Olivier Salad
A defining Russian New Year's Eve dish of small, even-cubed potato, carrot, egg, pickle, and meat bound in mayonnaise. Invented in the 1860s by Belgian-French chef Lucien Olivier at Moscow's Hermitage restaurant, the original featured game, caviar, and crayfish tails in a secret sauce that died with him; the Soviet era reconstructed and simplified it into today's potato-and-ham version.
Meat
⚠ Contains: Egg. Always check your own ingredients — this isn't a guarantee for severe allergies.
Ingredients
- 4 medium potatoes, boiled in their skins
- 3 medium carrots, boiled
- 4 eggs, hard-boiled
- 3-4 dill pickles (not sweet pickles), diced small
- 1 cup (150g) frozen green peas, cooked
- 1 small onion, finely diced, optional
- 300g cooked bologna, ham, or boiled chicken, diced
- 200-250g mayonnaise
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
- Fresh dill, for garnish
Steps
- Boil the potatoes and carrots unpeeled until fork-tender, about 25-30 minutes; cool completely, then peel and dice into small, 1cm cubes.
- Hard-boil the eggs, cool, peel, and dice.
- Dice the pickles, meat, and onion to match the potato cube size.
- Combine all the diced ingredients with the peas in a large bowl.
- Fold in the mayonnaise generously until everything is coated, and season with salt and pepper.
- Chill at least 1 hour before serving to let the flavors meld.
- Garnish with fresh dill.