Olivier historical recipe. Olivier salad is an eternal Russian classic. Olivier salad: classic recipe with photos and history of creation

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Do you know the secrets and legendary history Olivier salad? How difficult it is to restore the exact recipe for the famous dish, which was created in the 1860s in Moscow, in house No. 14, on Trubnaya Square on Petrovsky Boulevard, corner of Neglinnaya, which is now occupied by the Moscow School of Modern Play theater. You will learn the secrets of the legendary Olivier recipe by reading our story about the most famous salad in Russia.

If we turn to some old recipes, then among them you can find many interesting, and even legendary dishes. How do you like the ahaic “Cumberland sauce”, the name of which can be found in the book by A. T. Averchenko “Fragments of the Broken Pieces” and in the “Culinary Guide” of the king of French cuisine, Auguste Escoffier, from where we reliably learn that it was invented by cooks of Cumberland County, located in northern England, where it was served as a spicy seasoning for game dishes. Its recipe contains redcurrant jelly, port wine, shallots, orange and lemon zest, fresh orange and lemon juice, mustard, cayenne pepper and ginger powder.

What if you hear such a culinary name as “venison cheese”? Intriguing? And this recipe is common in European cookbooks and refers to cold appetizers made from fried game meat (partridge, black grouse, hazel grouse, pheasant), from which minced meat is first made, wine is added to it, strong meat broth, butter, grated cheese, grated nutmeg, ground black pepper and salt - all mixed until smooth and served in portions in dough baskets or other molds.

Secrets of the legendary Olivier salad

According to lovers of secrets and mysteries, the famous author of the legendary salad - culinary specialist Lucien Olivier, whose grave is located in the former German, and now Vvedenskoye Moscow cemetery, took away the original recipe for his culinary masterpiece.

During his lifetime, the famous Moscow culinary specialist Lucien Olivier, owner of the Hermitage restaurant, called his signature salad “Game Mayonnaise.” This is with light hand Moscow gourmets gave the salad, which had become popular, the name of its creator, which stuck with it along with the widespread popularity of this very spicy dish in Russian cuisine, which became one of the main attributes not only in Russia, but also for compatriots far beyond its borders

History of Olivier salad - Moscow, 19th century

In the book “Practical Basics culinary arts", published in 1889 and going through 12 editions, the last of which was in 1927 in the printing house of the Financial Department of the Leningrad Gubernia Executive Committee, you can find the exact legendary recipe Olivier salad and its history. The author of this book, Pelageya Pavlovna Alexandrova-Ignatievna (1872-1953), a culinary teacher at the Imperial Women's Patriotic Society, created not just a thorough textbook on the art of cooking, but a real monument of the era, which brought to the modern and future reader the authentic recipe and professional techniques for preparing all kinds of dishes Russian cuisine.

The next time “Olivier salad” was brought to the wave of new popularity was by Soviet culinary specialists, when in the 30s of the last century it appeared on the menu of the Moscow restaurant under the name “Stolichny”, the cooks of which, it seems, still remembered the true taste of this famous salad, on which connoisseurs of haute cuisine of the time agreed, claiming almost complete similarity with its classic predecessor.

In the “Book about delicious and healthy food", which became the first example of a large cookbook in the USSR, contains a recipe called "Game Salad", which is the legendary "Olivier salad".

Over time, the multi-component recipe for the legendary Olivier salad “lost the ingredients”, narrowing down to 3 main components: boiled eggs, potatoes and cucumbers. As the popularity of the salad grew in popularity, many versions of “Olivier” emerged among the people, but the main 6 components somehow became established: potatoes; chicken eggs hard-boiled, boiled or semi-smoked sausage (optional - boiled chicken); fresh, salted or pickled cucumbers; canned green peas, mayonnaise.

The author of the rumor about the mysterious disappearance of the original recipe for “Olivier salad” was the writer Vladimir Alekseevich Gilyarovsky, an expert on Moscow city life, who in the book “Moscow and Muscovites” noted: “It was considered special chic when dinners were prepared by the French chef Olivier, who was even then famous for what he had invented.” Olivier salad,” without which lunch would not be lunch and the secret of which he did not reveal. No matter how hard the gourmets tried, it didn’t work out: this and that.”

