I always liked stories about dishes I prepare, because most of them are simple, warm and can lift up the atmosphere at your dining table. However, this Russian salad Olivier is a delicious treat, not only for its ingredients, but also for the affairs and intrigue that follows it. The story has twists and turns, like in some mini crime novel, and it initially took place in the nineteenth century in Russia.
Prior to the 19th century, salad was not a common dish in Russia; people ate vegetables in soups and side dishes until few nobles from Moscow began to hire French chefs to cook for them. One of those chefs was Lucien Olivier, who stayed in Russia and opened his own restaurant, where he cooked and served exquisite dishes for the members of Russian high society. Somewhere in 1860s, he invented a beautiful salad and named it salad Olivier. Since it had to be an extraordinary dish, the original version included such rare ingredients like truffles, crayfish tails, capers, and who knows what else – the recipe was a well guarded secret, and the salad was great success.
Anyway, some 40 or 50 years later, one of the Olivier helpers managed to sneak into the chefs’ private room, stole the recipe and quit his job the next day; then became a cook in another hotel, where he invented questionably similar version of Russian salad Olivier, naming it the capital salad, but as it turns out, he wasn’t as good thief as he thought he was, because his salad dressing had poorer taste than the original one. At this time, also the first recipes for the salad Olivier were published in the newspapers and immediately became popular among the Russian people. Of course, fancy and rare ingredients of the decadent original salad were one by one replaced with the more available ones, until it became a simple winter salad we prepare today.
Although it is called salad Olivier, this is done mainly in Russia and Russian speaking countries, while in the rest of the world it’s called simply the Russian salad.
My version of this old fashioned salad with two names is quite light, since it’s composed of potatoes, dill pickles, peas, carrots and hard boiled eggs, bound with the homemade vegan mayonnaise. And it taste just perfect when the weather is similar to the Russian. :)
Russian salad Olivier has one flaw, though – it taste perfect only after 6 to 8 hours after preparation. So, when you decide to make it, do it after dinner and hid it in the refrigerator until the next day…
tools:
3 cooking pans
sharp knife
cutting board
spatula
sieve
big serving bowl
ingredients:
3 + 2 medium potatoes (2 for mayo)
4 eggs
300 grams / 10 ounces (4 bigger carrots)
300 grams / 10 ounces frozen baby peas
8 to 10 medium sour dill pickles
200 grams / 7 ounces mayonnaise (or try my homemade vegan mayo recipe)
Russian Salad Olivier Recipe:
Wash thoroughly waxy potatoes. If organic, cook them in skins; if not, peel them, place them in a pan, cover with cold water and cook until tender (not too soft). Drain them and set aside to cool.
* If you decided to make homemade mayo, two potatoes go into the food processor.
Peel and dice carrots into small cubes, place them in a pot with peas and cook for just a few minutes. When the baby peas start to get their wrinkles, drain them and set aside to cool.
Hard-boil the eggs, shell and dice them into small cubes. Add them into the serving bowl.
Cut the pickles into small cubes as well and add into the bowl. Put the mayonnaise in and gently toss with spatula.
Dice the cooled potatoes into little bit bigger cubes and place them in the bowl and the peas and carrots as well. Mix everything carefully. Cover it with some large cooking lid and put it in a refrigerator overnight. Take it out at least one hour before serving. Taste it for additional salt and lemon, or if dry a mayo.
Приятного аппетита!
Vegan mayonnaise recipe:
2 potatoes
150ml / little bit less than ¾ cup sunflower oil
100 grams / 3.5 ounces mustard
juice from one lemon
½ teaspoon salt
Put the potatoes into a food processor or blender and puree it while adding oil gradually, and then all the other ingredients. Vuala, that’s it, a vegan mayo!
Hi!
This is my favorite food!I’m not from Russia, but this is a famous dish in my home country as well (Romania). But, we tend to make it a bit different… We add boiled chicken breast to the whole recipe :) I think you will love it after that, at least it do :) You simply boil the chicken breast and then you cut it into small pieces and add it to the rest of the composition. And if you like, you can add a bit of black pepper. Hope this helps! :)
Just wanted to share the way we do it!
