Home cooking with Ruben Lopez Mesa - The long legacy of Chef Olivier’s secret salad

One of the favourite tapas and recipes in Spanish home cooking, when the weather gets hot, is the famous Russian salad. A classic potato salad full of vegetables, tuna and covered with heaps of flavour thanks to the flavoursome mayo.

But what many don't know is the story behind this recipe. What today we know as the 'Russian salad' was once called the ‘Olivier's Salad’ back in 1860, thanks to Belgian chef Lucien Olivier.  Chef Olivier went to Moscow to open his restaurant The Hermitage, near Trunaya Square. In this restaurant, Olivier offered the best of French cuisine and succeeded, thanks to the patronage of the Tsar's court and of Russian intellectuals.

On his menu, the signature dish was a salad with meats, caviar, beef tongue, truffles, pickles, potatoes and olives — all generously coated with mayo. In 1883, Lucien died and took his secret recipe to the grave and his restaurant closed in 1905. No one ever saw the recipe written and they tried to imitate it, but the legend says nobody was able to replicate it properly.

True or not, this recipe ended up being a very famous potato recipe around the world and a wide array of different versions were created. Spain, of course, took this humble recipe and made it one of the most important spring and summer recipes in households and bars around the country.

It is super versatile and the options are endless! Prepare a homemade mayo, really well seasoned, and this recipe will have days of work lunches, dinners, and birthday parties sorted!

By the way, did you know why this emulsion sauce has the name ‘mayonnaise’, which in Spain is 'Mahonesa'? I will tell you all about that another week, but here’s a clue: look on the map for Menorca, one of the Balearic Islands of the east coast of Spain and check the name of the capital.

Russian Salad recipe:

Ingredients

3 potatoes, peeled 

2 carrots, peeled and cut lengthways 

4 tbsp of frozen peas 

1 capsicum

3 eggs 

20 pitted Spanish olives, cut in halves 

200g tuna in olive oil, drained

8 tbsp of mayonnaise 

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 

Sea salt (pepper if you like)

Method

Preheat your oven to 160 to 180 degrees and place the capsicum on a tray lined with baking paper. Drizzle with one tablespoon of olive oil and bake it until the skin is completely black all around. Remove from the oven, cover in a bowl with plastic wrap and allow the cooked capsicum to rest and steam for 10 minutes. After this time, you will be able to peel it very easily. Cut the capsicum into long strips and save them for the garnish. 

Place the potatoes and carrots in a large saucepan, cover with cold water, add a pinch of salt and bring the water to the boil. Once the water is boiling, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. After this time, add the eggs and cook for a further five minutes, then add the peas and cook for another five minutes. Drain and cool down under cold running water. Once they are cold, peel the hard-boiled eggs and chop them into small pieces. Chop the potatoes and carrots into small cubes.

In a large bowl, mix then the cooked peas, potatoes and carrots, with the chopped hard-boiled eggs, olives and tuna. Season well with salt, add the mayo and mix well. Keep in the fridge until served.

Enjoy!