And so, the inappropriate use of the word “secret” by “Uncle Gilyay” (as his friends called him) and the enthusiastic opinion about the golden hands of Lucien Olivier became the beginning of the contrived mystery of the disappearance of the recipe for the beloved salad. This is confirmed by the prosaic fact that this legendary salad was served in the Hermitage restaurant for a long time even after his death. In addition, the recipe for “Olivier salad” was also known to the chefs of the St. Petersburg restaurant “Bear” on Konyushennaya Street; and the cooks of the famous Testov tavern in Moscow, as evidenced by Gilyarovsky himself, describing his lunch in a friendly company: “In front of me is the bill of the Testov tavern of thirty-six rubles... We started from scratch.” - For rhyme, as I. F. Gorbunov used to say: vodka and herring. Then, with Achuevskaya caviar, then with grainy caviar with a tiny pie of burbot livers, first a glass of cold white myrrh with ice, and then of the same, tinted with a little picon, we drank English with brains and bison with Olivier salad...”

For a more or less complete picture in this story, let’s add to the above versions of the Olivier salad several other interesting versions of it, which may push you to create similar dishes.

Olivier salad according to a recipe from the book “Practical Fundamentals of Culinary Art”, 1899

Necessary products and their proportions per person.

hazel grouse - 1/2 pieces;
potatoes - 2 pieces;
cucumbers - 1 piece;
salad - 3-4 leaves;
cancer necks - 3 pieces;
lanspik - 1/2 cup;
kaporets - 1 teaspoon;
olives - 3-5 pieces.

Cut the fillet of fried good hazel grouse into blankets and mix with blankets of boiled, not crumbly potatoes and slices fresh cucumbers, add Kaporets and olives and pour in a large amount of Provencal sauce, with the addition of soy-Kabul.
Once cooled, transfer to a crystal vase, remove with crayfish tails, lettuce leaves and chopped lancepick.
Serve very cold.

According to the book “Practical Principles of Culinary Art” (1899), fresh cucumbers can be replaced with large gherkins. Instead of hazel grouse, you can take veal, partridge and chicken, but a real Olivier appetizer is always prepared from hazel grouse.

Interpretation of unclear words in Smirnova’s recipe:

Blanquettes (from the French blanc - pure, white) are straight pieces of food cut into parallel lines, used as semi-finished products for making dishes and culinary products.
Lanspik is chicken or meat broth boiled to a jelly state.
Soya-Kabul or Kabul sauce is a once popular spicy seasoning brought from Afghanistan.
Caporets - capers, pickled or salted flower buds of the prickly caper plant.

2. “Game salad” according to the classic recipe from “The Book of Tasty and Healthy Food” (1939)

Ingredients:

hazel grouse (boiled or fried) - 1 piece;
boiled potatoes - 300 grams;
gherkins or pickles - 75 grams;
green salad - 75 grams;
boiled chicken eggs - 2 pieces;
mayonnaise sauce - 0.5 cups;
soy-kabul - 0.5 tablespoon;
table vinegar - 1 tablespoon;
powdered sugar - 0.5 teaspoon;
salt - to taste.

Prepare “venison salad” according to the classic recipe as follows:

Cut hazel grouse fillet into thin slices, half a hard-boiled egg and gherkins, and dried lettuce leaves into 3-4 pieces.
Place everything in a bowl, add salt, pour over mayonnaise sauce, add soy-kabul, vinegar or lemon juice.
Place the seasoned and mixed salad in a heap in a salad bowl.
Place lettuce leaves in the center of the mound, and around it in an oval, decorate with boiled eggs, cut into quarters, slices of fresh cucumber and pieces of pickles.

You can decorate the salad with crayfish necks, pieces of crab, and tomato slices. This salad can be prepared from various game or poultry, meat, veal and other things.

3. “Stolichny” salad according to a restaurant recipe from the times of the USSR

Ingredients for 1 serving:

poultry or game (ready) - 60 grams;
boiled potatoes - 60 grams;
fresh, salted or pickled cucumbers - 40 grams;
green salad - 10 grams;
cancerous cervixes - 10 grams;
boiled egg - 2 pieces;
“Yuzhny” sauce - 15 grams;
mayonnaise - 70 grams;
pickles - 10 grams;
olives - 10 pieces.

