’t as aggressive-tasting as varieties I’ve had back in the US.)

    And for you and Randi, there may be more stories in the future. But don’t you all want to hear more about chocolate? ; )

    • krysalia

    daveed said> But don’t you all want to hear more about chocolate? ; )

    do we really need to choose ? i’d love to hear about romance stories too :D (les petits potins, comme on dit !)

    • Erin

    This is one of my all time favorite salads, I can’t get enough of it! I add a dollop of Dijon mustard to the mix most of the time.
    Love the photos.

    • Lynn D.

    Now that Romain has taught us how to make carottes rapee, don’t you think it’s time to teach Romaine (whooops, sorry) how to make the American classic Caesar salad?

    • David

    Lynn D: Actually, he makes a really good Caesar Salad, and unlike some of the other versions you find around here, he keeps it simple and authentic, ie: no roasted quail, roasted peppers, canned corn, rice, etc…

    Hmm, maybe that’s another post?

    • Elisa

    In Estonian the tablespoon translates as soup spoon as well, guess it’s not all that rare.

    • Lu

    Hello again, David. I made the carottes râpées last night. Don’t tell Romain but I did add a dollop of Dijon (perfect!). Delightful, really.

    Question: What did R use to grate the carrots? They look perfect. I was going to use my old-fashioned box grater, but decided to use the Cuisinart. Susan H-L, in her Farmhouse book, said the best thing to use is a Moulinex but, I don’t own one.

    Thanks for the recipe idea and the answer to my question which you are about to give :)

    • gastronomeg

    Delicious~I made this as a side for my boyfriend’s birthday dinner last weekend & we loved it! In fact, I’m going to whip up some more today!

    • David

    Gastromeg: yes, isn’t it the perfect recipe? It’s easy, you only need to have carrots around (everything else is a pantry item), and it adapts well to customization. Oh yeah, and I always feel really healthy eating it. I just hope you made your boyfriend a cake as well, and didn’t just put a candle in a pile of grated carrots! : )

    • MikeV

    I have the same question that Lu asks above – what did you use to grate the carrots? I made these for dinner tonight, and my box grater gave me short, flatter pieces of carrot. It was great, and I want to make it again, but I want it to look as good as it does in your pictures!

    (PS: Thank you for all the Paris information – I leaned on it heavily when I visited earlier in the year. ESPECIALLY the “Buy a Paris par Arrondisment” advice – that little map book was my best friend while I was there.)

    • David

    Hi Mike and Lu: He, like most of the French folks that I know, swear by the Moulinex 3-legged julienne grater. I clicked around a bit online and didn’t see the metal ones for sale anywhere, just this plastic model, which looks similar but I can’t be sure. I don’t know where they’re available in the US, but I’ve used the fine grater attachment for my KitchenAid mixer, which works really well.

    But I think if you want to be really French, you need to find a used metal Moulinex, preferably one that’s pretty battered-up from years of grating carrots, and use that. I do know where one is….but it’s already spoken for! : )

    • Helen-Tartelette

    Guess what I brought here when I moved? Yep, my mother’s Moulinex metal grater for carottes rapees and we have these once a week…as well as celeri remoulade and from time to time I crave “la macedoine de legumes” which I used to loath as a child…funny what being homesick makes us do!! The pictures are so vibrant!

    • seagirl

    You all got me drooling for “pretty” carrots, and a simple search on ebay pulled up the Moulinex grater that you are talking about (I think) for less than $20 brand new: French on box, english directions for use included…
    Tell us more about the celery root dish?
    We here in Maine love fresh celery root quickly fried tempura style.
    and those thin new carrots that barely make it to the car from the Farmers Market…

    • neil

    Great looking salad, I’m going to introduce it to my wife, who does a similar thing with even more finely grated carrot, if that’s possible, and adds finely grated apple along with a sour cream dressing, but I think she’ll enjoy the purity of your salad. With a steak.

    • hélène

    he David…
    coming back to an earlier question of yours : there is no French word for Crumble… we call it Crumble… only with a different accent ;-)
    I was looking at French websites to find the best dressing for these carrots… but I think you description is the best !
    cheers!

