Two weeks ago I went to a restaurant to celebrate my best friend’s birthday where we were served a whole lotta food. The dish that got me most excited was called “Russian salad”. It had a mixture of numerous ingredients bound in mayonnaise. That thing got me really thrilled and I was eager to find a recipe and make it on my own. As I looked it up though I came across tons of variations neither of which actually resembled the one I’d been trying to find.
So if you guys happen to know the correct recipe your help will be really appreciated.

Too many salads are dressed with mayonnaise… Can you say what was in it?

Umm, I don’t clearly remember all the ingredients. Apparently it had eggs, pickles, carrots and potatoes.

I guess, your “Russian salad” must be what we call “Salad Olivier”. It really used to be the most popular salad in the USSR and it still is in Russia. We usually make it for the New Year’s celebrations.

How’s it made?

To prepare it you need onions, pickles, canned peas and boiled eggs, potatoes, carrots and chicken breast. Everything must be diced, salted and dressed with mayonnaise.

I found one recipe of a Russian salad and it looks like this:
6 ripe medium size tomatoes
1/3 cup cucumber, diced
1/3 cup canned green peas, drained
1/4 cup unsweetened pickles, minced
2 tbsp capers dash of vinegar salt and pepper
1/2 cup cooked chicken, cold, diced
1/4 cup mayonnaise lettuce leaves
Fresh parsley, finely chopped
Slice tops off tomatoes. With a spoon, scoop out pulp. Set aside. In a bowl, carefully mix 1/3 cup (80 mL) tomato pulp with remaining ingredients, except lettuce and parsley. Stuff mixture into tomato shells. Arrange on a bed of lettuce. Garnish with parsley.

Can it be a variation of what babochka has described? If not, how should I properly call it? Cause I tried it and I really like this thing

I don’t think it can be a variation of “Olivier”. It is not a salad at all. I would rather call it “stuffed tomatoes” or something.

Yes, I agree, it has nothing to do wih ‘olivier’. But as far as I know some dishes abroad may be called ‘russian salad’ just because. For example, my cousin was on vacation in Bulgaria and once she was brought a bowl of diced tomatoes and cucumbers with olive oil for dinner. She later found out that it was actually a ‘russian salad’...

Lots of thank for your comments. Now I seem to know the ingredients but, babochka, I’m still wondering about the proportions… ((

Oops, sorry. Here’s how I make it:
- 4-5 boiled potatoes
- 2 boiled carrots
- 2 onions (medimum)
- 3-4 boiled eggs
- 1 can of green peas
- 5 pickles (medium)
- 1 chicken breast
- 250g of mayonnaise

i also add a peeled apple. it makes the taste a bit sweeter.

You can replace chicken with sausage, meat or tongue if you wish. The salas becomes much more delicious at that.

Note that once you add meat or tongue, “Olivier” will turn into “Stolichny”. It will still remain “Russian” though

Nobody can make the original Russian salad, we call it Olivie. The man who first made it was a Frenchman, and unfortunately nobody can restore the original recipe. But we usually make this salad with boiled potatoes, boiled eggs, pickled cucumbers, tinned green peas, and you can choose the meat just to your taste;) chicken, beef, ham or even sausage. And all this traditionally dressed with mayonnaise. You should taste it, it’s delicious

Люся - 25 April 2010 12:23 AM

Yes, I agree, it has nothing to do wih ‘olivier’. But as far as I know some dishes abroad may be called ‘russian salad’ just because. For example, my cousin was on vacation in Bulgaria and once she was brought a bowl of diced tomatoes and cucumbers with olive oil for dinner. She later found out that it was actually a ‘russian salad’...

That’s true. If you type ‘russian salad’ in youtube it will givew you thousands of recipes and they all will be different from one another. People outside Russia can really mix any ingredients together and then call it a “russian salad”. No one abroad knows what russian salad in fact is, so no one will check.