The Stolichny salad is prepared according to a restaurant recipe as follows:

Cut boiled or fried game or poultry, boiled peeled potatoes, fresh, salted or pickled cucumbers, hard-boiled eggs into thin slices (2-2.5 centimeters), and chop green salad leaves.
Mix all the chopped products, season with mayonnaise sauce, add “Yuzhny” sauce for taste.
Place the mixed salad in a heap in a salad bowl and decorate with mugs or slices of hard-boiled eggs, pieces of pickles, lettuce, thin mugs of fresh cucumbers.

On the salad you can put beautifully sliced game fillets, crayfish tails or pieces of canned crab and olives

4. Homemade Olivier salad

Ingredients:

boiled potatoes - 4 pieces;
boiled carrots - 2 roots;
cucumbers - 2 pieces (any);
boiled chicken egg;
canned green peas - 1 jar;
ham (sausage, boiled meat, fillet smoked chicken) - 300 grams;
mayonnaise - 100 grams;
salt - to taste.

Olivier salad homemade recipe cook like this:

Boil vegetables and eggs, cool and peel
Cut all ingredients into equal small cubes and place in one large container.
Add green peas without broth, mayonnaise and mix everything carefully. All that remains is to place it in mini salad bowls or bowls, decorate the top with a sprig of fresh herbs and be sure to let it brew in a cool place so that all its ingredients are saturated with a bouquet of joint aroma.

As you can see, Olivier salad in this case is without onions, although your salad and you can afford onions. If you are afraid of its harsh taste, scald the chopped onion with boiling water.

Lucien Olivier (French Lucien Olivier) - 1838 - 1883 - a cook of French or Belgian origin who ran the Hermitage restaurant in Moscow in the early 1860s - the author of the legendary Olivier salad, who took with him the exact secret of its preparation.

The elite Hermitage restaurant was built by Lucien Olivier after many years of living in Moscow, when he realized what was missing in the Russian capital. There was a lack of French chic. Joining forces with the wealthy merchant Yakov Pegov, Olivier buys a plot in the center of Moscow and intends to build a first-class restaurant according to the best French standards.

By the mid-60s of the 19th century, on the site of a booth selling snuff, a luxurious building with white columns, crystal chandeliers, isolated offices and luxurious interiors arose. This was a new thing for Moscow at that time, and the nascent bourgeoisie poured into the restaurant. At first, Olivier’s establishment was called the Tavern in the Russian way, and the waiters were also dressed in the “tavern style.”

The following facts can tell about the significance and popularity of the restaurant: in 1879, a gala dinner was held in the Hermitage in honor of I. S. Turgenev, in 1880 - in honor of F. M. Dostoevsky, in 1899 - the famous celebration of the centenary of Pushkin’s birthday, at which there were all the famous writers and poets of that time.

In the Hermitage, university professors celebrated anniversaries and students celebrated Tatiana’s Day, the intelligentsia gathered and rich merchants feasted. In general, Olivier's restaurant, as well as its excellent cuisine, attracted the best people of that time.

Lucien Olivier, the youngest of the three Olivier brothers, when very young, went to Moscow to work. Like many Frenchmen, he hoped to use his culinary skills in a country that had always respected French cuisine. While his brothers were cooking for French gourmets, Lucien was opening his own restaurant, the Hermitage.

At first, the business brought in significant income, and the young Frenchman prepared dishes familiar from childhood. This success was greatly facilitated by the “family” recipe for mayonnaise sauce or mayonnaise.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the Olivier family began to add mustard when making the sauce, as well as several secret spices, which made the taste of the familiar sauce slightly spicy. The popularity of the Olivier family's mayonnaise was so strong that it allowed the older brothers to keep their business in France, and Lucien to open a Moscow “branch” on Trubnaya Square.

The building in which the restaurant was located has still been preserved; it is house number 14 on Petrovsky Boulevard, corner of Neglinnaya. So someday a memorial plaque or a whole monument to “Olivier Salad” may appear on it.

But everything is transitory in this world, and gradually the sauce alone became not enough for the success of the establishment. Its taste quickly became boring, and the changing fashion swung towards skinny, pale young ladies, whose beauty, naturally, was hampered by the appetizing and high-calorie Olivier sauces.

There was an urgent need to come up with something. And then Lucien Olivier came up with the idea new salad, a true work of art. His taste was so exquisite that it instantly brought the Frenchman the fame of a great chef, and the popularity of his restaurant, which was beginning to fade, flared up with renewed vigor.

