Olivier salad
Olivier salad, also known as Russian salad or Stolichny salad, is a traditional salad dish in Russian cuisine. Its creation is generally attributed to Lucien Olivier.
It is popular in the Post-Soviet and other Eastern Bloc states around the world. In different modern recipes, it is usually made with diced boiled potatoes, carrots and brined dill pickles, together with optional eggs, vegetable or fruit ingredients such as green peas, celeriac, onions and apples, optional meat ingredients such as diced boiled chicken, cured sausage, ham, or hot dogs, with salt, pepper and mustard sometimes added to enhance flavor, and dressed with mayonnaise.
In Russia and other post-Soviet states, as well as in Russophone communities worldwide, the salad has become one of the main dishes on zakuski tables served during New Year's Eve celebrations. In Poland, it is commonly served at Christmas and Easter.
Name
In many countries, the dish is commonly referred to as Russian salad or Stolichny salad. In Iran, it is referred to as and is more commonly made with eggs and chicken. In a few Scandinavian countries, it is called italiensk salat, and in Dutch, it is called huzarensalade. In Turkey, it became known as rus salatası thanks to Russian refugees who immigrated to Istanbul after the Russian Civil War. It was also sometimes called amerikan salatası during the Cold War years due to Russophobia, which accompanied anti-communism. In former Yugoslav countries, it is called руска салата. Francuska salata is a similar dish. In Romania, it is known as salata boeuf, which means "beef salad" in French. In France, it is referred to as macédoine de légumes, whereas the Polish version, in which there's usually no meat, is simply known as sałatka jarzynowa, or "vegetable salad".History
The original version of the salad was invented in the 1860s by a cook of French and Belgian origin, Lucien Olivier, the chef of the Hermitage, one of Moscow's most celebrated restaurants. Olivier's salad quickly became immensely popular with Hermitage regulars and became the restaurant's signature dish.At the turn of the 20th century, one of Olivier's sous-chefs, Ivan Ivanov, attempted to steal the recipe. While preparing the dressing one evening in solitude, as was his custom, Olivier was suddenly called away. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Ivanov sneaked into Olivier's private kitchen and observed his mise en place, which allowed him to make reasonable assumptions about the recipe of Olivier's famed dressing. Ivanov then left Olivier's employ and went to work as a chef for Moskva, a somewhat inferior restaurant, where he began to serve a suspiciously similar salad under the name "metropolitan salad". It was reported by the gourmets of the time, however, that the dressing on the "Stolichny" salad was of a lower quality than Olivier's.
Later, Ivanov sold the recipe for the salad to various publishing houses, which further contributed to its popularization. Due to the closure of the Hermitage restaurant in 1905, and the Olivier family's subsequent departure from Russia, the salad could now be referred to as "Olivier".
One of the first printed recipes for Olivier salad, by Aleksandrova, appearing in 1894, called for half a hazel grouse, two potatoes, one small cucumber, 3–4 lettuce leaves, 3 large crayfish tails, 1/4 cup cubed aspic, 1 teaspoon of capers, 3–5 olives, and 1 tablespoon Provençal dressing.
As often happens with gourmet recipes which become popular, the ingredients which were rare, expensive, seasonal, or difficult to prepare were gradually replaced with cheaper and more readily available foods.
Ingredients
The earliest published recipe known to date appeared in the Russian magazine Наша пища No. 6. This magazine, published from 1891 to 1896 and edited by M. Ignatiev, stated that the original recipe contained "mogul sauce" or "kabul sauce", manufactured by John Burgess & Son and Crosse & Blackwell.The book Руководство к изучению основ кулинарного искусства by P. Aleksandrova gave a recipe containing grouse, crayfish, potatoes, cucumber, lettuce, aspic, capers, olives and mayonnaise. The author wrote that veal, partridge or chicken could be substituted, but the authentic recipe contained grouse.
In post-revolutionary Russia, cheaper ingredients were substituted for the originals: grouse was replaced by chicken or sausage, crayfish by hard-boiled egg, cucumbers, olives and capers by pickled cucumbers and green peas.