All the best!
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Hi Alexandru,
thanks for stopping by and posting your version of this lovely salad.
I believe that your version is nice too, but I’m long time vegetarian leaning towards veganism, so putting meat into the salad is not a good choice for me… Maybe you should try this salad without chicken sometimes, it’s lovely this way, too :)
Mmmh, this looks and sounds tempting! I got to know a very similar salad in Estonia: a small food store in a like-wise small city on the countryside used to sell it with home-made dill pickles. Your recipe brings back lovely memories, will surely give it a try :-).
Claudia ~ Food with a View recently posted…Cold Brew Coffee at the Elevator – Kalter Kaffee im Fahrstuhl
You are right Claudia, this salad does brings back some nice memories – from a trip to foreign countryside, or a grandmothers kitchen and snowy, winter days… So, please do try it, and if lucky, add a homemade dill pickles to it :)
Russian salad is very popular in Greece, as well. Your recipe really brings back good memories!! It is wonderful! And your vegan mayo…..very interesting! ;)
Have a nice weekend Jasmin!
It is one of the nicest winter salads for sure, mostly done for some big celebration – that’s why the memories wrapped around it are so nice and vivid :) Wish you a beautiful Saturday and even better Sunday, Evi!
This is really popular in Hungary too but people call it french salad there. I guess because of Olivier. Btw thanks for this story, I enjoyed it a lot! :)
I haven’t eaten this salad for years actually, mainly because of the mayo, but this vegan version sounds good for me too!
Evi @ greenevi recently posted…Red Lentil and Sweet Potato Stew
I didn’t knew that this salad has a third name – I’ll remember it, in case I decide to visit beautiful Budapest :)
And yes, vegan mayo does the trick for this salad…
Wow!!! What a story :)
I married into Russian family living in the U.S., and I am curious of how their version of this salad would be. Anyway, I really appreciate a great story and the recipe, Jasmin
Thank you, dear Pang, now I’m little bit curious too ;)
I’m sure your Russian family members have their own version of this salad, just ask grandmother ;)
In Poland we have a similar salad. Every family has their own recipe, yet every single time the salad turns out a bit different. I really like it and I prepare it quite often :-)
skoraq cooks recently posted…Curry ze słodkich ziemniaków i zielonego groszku / Sweet potato and green peas curry
You are so right Joanna about the slight taste difference regarding this salad…
I tried many Russian salads, and almost each one had its original flavor – I’m guessing your version is quite tasty too :)
One of my favourite salads!
One of mine, too ;)
I grew up eating this salad but never knew the history of it, and certainly didn’t know why some people called it Olivier and others called it “stolichniy salat”. My family’s version evolved over the years. When we first immigrated, it had bologna in it (since it was cheap) and now, many years and versions later, my mom’s making it with cauliflower instead of potatoes to lighten it up. Thanks for sharing the story, Jasmin :)
What a wonderful idea to replace potatoes for cauliflower – I will definitely try that one day, it must taste great…
Thank you for stopping by, Sofia!
That’s lovely, Jasmin! Having grown up and lived in the USSR/Russia, I’m definitely familiar with this salad. Even during the worst deficiency of all the produce in the 1980th, it was a must, at least for a few occasions including New Year celebration. Indeed, there is one more crucial ingredient – some proteins. Originally, as you mentioned, the more sophisticated ingredients were used (such as quails etc) which were later substituted for some kind of bologna and later on for chicken and ham. But I’ve never tried this kind of salad outside of Russia so that’s been interesting to discover the way it’s cooked in European countries:)
It must have been challenging growing up in 1980s in Russia, but still it is one of the most poetic countries there is.
As for the salad recipe goes, I really don’t think that adding meat into this lovely winter salad is crucial.
The healthy freak that I am, I’m trying to lighten up every possible recipe there is, and this one turned out quite ok – maybe you should try it this way sometimes, and let me know what you think… :)
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