Visitors named the new salad “Olivier Salad,” which was quite in the tradition of Russian names. Since then, the name Olivier has become a household name, and they have tried to repeat the salad countless times, eventually simplifying the recipe so much that its modern version is the exact opposite of the original.

Many chefs tried to repeat Olivier’s recipe, but, not knowing all the components, they inevitably failed - the taste of the real “Olivier Salad” could only be appreciated in the Hermitage restaurant.

The taste of the famous dish was largely due to own recipe mayonnaise Monsieur Olivier. They said that the Frenchman jealously kept the recipe and carried out the preparation operation in a special room behind a closed door. The journey of the sauce was not easy.

Initially, Olivier made a sauce called “Game Mayonnaise.” It consisted of boiled fillets of hazel grouse and partridge, layered with layers of jelly from the broth. Along the edges of the dish lay boiled crayfish necks and small pieces of tongue. All this was flavored a small amount homemade Provencal sauce. In the center of the structure was a mound of potatoes with gherkins and slices of boiled eggs as decoration. At the same time, according to the author’s plan, the central potato part was intended rather for beauty.

One day, Lucien Olivier noticed that some Russians who ordered this dish immediately broke the whole plan, stirring the entire structure with a spoon, and devoured this tasty mass with great appetite. The next day, an enterprising Frenchman mixed all the ingredients and poured a thick sauce on it. This is how the famous salad was born, reborn from the refined, but inconvenient “game mayonnaise” into the no less refined, but closer to the Russian soul, “Olivier Salad”.

The salad became the hallmark of the restaurant and was prepared for many years until one of Olivier’s assistants stole the recipe for Provencal sauce. An exact copy of the Olivier salad that appeared among competitors angered the French chef and pushed him to make a more tasty and sophisticated dish.

However, the stolen sauce recipe still could not compare with the French one. Something was missing in taste; with identical components, the Olivier sauce was much more delicate.

Gradually, the famous salad disappeared from the menu of the Hermitage restaurant, and its numerous copies, “put into circulation,” became simpler and simpler. The salad began to live its own life and Monsieur Olivier could no longer influence it.

Here is the recipe for the classic “Olivier salad” prepared in better times in the Hermitage restaurant (restored in 1904 according to the descriptions of one restaurant regular):

Fillet of two boiled hazel grouse
One boiled veal tongue
About 100 grams of pressed black caviar
200 grams of fresh lettuce leaves
25 boiled crayfish or one large lobster
200-250 grams of small cucumbers
Half a jar of Kabul soya (soybean paste)
2 finely chopped fresh cucumber
100 grams of capers
5 eggs, finely chopped (hard-boiled)

Dressing with Provencal sauce: 400 grams olive oil beaten with two fresh egg yolks, with the addition of French vinegar and mustard.

One of the secrets classic taste Olivier's salad consisted of the Frenchman adding certain spices. The composition of these seasonings, unfortunately, is unknown, so the true taste of the salad can only be imagined based on the descriptions of contemporaries.

The preparation itself was no less exciting:

Fry the hazel grouse in a 1-2 centimeter layer of oil over high heat for 5-10 minutes. Then put them in boiling water or broth (beef or chicken), add 150 ml Madeira per 850 ml broth, 10-20 pitted olives, 10-20 small champignons and cook for 20-30 minutes over low heat, covered.

When the meat begins to slightly separate from the bones, add salt, let cook for a couple more minutes and turn off the flame. Place the pan with hazel grouse, without pouring out the broth, into a large container of cold water and let cool.

The purpose of this is to allow the hazel grouse meat to cool gradually. The fact is that when separated while hot, the meat begins to dry out and loses tenderness. However, it is necessary not to overdo it and separate the warm meat - do not let the hazel grouse freeze, otherwise it will completely stop coming off the bones.

Wrap the removed meat in foil and place in a cool place. Do not pour out the broth after cooking the mushrooms - it will make a great soup! (if you don’t find hazel grouse and decide to replace them with chicken, remember - the chicken must be cut into 2-3 parts and cooked a little longer - 30-40 minutes).

The tongue should be free of fat, lymph nodes, sublingual muscle tissue and mucus. Perhaps half the tongue will be enough. Rinse the tongue thoroughly in cold water, put it in cold water, bring to a boil and cook over low heat with the lid tightly closed for 2-4 hours (the time depends on the age of the owner of the tongue - for a young calf 2 hours will be enough).

