flipOlivier salad for grand evenings
Olivier salad for grand evenings
Why this dish? No Soviet holiday — New Year, birthday, artists' party after a concert at the Kremlin Palace of Congresses — was conceivable without the Olivier salad bowl reigning at the center of the table. For a showbiz star like Pugacheva, it is the dish of receptions and nights of glory after the stage.
The ultimate festive salad: potatoes, eggs, peas, and pickles diced small, bound with mayonnaise, fresh and tangy. You make it in the largest salad bowl in the house.
My angel, without Olivier, it's not a party, it's a meeting! After a concert, when the lights went out and friends came over, that's the salad bowl we attacked at midnight, still in stage costume. You cut everything into small, even dice — that's the whole art, believe me — and bind it with mayonnaise. The pickle, especially, don't forget it: it wakes everyone up. We made mountains of it, and there was never any left.
- •Potatoes — a few (base)
- •Hard-boiled eggs — several (richness)
- •Canned peas — one jar (sweetness and color)
- •Salt pickles (malossol) — a handful (bright acidity)
- •Boiled meat or sausage (kolbasa) — one piece (protein garnish)
- •Onion — a little (bite)
- •Mayonnaise — according to the feast (binder)
Olivier salad for grand evenings
The ultimate festive salad: potatoes, eggs, peas, and pickles diced small, bound with mayonnaise, fresh and tangy. You make it in the largest salad bowl in the house.
Why this dish? No Soviet holiday — New Year, birthday, artists' party after a concert at the Kremlin Palace of Congresses — was conceivable without the Olivier salad bowl reigning at the center of the table. For a showbiz star like Pugacheva, it is the dish of receptions and nights of glory after the stage.
My angel, without Olivier, it's not a party, it's a meeting! After a concert, when the lights went out and friends came over, that's the salad bowl we attacked at midnight, still in stage costume. You cut everything into small, even dice — that's the whole art, believe me — and bind it with mayonnaise. The pickle, especially, don't forget it: it wakes everyone up. We made mountains of it, and there was never any left.
Ingredients (period version)
- Potatoes — a few (base)
- Hard-boiled eggs — several (richness)
- Canned peas — one jar (sweetness and color)
- Salt pickles (malossol) — a handful (bright acidity)
- Boiled meat or sausage (kolbasa) — one piece (protein garnish)
- Onion — a little (bite)
- Mayonnaise — according to the feast (binder)
Ingredients
- Potatoes — 4 medium (base)
- Eggs — 4 (richness)
- Peas — 200 g (sweetness)
- Russian-style pickles (low acidity) — 4 to 5 (acidity)
- Poached chicken breast or ham — 200 g (protein)
- Green onion — 1 (bite)
- Mayonnaise — 150 g (binder)
- Salt, pepper, dill — to taste (seasoning)
Method
- Cook potatoes in their skins and hard-boil eggs; let cool completely.
- Cut potatoes, eggs, pickles, and meat into very small, even dice — that's the key to a good Olivier.
- Drain peas, chop onion. Combine everything in a large salad bowl.
- Bind with mayonnaise, season with salt and pepper, adjust acidity with a little pickle juice.
- Chill for at least 1 hour to meld flavors; sprinkle with dill just before serving.
How it was made : Inherited from chef Lucien Olivier in 19th-century Moscow's chic restaurant, the salad was democratized in Soviet times into a 'make do' version: original game and crayfish were replaced with cheap sausage and canned peas. It became the very symbol of the New Year's table.
The contemporary twist : Serve it in ring molds as individual timbales topped with a sprig of dill: the 'red carpet' version of a popular classic.
Alla Pugacheva · Charactorium