    • christina {a californian in le havre}

    Thank you for another lovely recipe. i bookmarked your site and have been lurking for some months.

    my challenge… making my partners comfort foods, and this is one of his favorites!

    i can’t stand to see him eat the Auchan version again, it is truly disgusting >

    • sam

    Are you kidding me? Very Parisian and he would use sugar instead of Dijon? Sounds like a call to civil war to me.

    • Jo

    Everything in your recipe is pretty much on the money in my memory of Mémé preparing this when I was a child – except for the lemon juice where she would use red wine vinegar, and about mixing the carrots and the dressing at the last minute… Pépé especially loved his salads ‘cooked’, that is left overnight in the dressing and savoured the next day – lettuce leaf and tomato salads too… and I have to say just the thought of those makes my mouth water. I’m off to the kitchen to (finely) grate some carrots right now!!

    • petitlapin66

    The French peel the carrots because it is more beautiful this way (as they would say in English).

    THANK YOU, whoever you are, David, for posting this. I lived in France for a few years and was just searching the net to find a recipe for carrottes râpées like the ones i ate in France. You’re right: you can even get them at the cheapie buffet restaus and the supermarkets. So French!

    This is perfect. MERCI MILLE FOIS!

    Jennie

    • Charlene

    I just made this and it was very nice. My finely grated carrots were not crunchy however. Off to look for the Moulinex. Sure would like that celery root recipe! Thanks for a new way to serve carrots, even if I can’t find the Moulinex. Oh yes, thank Romain for me too. He looks like quite a catch!

    • alexandra

    can you advise on how to find a good machine to grate carrots in US : which brand, store or specific machine? I have tried several and carrots end up too thick or dry and large chunks of it stay stuck in the machine….

    • alexandra

    can you advise on how to find a good machine to grate carrots in US : which brand, store or specific machine? I have tried several and carrots end up too thick or dry and large chunks of it stay stuck in the machine….

    • alexandra

    can you advise on how to find a good machine to grate carrots in US : which brand, store or specific machine? I have tried several and carrots end up too thick or dry and large chunks of it stay stuck in the machine….

    • David

    Hi Alexandra: Romain uses an old metal Moulinex, which rests on 3 legs and makes those long, relatively-thin carrot strips that are just the right size. Unfortunately they’re not available in the US, or France, anymore.

    I have the shredder attachment for the KitchenAid which I use (check to make sure if you order one that it’s compatible with your model.)

    In a previous comment, above, I linked to the modern version of the Moulinex. I don’t know where they’re available in America, but you could try eBay or searching on Google shopping.

    • Savita

    Here in India I’ve been dreaming of carottes rapees for months. Finally got it together using a potato peeler to shred deliciously thin slices “off the bone”, used extra virgin olive oil and lemon, as you do, but as well as the parsley, stuck a tiny amount of chopped chives and a hint of soy sauce rather than salt. Yum! Thanks to that person who suggested sultanas – I knew something was missing. Better than sugar or honey.
    And to the person who queried Indian halva. Yes, it is called (and transliterated as) h-a-l-v-a and it’s made of shredded carrot generously soaked in a significant amount of sugar, plus a bunch of other things, one of which – I’m guessing – is cardamon and another probably vanilla. Delicious for carrot lovers but sweet to the eyeballs.
    Now where, in India, to find my other French food wish, celerie remoulade? Haven’t seen the celery root anywhere.

    • hawaiiwisconsin

    Aha, when I saw that lovely salad, I knew those carrots had to be shredded using a Mouli!
    My late father in law watched the mouli commercials on TV in the 70s and bought one fore each of his 5 kids, who weren’t interested. I managed to salvage two of them! For years it has been one of my most treasured kitchen tools, next to a sharp knife. You can make perfect carrots with the mouli, much better than a grater or a mandoline.
    Made the salad but it’s Sunday so out of parsley and lemons. Substituted a rather limp but still green scallion, and half a lime. Salad was delicious.
    Mouli-julienne can be purchased on ebay in the US.