Half an hour before the tongue is ready, add chopped carrots, parsley root, onions and a piece of bay leaf to the same saucepan. Add salt 5-10 minutes before the end of cooking. As soon as the tongue is cooked, immediately place it in a container of cold water for 20-30 seconds, then place it on a plate and remove the skin from it (if the tongue still burns your fingers, dip it in the water again).

Once you have peeled the tongue, place it back into the broth and quickly bring it to a boil, then turn off the flame and set the pan to cool in a large container filled with ice water. Also wrap the cooled tongue in foil and place it in a cool place.

Cut pressed caviar into small cubes. Wash the lettuce leaves thoroughly, dry and cut immediately before cooking.

Dip live crayfish, washed in cold water, into the boiling solution, head down. To prepare a solution for boiling crayfish, take: 25 grams of parsley, onions and carrots, 10 grams of tarragon, 30-40 grams of dill, 1 bay leaf, a few peas of allspice and 50 grams of salt.

After placing the crayfish in boiling water, let the water boil again and cook for another 10 minutes. After turning off the heat, do not remove it immediately, but let the crayfish brew, then cool the pan with the finished crayfish using the method described above.

Finely chop the pickles right before mixing. Grind the soybeans before adding to the salad. Peel fresh cucumbers and chop finely (not necessarily evenly - you can also “crush”). Also chop the capers finely, after drying them.

Eggs should be large and fresh. Do not overcook them under any circumstances. Pay close attention to this part. The eggs should feel fresh and the white should be tender, not rubbery. Cook for 7-8 minutes, but not 15.

Chop all the ingredients and mix (try to do this carefully, using upward movements). Add your own homemade mayonnaise and serve immediately.

It is important to take into account the amount of alcohol guests drink. The more, the hotter the sauce should be. If the guests are sober, then it would be more logical to season with classic mayonnaise in order to appreciate the delicate taste of all the ingredients.

This was the recipe at the time it was reproduced by one of the restaurant’s regular customers. Perhaps something was not taken into account, but the main components that are difficult to hide from the sophisticated public are present in the recipe.

It is with “Olivier” that any celebration is associated, for example, New Year's table. This salad is one of the symbols of the New Year celebration. Almost every table always has a bowl of salad. But has anyone ever thought about who invented holiday snack and about the history of the origin of Olivier salad?

The history of the origin of the Olivier salad

Olivier got its name from the name of the man who came up with this recipe. His name is Lucien Olivier. He worked as a chef at a French restaurant called Hermitage in Moscow. This was in the eighteenth century. The chef's ancestors come from France. The Olivier dynasty lived in Provence. The family was a professional cook and gained fame in their homeland for creating an unusual sauce, which they patriotically named “Provencal”, in honor of the province of France where the family was from. Now this sauce is called mayonnaise. The youngest of the Olivier brothers, whose name was Lucien, went to conquer Moscow, where he came up with his unique salad “Olivier”. At that time, cooking in Russia was lame; restaurants served such snacks as pickles and sauerkraut, cranberries or mushrooms. Salad was considered a pickle, seasoned with sour cream. Then Lucien decided to conquer the culinary community of Russia, to do something unique, new and inimitable. The key concept was the lightness of the salad. The restaurant had a council of chefs on the theme of the new product, each offering their own versions. Olivier spent several days conjuring his salad, conducting samples and tastings. As a result, it was developed light salad, which made its creator Lucien Olivier famous.

It is believed that original recipe The chef did not reveal the salad. But we have received two publications mentioning a recipe for a salad similar to Olivier.

Recipe for the original Olivier salad

First recipe:

Cut half the carcass of fried hazel grouse.
Boil three potatoes and cut into cubes.
Cut one fresh cucumber into slices.
Three to five olives.
Capers - one teaspoon (small cabbage).
Chop the ingredients, season, mix.
Provencal - 20 grams for salad dressing.
Three to four lettuce leaves for decoration.
Three necks of crayfish for decoration.
Lanspik - 100 grams (transparent broth used to prepare aspic). Designed for decoration.

Second option, from another source of that time:

Two hazel grouse
Beef tongue,
100 grams of pressed caviar,
50 grams of lettuce leaves,
25 boiled crayfish,
100 grams of pickles,
100 grams of soy-kabul,
two cucumbers,
100 grams of capers,
5 boiled eggs,
mayonnaise.

