Before I came to Portugal, I’d never even heard of Russian Salad. With that in mind, I kind of figured it was just something people here ate, and I couldn’t figure out what the hell was Russian about it. As it turns out, the Russian Salad I’ve been eating is so far removed from the original (which, to my surprise, is actually Russian!), it might as well be called Portuguese Salad, and the way I make it at home when no one’s looking, it probably doesn’t even deserve a name.
But seriously. According to Wikipedia, the first Russian Salad had both gherkins and fresh cucumbers. And caviar. And veal tongue. In other words, something a lot of people, myself included, would not eat unless there were big bucks to be made from it. And I fully admit I have eaten it with sliced hot dogs in it, which are a horror show in and of themselves, but in defense of hot dogs, if they do have tongue in them somewhere, at least I don’t see any taste buds. Blech.
Nowadays, perusing through the various recipes Google has to offer, I see that Russian Salad here and in the States are pretty much the same basic ingredients; boiled potatoes, carrots, green beans or peas, and usually hard boiled egg, and some sort of cooked meat or tuna. There is, however, one glaring difference: mayonnaise.
Now, I’m not nearly as mayo-phobic as Debbie. When I still ate them, I would put it on burgers and tuna sandwiches no problem. But to bathe my salad in? Thank you, but no. Just the thought of all those lovely veggies coated in goopy, glistening mayonnaise is enough to make me lose my appetite. Olive oil is the way to go, and if you think it needs it, some vinegar, but that’s really optional. So is meat, if you ask me.
But like I said, and as you can well see from the picture, when I make “Russian Salad” at home, I get really lazy about it. If you couldn’t tell, that’s an over-easy egg, neither hard nor boiled. Hard boiled eggs are just a pain in the ass. You have to put it in its own little pot, wait for it to boil and make sure the egg doesn’t crack and ooze out into the water, time it just right so you don’t get that nasty green ring around the yolk, drain it, rinse it in more water to cool it off, and burn your fingers trying to peel it because you are starving and didn’t rinse it long enough so it’s not really cool yet. For one or two eggs? Not worth it. It’s just so much easier to put some olive oil in a pan, crack an egg in it, and flip it over.
It may not be Russian, but it is delicious, simple. and as far as I’m concerned, guilt-free.
Clacked by Cate Cropp
on Jun 16, 2009 @ 12:00 EST5EDT
I’m wondering why the Spanish eat so much of this stuff? It’s almost ubiquitous in tapas bars. Had quite a bit of it and a whole lot of other treasures besides, when I was last in Madrid.
I guess like so many things in cooking, variety should be guilt free.
Greg
I have heard that it’s very popular in Spain as well, but I had no idea they were serving it in tapas bars. I’ve never seen it on a menu anywhere here, but a lot of people make it at home especially for lunch in the summer. Very interesting, indeed, because it kind of strikes me as the opposite of bar food.