    • Magda

    I have a regular box grater….can I use that instead? And if so, which side would I use, the thicker or thinner one?

    Thanks in advance.

    • mira

    I am so happy you posted this recipe. I spent 7 months in Chambéry in the Alps and LIVED off of that stuff – it was so refreshing and delicious. I tried searching on the internet and hadn’t yet found a recipe that had the right combination, but this one sounds just about right! Thank you!

    • mehdi

    Well, in persian we also say soup spoon and tea spoon(or jam spoon)!!!!

    • Rochelle Eissenstat

    LOL re al dente pasta and green beans. Let me add 1 more to that undercooked list – half cooked risottos with hard grains of rice! I stopped ordering risottos in restaurants due to their propensity to leave the poor rice so hard.
    Green beans are wonderful sauteed [till done :-) ] in olive oil, with flavorings of thinly sliced garlic, onion, and yummy Moroccan preserved lemon, salt and pepper. The beans should be even somewhat blackened.

    • Leu2500

    I have a metal mouli julienne that I picked up at a garage sale years ago. (Thanks, Julia!). I’ll have to dig it out & try it. I did not realize that the carrots should be grated do fine. Now I know.

    • Lisa

    I’m wondering which Mouli you’re using? They all look like either a rotary version or like a cheese grater? I’m definitely looking for a new kitchen tool so I’d love to know!

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      I use a Mouli Julienne made by Moulinex. Unfortunately the metal model that I mentioned at the end of the post, is no longer being made. They make a plastic Mouli Julienne which I have, but as I also mentioned there, they are not well-made or sturdy. And they’re expensive outside France. There’s a Westmark that some like that I linked to that might be worth trying.

    • abby

    love this. i’ve always been convinced carrottes râpées play a part in “bonne mine” and that crazy St Tropez tan only the French can achieve.

    • Brenda Pawloski

    Chick Fil A used to offer a version of this that included raisins. I always got it for dessert. They have replaced it with kale (sigh.)

    • Libby Sloan

    Westmark Rotary Grater you mention in article is PERFECT for carottes rapées salad. I bought mine on line in the US so that I could have my same carottes rapées I had in France for 50 years. I could find nothing in the US which would make the same grate. This does! However, you cannot use it over a bowl; it has to be used over a plate and then scraped into a bowl — worth the effort!

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      Thanks for letting me know. I didn’t want to recommend it since I hadn’t used it. I did see that Moulinex now makes an “electric” rotary grater, which looks like a spaceship or something. That would be fun to try, but I think I’ll stick with the manual model : )

    • Carl E.

    My mother made a grated carrot salad using her Saladmaster. It did a wonderful job of grating them.

    Of course, being American, orange jello was involved.

    • Lawrence Helman

    or as Ruth Draper said:
    Carot Cru please.

    • Liza in Ann Arbor

    Daveed, I make this all the time! I have yet to add Dijon so I’ll give that a try next. I once brought it to a work potluck and nobody touched it. People always want the junk food at a potluck, SMH.

    • Erica

    This brings me back to our years in France. At the girls school in TOULON carrot salad was a regular menu item. The salad had to be eaten before one could have baguette. And the first person to finish the salad got to be the “lunch helper” for the day. We will have to make this soon!

    • alex

    sigh, this has me dreaming of summer. lovely simplicity and colour. merci.

    • Alison

    Ah, David– I think this is the recipe that made me a super-fan. Last time you posted it, we were living in Paris and seeing this salad at the market. It has become a staple in our household… un grand plaisir. Thank you for all the good food you’ve inspired over the past five years!

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      Thanks for sticking around! ; )

    • Cynthia

    This is delightful! It’s so easy to make, and so delicious. Thank you.

    • Debbie Williams

    I am so glad you posted this…I was busy writing it all down during the INSTAGRAM segment. AND…I just found a metal Mouli on eBay…… Carrot salad coming up!

