For decades, thousands of Spanish houses and as many bars have raised a gastronomic revolution at the expense of the Russian salad, queen of the national tapas and one of those dishes that, when well done, are indescribable.
However, the authentic Russian salad has little or nothing to do with what we have ended up popularizing. Seeing its ingredients, which we will now break down for you, you will surely think that we have won. What is clear is that it has been democratized in quantity, since originally it was a dish destined for the Russian nobility.
Yes, as you have read. According to the most reliable sources, the Russian salad is an invention of the Belgian-born Russian chef Lucien Olivier, who in the mid-1860s created a cold salad in Moscow that baptized as Olivier salad.
chef of the most tsarist high aristocracyOlivier arranged all kinds of cold starters in the salad, including smoked meats and abundant meats such as caviar, king crab, partridge, duck ham or veal tongue. In essence it was a cold game bird meat salad, served with crustaceans and some vegetables and greens.
There was also some potato, but very little, and above all there were pickles and a mayonnaise that allowed to bind the entire recipe. Today we emulate, in a more modest way, this recipe to make it accessible and, although some ingredients may sound strange to you, you will see that they are wonderful.
We cook the potatoes with skin and with the peeled carrot in salted water for half an hour over low heat and during this time we put the rest in motion. On the one hand, cook the prawns for a couple of minutes in boiling water, refresh and reserve two to decorate and the rest we chop, without skin, in small cubes.
We also cook the chicken for about 15 minutes in boiling water, without seasoning. We cool it, chop it into small cubes and then fillet a couple of slices to decorate. We also cook the eggs, from cold, and when they are ready, we also chop them into small cubes.
When the potatoes are ready, chop them. also in small cubes, like the carrot and the rest of the ingredients, including the pickles (we save one to slice it).
With all the ingredients ready, we mix them in a bowl with the mayonnaise, which is also we will have mixed with the crème fraîche, until everything is well integrated. Adjust the salt seasoning if necessary and place on a plate, placing a couple of slices of chicken breast, a couple of prawns and a sliced gherkin for each serving.
Professional BRA – Pot, 12 cm, 18/10 Stainless Steel (Braisogona_A344251)
With what to accompany the Russian salad
It depends on how tsarist and aristocratic you get up to make this recipe, but the result is worth it so we could accompany them with some homemade blinis (which are very easy to make and we can assemble the salad on them in bite-sized pieces).
It is a relatively forceful appetizer, because with the measures that we have given you, a couple of generous portions, so you could put it in the middle in an Eastern air snack with eggplant caviar or authentic Russian steaks.
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