Traditional Russian Salad or Olivier Salad.

Russian Salad, also known as Olivier Salad (Сала́т оливье́), is a famous salad enjoyed by many people around the world. We also find it here in Argentina (Ensalada Rusa) but many of the ingredients are not in the salad.Therefore it is not traditional Russian Salad.

Traditional Russian Salad, Olivier's Salad, Russian Salad, Сала́т оливье́ — Traditional Russian salad home-made in Argentina.

What is Russian Salad or Olivier´s salad?

The recipe can vary widely but it is made from chopped vegetables and meat in a mayonnaise base.

The origin of Russian salad.

Russian salad was invented in Moscow in the 1860´s. There was a famous Belgian chef, Lucien Olivier, who ran a Parisain-style restaurant in Moscow. It was called the “Hermitage”. Many people visited the restaurant and the salad became famous. However, Olivier didn´t want to share the recipe and always prepared the salad himself.When he died he took the recipe with him to his grave.

Everybody wanted the salad but now that the chef was gone, who was going to prepare it? An employee took a sneak peak at the ingredients when the chef turned his back one day. He wrote it down but this version was stolen later. Another version was produced by a customer who wanted to keep the recipe going.

The modern version of the Olivier Salad.

The modern Russian salad does not resemble the original Olivier salad. It was truly a unique recipe with caviar, capers, game hen, boiled crayfish tails and mustard. In the times of the Soviet Union the recipe was adapted and it is more or less how we know it today.

Russian salad is not made every day and enjoyed on special occasions. It takes a long time to prepare because the vegetables needs to be cut into small pieces. When prepared correctly, it always taste better the next day.