Almost every Russian loves the usual Olivier salad made from such inexpensive ingredients as green peas, doctor's sausage, boiled potatoes, carrots, chicken eggs and pickled cucumbers.
In fact, a century ago, this dish was prepared differently, from more expensive ingredients. It was considered a real delicacy and was distinguished by its refined, excellent taste.
The history of the salad "Olivier"
The recipe for this delicious appetizer was invented in the second half of the 19th century by Lucien Olivier, a famous French chef. He settled in Moscow and in 1860 opened a first-class restaurant called the Hermitage on Trubnaya Square . It is believed that it was Lucien who invented a great snack, which became a real work of art.
Her taste was striking in its sophistication, harmony, and therefore was liked by all visitors to the Hermitage Restaurant. Subsequently, many chefs tried to repeat the recipe for an old salad "Olivier". But they, not knowing all the secret ingredients, and most importantly - the method of preparation of the matchless white sauce with mustard, were defeated. You could taste the wonderful Olivier salad, real French, only in the famous restaurant of Lucien.
How did Lucien Olivier cook salad?
The French chef zealously kept secret the recipe for his crown dish. Olivier originally served it as follows. The boiled partridge and hazel grouse fillets were transferred by layers of jelly made from broth and placed in the center of the dish. Boiled cancerous necks and pieces of tongue were laid out around. All this “beauty” was poured over with a spicy, slightly island sauce (home-made mayonnaise). The dish was decorated with a composition of boiled potatoes, quail eggs and gherkins.
Once the cook noticed that the restaurant visitors mixed all the ingredients with a spoon, breaking the original “design”, and then ate the resulting mass with appetite. So the recipe for an old salad "Olivier" has changed. Lucien began to serve the dish, mixing all the ingredients in advance and generously flavoring them with Provencal sauce.
The recipe for an old salad "Olivier": the necessary ingredients
There are a huge number of variations of this dish. The modern salad "Olivier" is otherwise called "Russian". Modified to the real Russian realities, the salad has lost its sophistication and has become a very common snack, the taste of which is familiar to everyone since childhood. The meat of partridges and grouse was replaced with inexpensive boiled sausage. Cancer necks, calf tongue, black caviar were completely excluded from the recipe. Instead, they began to add boiled carrots and canned peas. Of course, the modern modification is tasty, but somewhat "boring." Therefore, we will tell you how to make a gorgeous appetizer using the recipe of an old Olivier salad.
So, to prepare this delicious dish, you will need the following ingredients:
- calf tongue - 1 pc.;
- three hazel grouse;
- black spawn caviar - 80-100 g;
- 4 potatoes;
- lettuce leaves - 200 g;
- boiled crayfish - 30 pcs.;
- pickled cucumbers (gherkins) 180-200 g;
- fresh cucumbers - 2 pcs.;
- capers - 100 g;
- quail eggs - 6 pcs.
For mayonnaise sauce , the following components are required:
- white wine vinegar - 1 tbsp. l .;
- egg yolk - 2 pcs.;
- olive oil - 6 tbsp. l .;
- hot mustard - 1 tsp;
- a pinch of ground pepper;
- salt;
- garlic powder.
Salad "Olivier" (real recipe): cooking technology
To start, let's take a look at a bird and a calf tongue. We wash and, if necessary, gut the carcasses of grouse. By the way, if you do not have the opportunity to purchase this game, you can replace it with quails. After processing, the bird is placed in a pan with water and boiled for one and a half hours. Do not forget to add onion head and salt to taste.
While the hazel grouses are preparing, let's take care of the language. Wash it and boil for two hours, adding carrots, onions, salt and spices to the broth. After the allotted time, we will get the grouse and calf tongue from the water. Cool the meat and clean it. We remove the skin and bones from the bird, leaving only the fillet. We cut the tongue into small pieces. Now cook the crayfish until tender, pull it out of the water, cool and clean. Next in line are potatoes and eggs. Boil them, cool and clean.
We cut all the ingredients and do the dressing
We will tell you later how to make a real Olivier salad. We select a deep bowl for snacks. We tear and put salad leaves in it. We clean the fresh cucumbers from the skins and cut them into cubes. Grind pickled gherkins and capers. We put everything in a salad bowl. We place prepared veal tongue and grouse meat cut into pieces there. Quail eggs are shredded into small pieces.
We leave our dish alone and make mayonnaise sauce. Raw yolks, mustard and salt are mixed with a whisk. Pour olive oil into these ingredients with a thin stream, thoroughly mixing the mass until it thickens. Add vinegar, ground pepper and garlic powder to the sauce. That's it, the mayonnaise is ready.
Dress with our Olivier salad sauce. This recipe involves decorating the dish with black spawn caviar and crayfish necks. That's it, the delicious snack is ready. Now you know how to make a real Olivier salad. As you can see, this is not difficult, the main thing is to get all the necessary ingredients and make homemade mayonnaise sauce. Bon Appetit!
Another version of Olivier salad for your holiday table
If you want to pamper your household with an exquisite dish, prepare the Olivier salad. The real French recipe is this. To create this culinary masterpiece, you will need the following products:
- quail eggs - 6 pcs.;
- potatoes - 3-4 pcs.;
- quail - 3 pcs.;
- pickles - 2-3 pcs.;
- fresh cucumbers - 2 pcs.;
- calf tongue - 200 g;
- carrots - 2 pcs.;
- pickled capers - 100 g;
- champignons - 100 g;
- canned cervical necks - 50 g;
- salmon caviar - 30 g;
- olives - 50 g;
- chives 20 g
The recipe for an old salad "Olivier" involves the use of a special salad dressing, the preparation of which will require olive oil - 100 ml, egg yolks - 3 pcs., Wine vinegar - 2 tsp. Lemon juice is also needed - 2 tsp., Dijon mustard - 1 tsp., Salt and pepper to taste.
The process of making an excellent snack
The old Olivier recipe is as follows: jacket potatoes and carrots, boil, cool, peel and then cut the vegetables into cubes. Boil eggs in boiling water for 5 minutes, cool and clean. Cut the yolks and squirrels from three eggs into large pieces, and the remaining squirrels - in half (they will be needed to decorate the salad). Wash quail carcasses, wipe with a paper towel, coat with vegetable oil, pepper and salt. Place the bird in a pan and fry it over high heat for 7 minutes until golden brown. Then put the quail for 15-20 minutes in the oven, heated to 180 ° C. After baking, cool the bird, separate the meat from the skin and bones, cut it into cubes.
Serve Olivier to the table
Wash the veal tongue and boil for 1.5-2 hours in salted water. Then cool it and cut into small pieces. Chop pickled and fresh cucumbers (skinless), as well as olives. Cut canned cervical necks into large pieces, can be in two parts. Fry the capers in a dry frying pan. Place all ingredients in a deep container and mix gently.
That's it, our Olivier salad is almost ready. An old recipe involves the preparation of an original mayonnaise dressing. In a bowl, beat the egg yolks with a whisk, adding salt, mustard, pepper to them. Pour in olive oil while continuing to whisk. Add lemon juice and wine vinegar there. Pour salad into the treated sauce. Serve the dish to the table, decorated with egg whites with caviar, chives, mushrooms, lightly fried in a pan, and crayfish necks. Bon Appetit!