Earlier, it always included cold meat such as ham or veal tongue, or fish. The mid-20th century restaurant version involved not just vegetables, but also pickled tongue, sausage, lobster meat, truffles, etc., garnished with capers, anchovy fillets, etc. Some versions molded it in aspic.
In modern usage, it is usually boiled diced vegetables bound in mayonnaise, with Doktorskaya-type sausage. The most common alternative version, where the sausage is replaced with boiled or smoked chicken, is called Stolichny salad, after Ivanov's version.
A multitude of other versions, named, unnamed, and even trademarked, exist, but only Olivier and Stolichny salad have entered the common vernacular of post-Soviet states.
Modern Olivier
Today's popular version of Olivier salad—containing boiled potatoes, dill pickles or fresh cucumbers, peas, eggs, carrots, onion and boiled beef/chicken or bologna, dressed with mayonnaise—is a version of Ivanov's Stolichny salad, and only faintly resembles Olivier's original creation. This version was a staple of any Soviet holiday dinner, especially of a Novy God dinner, due to availability of components in winter. Even though more exotic foods are widely available in Russia now, its popularity has hardly diminished: this salad was and maybe still is the most traditional dish for the home New Year celebration for Russian people.Festive Russian and post-Soviet states' homemade versions are traditionally at the cook's whim. While some of the ingredients are considered to be basic and essential, others are either favoured or dismissed as a threat to supposed authenticity.
The biggest Olivier salad, weighing, was prepared in December 2012 in Orenburg.
Southeastern Europe
In Serbia, Olivier salad is called "Russian salad" and is very common on the New Year and Christmas table.The salad is widely popular as руска салата in Bulgaria, Serbia, and North Macedonia, and sallatë ruse in Albania. The Bulgarian version of the salad usually consists of potatoes, carrots, peas, pickles and some sort of salami or ham. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, both the ruska salata and francuska salata are very popular, especially during holidays.
In Croatia and Slovenia, it is typically prepared without meat, and is usually called francuska salata in Croatian and francoska solata in Slovene, both meaning. On top of the typical peas, corn and carrots, some Croatian varieties also contain diced apples.
The Romanian variant, called salată de boeuf, is considered a traditional dish. It is a combination of finely chopped beef and root vegetables, folded in mayonnaise and finished with murături, traditional Romanian mixed pickles. It can also be made vegetarian.
In Turkey, it is known as rus salatası. The Turkish version consists of boiled and diced carrots and potatoes, sliced cucumber pickles, boiled peas and mayonnaise, and is sometimes decorated with boiled and sliced eggs, black olives and beetroot pickles. It is served as meze and is used as a filling for some sandwiches and kumpir. Another Turkish name for Olivier salad is Amerikan salatası, a euphemistic misnomer originating from the Cold War period.
Central Europe
In Slovakia, it is called zemiakový šalát. There are several versions; however, it typically consists of boiled and cubed vegetables, finely chopped onions and pickles in a mayonnaise dressing, often with diced hard-boiled eggs and canned green peas. It is seasoned with salt, black pepper and mustard. Some fluid from the pickles may also be added.In Czech, it is called simply bramborový salát. It consists of boiled and cubed vegetables, finely chopped onions and pickles in a mayonnaise dressing, often with diced hard-boiled eggs, some kind of soft salami and canned green peas. It is the side-dish of choice to go with schnitzel or breaded carp, staple Christmas meals in the Czech Republic.
Polish sałatka jarzynowa or sałatka warzywna is vegetarian, consisting of peas, hard boiled eggs, and the mirepoix, always cut into small cubes, seasoned with mayonnaise, salt, pepper. Recipes usually vary by region and even by household, sometimes even adding meat. One such notable exception is szałot, a Silesian variety which may include not only boiled potatoes, carrots, peas and boiled eggs, but also bacon, sausages or pickled herring. Such salads are often served on family celebrations, in particular on Christmas Eve.
In Hungary, the meatless version is called franciasaláta. Versions with meat added are called orosz hússaláta. With or without meat, it is a popular food all year round.
File:Ensaladilla Rusa - Madrid corrected.JPG|thumbnail|Ensaladilla rusa, Madrid, Spain