    • Mimi Woodham

    I will have to try this version of carrot salad. Although I must admit my mother traumatized me as a teenager with grating carrots for Carrot and Raisin salad. Our metal grater was about as ‘old school’ as it comes and I inevitably did more than grate the carrot. This may also explain about my aversion to raisins in food.

    Thank you for all the food, writing and humor.

    • Maggie Zullinger

    Tested the Westmark rotary which arrived today. Blades smaller than I expected (4.75 inches). Satisfied with the grater blade but not so much the slicer blade. Made quick work of potatoes for latkes. Difficult to balance over a bowl so used the cutting board. I may continue to use my trusty knife for the gratins & dauphinois. Not bad for $25 but would not pay more.

    • Margaret

    I thought I was alone in my love for carrot salad!
    I will have to try some of these variations. Mine is made with carrots, sliced or slivered almonds, dried currants, chopped cilantro or parsley, dressed with the juice of an orange.

    • Jill

    I grew up in New Orleans and “shredded carrot and raisin salad” was standard fare in my home; my 92 year old mother still prepares it. We used a handheld Mouli grater, and I still have an old metal one that is great for hard cheese. I just purchased a vintage tabletop one to use and I look forward to trying this version immediately when it arrives.

    • ROY JONES

    Can tell David is American. Sugar in a carrot rappee?? Hilarious.

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      This is actually a recipe based on the one made by my partner, who is mentioned in the post, who’s French (born in Paris.)

      • Barbara Fassbind

      Sugar brings out the carrot taste better than salt does!

      • Marie

      This time in the world, more than ever, is the time to abide by: if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.

    • Louise Yenovkian

    Thank you David. This is will on the table tonight! Refreshing, healthy, tasty.

    • Barbara Fassbind

    With reference to French measurements, I love the one where you need un pot de ci, un pot de ça. Here in Geneva the pots (usually yogurt/yaourt) are different sizes! It just makes cooking more fun!

    • Claudine

    So thrilled to see that even during our dreaded lockdown time, reading old notes regarding this carrot salad brings a thrill to my heart! I saw a young man’s misnomer so it makes me feel better that I often requested, “carottes Frâpées!

    • Marguerite

    Reading this I immediately knew I had to make it for dinner tonight, which I just did, using the finest blade of my Japanese benriner grater. Très fines!
    When I bought the grater I listened to some sage advice and also bought a metallic-fabric mesh glove that saves you from being flayed alive. And when I use it I channel Michael Jackson. Looking forward to our fish & chips tonight with carrot salad instead of cabbage slaw.

    • Maria Speidel

    My daughter LOVES this salad. I’ve been making the Alice Water’s version from The Art of Simple Cooking but was a little unhappy with my kinda lumpy carrot grating on the box grater. Immediately after reading your post, I opened a tab on eBay and long story short I am the proud owner of a vintage 1950s Mouli shredder. Instructions and (for whatever reason) a cake decorating kit (also vintage) thrown in. Win. Win. Thank you, David.

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      I don’t love telling people that a special piece of equipment is needed to make a salad, but in this case, those really do a much better job. I probably should have bought a metal one (vintage) before telling others to go out and find one – !! – but glad you scored :)

    • Naomi D.

    Well, that is timely. I just looked at my metal rotary grater and thought that I might get rid of it as I hadn’t used it in so long. D’oh! It’s not just for cheese!

    • Rayna

    Love this, just one question: What is a “tablesoon?” I don’t speak French so….
    just kidding!!!!! :)

    • Elizabeth Velasquez

    Kuhn Rikon Julienne Peeler with Blade Protector, Stainless Steel Handle.
    This works really well on carrots. Use it all the time

    • Ingrid

    Hi, I am Austrian by birth and we add a small grated white onion to this salad. It’s wonderful that way (no mustard, just salt, a good pinch of caster sugar and lemon juice. No oil required.

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      I sometimes add a finely minced shallot to the dressing. It’s not traditional (in France) but adds a little of that flavor, too, and some natural sweetness.

