Tapas Salad – Ensalada Rusa or Russian Salad or Olivier Salad

Tapas salad – ensalada rusa | russian salad

Ensalada Rusa or Ensalada rusa a la mahonesa is also known as Russian Salad, Olivier Salad, Salad Olivieh –  It is a creamy, tangy potato salad with mayonnaise.

It is perfect as a side dish and even a make-ahead lunch or dinner. This salad is the standby of every tapa bar, and is often dressed with homemade mayonnaise.

The preparation of this famous sauce is the skill that comes easily to Spanish housewives who maintain that it has the origins in Mahon, Menorca. It cannot be made in small quantities and you can store any extra in screw top jar in the fridge.

This no just any mayo-potato salad, unlike American potato salads it has a lot more refreshing ingredients and has fun pops of flavours. Its a recipe you should definitely try.

Belgian chef Lucien Olivier is credited with inventing the salad in the 1860s during his tenure at the Hermitage, a restaurant in Moscow. To give him credit, it got named as Olivier Salad initially.

Over the years, Olivier salad gained in popularity not only in Russia, but through the rest of the Soviet Union & Europe. And today throughout the world, this salad is often called the Russian salad.

In Poland, this salad is called “Salatka Jarzynowa”(which translates to a vegetable salad).

It is also believed that the original salad recipe contained cubed meat and was a complete meal in itself.

In different modern recipes, it is usually made with diced boiled potatoes, carrots, brined dill pickles (or cucumber), green peas, eggs, celeriac, onions, diced boiled chicken or bologna sausage (sometimes ham or hot dogs), and tart apples, with salt, pepper, and mustard added to enhance flavour, dressed with mayonnaise.

The exact recipe – particularly that of the dressing – was a zealously guarded secret.

But it is known that the salad contained grouse, veal tongue, caviar, lettuce, crayfish tails, capers, and smoked duck, although it is possible that the recipe was varied seasonally.

The original Olivier dressing was a type of mayonnaise, made with French wine vinegar, mustard, and Provençal olive oil; its exact recipe, however, remains unknown.

One of the first printed recipes for this salad by Aleksandrova, appeared in 1894.

It called for half a hazel grouse, two potatoes, one small cucumber (or a large cornichon), 3–4 lettuce leaves, 3 large crayfish tails, 1/4 cup cubed aspic, 1 teaspoon of capers, 3–5 olives, and 11⁄2 tablespoon Provençal dressing (mayonnaise).

Today’s popular version of the salad—contains boiled potatoes, dill pickles, peas, eggs, carrots, and boiled beef/chicken or bologna, dressed with mayonnaise.

It is based on a version of Lucien Olivier’s Sous Chef (the guy who stole Olivier’s recipe) Ivan Ivanov’s Stolichny salad, and only faintly resembles Olivier’s original creation.

The preparation of this salad is very simple, however, it requires some extra time, because vegetables need to be cooked and cooled before chopping. And, mayonnaise needs to be made.

1. Place whole, unpeeled potatoes, turnips, green beans, peas and carrots in a pot of water. Add a teaspoon of salt and bring to boil. Cook until vegetables are fork tender. Potatoes, turnips & carrots will take about 15 minutes, so add the beans and peas after 10 minutes.
2. While the vegetables cool down to the room temperature, make the mayonnaise.
3. Simply combine the ingredients as per the recipe steps given below.

Even though the modern Olivier salad is much different from its original preparation, it will forever be the most iconic Russian salad.

My version is of this recipe is inspired by the original salad recipe and some ingredients have been replaced because they’re healthier, allergy friendly and lighter on the stomach.

However, it cannot be compared to Olivier’s recipe at all since, it seems even his closest sous chef, Ivanov, did not know it.

When Ivanov tried to recreate the salad, the gourmands of the time concurred that the dressing on the “Stolichny” salad was of a lower quality than Olivier’s, meaning that it was “missing something.”

However, the list of ingredients for my recipe is very short and you may have already everything needed in your pantry. These are as follows:

• steamed (or boiled) potatoes, carrots,turnips
• green peas & green beans (frozen or fresh)
• homemade mayonnaise

Be mindful of what ingredients you’re adding into your salad. Try to avoid  a lot of pickles since they add a lot of saltiness.

• You can replace the pickles (fermented cucumbers) with onions or any other pickled vegetable.
• If you want to make a non-vegetarian version, add any kind of meat that you like: bacon, shredded chicken, fish or shrimp.
• When you mixed all ingredients, taste the salad and make sure it has a balanced taste.

This salad is an all time favourite all over the world. Some serving or eating suggestions follow below

• It’s great for potlucks, family gatherings, and holiday celebrations.
• It is easy to make in advance and tastes even better the next day
• It can be easily adapted to whatever you have in the kitchen without fretting. So, feel free to add it to your ingredients list if you’re so inclined.
• This salad goes well with traditional Russian and Eastern European recipes.
• Needless to say, it will be great to serve at your tapas party.

It is a common fact that it tastes better the next day. I’m not suggesting you make tons of it, but make sure you prepare enough so as not to regret the next day that you didn’t make enough.

This salad may be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3-4 days. Freezing the salad is not recommended, as it can easily get soggy.

Russian scientists have proposed changing the traditional ingredients of the popular Olivier salad for a healthier and low-calorie alternative.

This salad, made of chopped potatoes, meat, carrots and other vegetables along with eggs and mayonnaise, has been a staple of Russian New Year celebrations for more than a century.

The nutrition scientists at the Siberian State Medical University say that cooks should swap out three key ingredients: mayonnaise, sausage (if used) and pickles.

They suggest making a homemade sauce of olive oil, egg yolk, mustard and lemon juice that will “very much remind you of the mayonnaise we’re used to” but with far less calories.

You can even replace the mayonnaise with hung and thickened yogurt or curds to lighten it up even more.

Sausages (if used), which contains trans-fats, should be exchanged for boiled chicken or turkey.

Pickles should also be taken out because of their high salt content, which can lead to swelling and increase the appetite.