Many people know that Olivier is a salad, but few know that Lucien Olivier is a French chef, and concurrently the owner of the Moscow tavern Hermitage, which invented this delicious dish. The recipe for this salad was kept in the strictest confidence, as it was the main dish of the inn on Trubnaya Square. By the way, this inn was not some kind of eatery, but the most high-class restaurant.
Lucien Olivier literally took the true recipe to the grave with him, but there was a version that according to his recipe Olivier salad with meat included the following ingredients: potatoes, grouse fillet, gherkins, soy-kabul, egg, lemon juice and mayonnaise . And some sources claimed that instead of hazel grouse, Olivier laid crayfish meat. Be that as it may, to this day rumors continue to go on how exquisite and delicious the original Olivier with Meat salad was. Despite the fact that connoisseurs of culinary art all the time tried to achieve a complete taste similarity to the original, they did not succeed.
Currently, this "Olivier with meat" is a fairly common salad from the Baltic to Central Asia. Virtually no New Year's table is complete without it. For so many years the recipe for this salad has been changed several times, other variations have been invented. There is a recipe for Olivier salad with beef, poultry, and even fish. Not only did the ingredients undergo a change, the name also changed, someone called it “Capital Salad”, someone “Russian Salad”, etc. And after that, the recipe was simplified to the point that instead of meat, they began to put doctor’s sausage, carrots and green peas (canned) were added, and pickles were used instead of gherkins.
In popularity, Olivier salad with meat in our country takes first place. And the holiday will not be a holiday if our favorite dish is not on the table. Of course, in every family, Olivier prepares differently, but we will offer our “signature” recipe, which we hope you will like. To prepare it, we will need the following ingredients: 400 g of lean beef, 1 can of green peas (canned), 2 medium carrots, 4 medium-sized potato tubers, 1 onion, 1 fresh cucumber, 2 pickles, 6 eggs, salt, freshly ground pepper, dill, parsley, mayonnaise for dressing.
Potatoes and carrots (unpeeled) are put in a pan with water and set to boil until soft, but the main thing is not to boil at all. After the vegetables are cooked, cool them, peel and cut into cubes. Boil eggs, cool under running cold water, then peel and cut them in the same way as vegetables. Cool boiled meat and cut into cubes. Peel the onions and cut them smaller than potatoes and carrots. We cut the pickles into cubes, and rub the fresh cucumber on a coarse grater. We combine all the components in one salad bowl and mix thoroughly. Add salt, pepper, mayonnaise and mix again more thoroughly. Before serving the food on the table, you need to sprinkle it with finely chopped herbs (dill and parsley) from above.
This salad Olivier with meat can be called a classic within our country. For the French, a classic would be a salad with grouse, crayfish, lanspics and capers. There is also an option with beef tongue, apple and quail eggs. Well, very recently there appeared a very exotic Olivier recipe with chicken breast, bell pepper, canned pineapples, olives and olives. But the decoration of the salad with finely chopped fresh herbs, which gives a spicy taste to the salad, remains unchanged in almost all variations. Having studied all the abundance of variations, any gourmet can find for himself a more suitable recipe for such a salad.