    • Prom Gal

    One of my favorite café dishes- assiette de crudités. It really looks and tastes best served on an assiette- a flat plate, with other cold dishes arranged like a wheel. Celeriac, hard cooked egg in eighths, tomatoes.
    Add celeriac, celery root, grated in the same manner, with a mayo/lemon/ mustard dressing (I use the Pommery moutarde à l’ancienne de Meaux)
    I just bought another Mouli Julienne on eBay for $18. A box grater just isn’t the same.

    • Marie

    Made this today to go with jerk ribs that i’d frozen and just reheated. It was so good. Never tried any kind of carrot salad, but this was so good (husband loved it too), that I don’t feel compelled to search out more recipes.

    We preferred it with a little more dijon mustard. Used parsley like you did on IG live. Cannot wait to make this again — I am planning recipes to go with it already :)

    • Marie

    I forgot to say that I used the shredder blade on my food processor… for the first time! Let’s just say I will use it a lot more often from here on. So fast and convenient!

    Thanks, David, for all the great and nourishing stuff you’ve been helping us discover <3

    • Martha

    Oh, David! You’ve inspired me once again. I made it last night with dukkah, toasted almond slivers and craisins. I opted for lemon juice and a pinch of sugar. Now I’m just getting started and plan to try new combos. Thanks yet again.

    • QUERINO DE FREITAS

    I love your cooking…do continue with the good work….Querino…

    • Taffy

    David,

    thanks for the instagram video of you and Romain making the carrot salad. I enjoy watching you two together, though I have to say he drove me crazy the way he added one ingredient at a time for the dressing and tossing each time before adding another ingredient!! Obviously not someone who has to be efficient when cooking, but ah, bon, each to their own!!

    • Laura

    Somebody might have mentioned already but just in case the Spiralizers sold in the US would be perfect for preparing the carrots. That’s what I’d use.

    • Jay

    This has been a staple since you first posted it. I like it with a bit more parsley. I use the med shred blade on my food processor, and make sure to cut the carrots in about 2 in pieces that fit horizontally in the feeder tube.

    • Sue R

    He’s very cute and the salad pretty good too! I approve. Hugs from Australia. Suzie.

    • Mindy Minge

    Does anyone really need a recipe to make grated carrot salad? It’s as easy as tying your shoes!

    • Adrienne A

    The Bamix accessory “SliceSy” can do a super fine grating (such as you would fine chez le traiteur). I am with the other commenters whose favorite cafe dish is an assiete de crudités. I have made céleri rémoulade but cutting the celery root is quite a job. Try to find a small fresh one in a farmer’s market. The first one I bought from the supermarket was tough as a log and would have required a chainsaw. I believe that David has a good recipe in one of his books.

    • Adriana

    This was really a nice salad, David! I did not have a grater in my temporary Pandemia Quarters so sliced the carrots into thin coins. It was delightful! Will go into my permanent recipe file.

    • Fate

    I have grated a big carrot by hand and now exhausted , resting now to go back and pick it up where I left

    • Gina Maslow

    I love this salad and I’ve been looking for a recipe for it for a long time!

    Thank you

    • Saurs

    What a blast from the past. I remember when this recipe was first posted. A week or two later, I spotted a tub of humble shredded carrot salad at Treasure Island in Chicago. Not quite a match in terms of sweet and acid, and better made at home, but it was addicting, excellent in its own right and, though this might seem blasphemous, excellent as a sandwich spread or condiment. Close to a palate cleanser.

    • Clare

    Thanks for this recipe, it has revolutionised my salad making. Who knew that grating carrot so finely would make such a difference.

    • Kilimanjarno

    I’m wanting to make this and I’ve been shopping for a mouli julienne. Lots of the available ones come with 4 discs, and very very few come with five. The fifth disc is the superfine shredder. For making this salad do you need the superfine shredder, or does the fine shredder work well?

      • David
      David Lebovitz

      I generally use the disk that’s not too fine but some people prefer very fine and others like them more coarse. Too fine for me makes the carrots a bit sorry so I don’t use the very fine disk

A

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