From restaurant recipe to Sylt cult specialty
Behind Voigts Sylt is Alte Backstube Familie Voigt GmbH & Co KG from List — the northernmost town in Germany, at the very top of Sylt. Kai Voigt laid the foundation with a recipe that he originally served in his restaurant, the Alte Backstube in List. Guests who had tried the homemade dressing once asked more and more often for a portion to take home. This request turned into a business idea: the Sylter Salathimmel was born. Almost two decades later, it has become a small dressing company that is now known far beyond the island.
Handmade in List: production between the North Sea and the production room
The increasing demand eventually made a dedicated production room necessary — about 300 meters north of the original bakery, also in Süderhörn in List. The Salathimmel is still prepared there by hand today. Depending on the number of orders, dressing master Yao fills between 260 and 500 bottles daily — in two sizes, without an assembly line, without automation. Every order leaves the island as a direct shipment, fresh from production. Those who are on Sylt can also buy the bottles directly in the small shop at Süderhörn 2.
The recipe itself is straightforward and precise: a base of rapeseed oil, onions, and table vinegar, rounded off with lovage as a defining herbal accent. Unopened, the dressing has a shelf life of half a year without refrigeration — a practical advantage for everyone who keeps the Sylter Salathimmel in stock.
A dressing that can do more than just salad
The Sylter Salathimmel is more versatile than the name suggests. It has long since outgrown green salads: as a marinade for grilled zucchini, bell peppers, or eggplants, as a base for an avocado cream dip, for seasoning warm potato salad, or — according to old bakery tradition — in a small shot glass as an aperitif before the meal. The dressing is now listed in over 60 locations throughout Germany, including selected EDEKA branches and delicatessens. Anyone who has tried it once understands why the guests of the Alte Backstube did not want to go home without a bottle back then.