The cooking method is the same, cut the boiled products, season with sauce.

Until today, the original recipe has undergone huge changes, because Olivier was usually prepared only from hazel grouse. Nowadays this salad usually consists of the following products:

Boiled potatoes - about seven pieces,
Fresh cucumber - five pieces,
Boiled sausage - half a kilogram,
Boiled eggs - four pieces,
Mayonnaise,
Green peas - one jar,
Dill.

Cooking method:

Cut everything into cubes.
Season with mayonnaise.
Add dill.
Mix.

For example, one of these recipes suggests shrimp instead of sausage, avocado instead of cucumbers.

4 October 2011, 10:33

Few people know that the famous Olivier salad was invented by a French chef in Russia in the second half of the 19th century, and the name of the famous chef misleads many. Nevertheless, a fact is a fact. Lucien Olivier is the founder of the famous Hermitage restaurant, as well as the author of a magnificent salad that is still alive. The elite Hermitage restaurant was built by Lucien Olivier after many years of living in Moscow, when he realized what was missing in the Russian capital. There was a lack of French chic. Joining forces with the wealthy merchant Yakov Pegov, Olivier buys a plot in the center of Moscow and intends to build a first-class restaurant according to the best French standards.
By the mid-60s of the 19th century, on the site of a booth selling snuff, a luxurious building with white columns, crystal chandeliers, isolated offices and luxurious interiors arose. This was a new thing for Moscow at that time, and the nascent bourgeoisie poured into the restaurant. At first, Olivier’s establishment was called the Tavern in the Russian style, and the waiters were also dressed in the “tavern style.” The following facts can speak about the importance and popularity of the restaurant: in 1879, a gala dinner was held in the Hermitage in honor of I.S. Turgenev, in 1880 - in honor of F.M. Dostoevsky, in 1899 - the famous celebration of the centenary of Pushkin’s birthday, which was attended by all the eminent writers and poets of that time. In the Hermitage, university professors celebrated anniversaries and students celebrated Tatiana’s Day, the intelligentsia gathered and rich merchants feasted. In general, Olivier’s restaurant, as well as its excellent cuisine, attracted the best people of that time. Lucien Olivier, the youngest of the three Olivier brothers, when very young, went to Moscow to work. Like many Frenchmen, he hoped to use his culinary skills in a country that has always respected French cuisine. While his brothers were cooking for French gourmets, Lucien was opening his restaurant, the Hermitage. At first, the business brought in significant income, and the young Frenchman prepared dishes familiar from childhood. This success was greatly facilitated by the “family” recipe, an improvement of mayonnaise sauce or mayonnaise. At the beginning of the 19th century, the Olivier family began to add mustard when making the sauce, as well as several secret spices, which made the taste of the familiar sauce slightly spicy.
The popularity of the Olivier family's mayonnaise was so strong that it allowed the older brothers to keep their business in France, and Lucien to open a Moscow “branch” on Trubnaya Square. The building in which the restaurant was located has still been preserved; it is house number 14 on Petrovsky Boulevard, corner of Neglinnaya. So someday a memorial plaque or a whole monument to “Olivier Salad” may appear on it.
But everything is transitory in this world, and gradually the sauce alone became not enough for the success of the establishment. Its taste quickly became boring, and the changing fashion swung towards skinny, pale young ladies, whose beauty, naturally, was hampered by the appetizing and high-calorie Olivier sauces. There was an urgent need to come up with something. And then Lucien Olivier came up with a new salad, a true work of art. His taste was so exquisite that it instantly brought the Frenchman the fame of a great chef, and the popularity of his restaurant, which was beginning to fade, flared up with renewed vigor. Visitors named the new salad “Olivier Salad,” which was quite in the tradition of Russian names.
Since then, the name Olivier has become a household name, and they have tried to repeat the salad countless times, eventually simplifying the recipe so much that its modern version is the exact opposite of the original. Many chefs tried to repeat Olivier’s recipe, but, not knowing all the components, they inevitably failed - the taste of the real “Olivier Salad” could only be appreciated in the Hermitage restaurant. The taste of the famous dish was achieved to a large extent due to Monsieur Olivier’s own mayonnaise recipe. They said that the Frenchman jealously kept the cooking recipe and carried out the operation of preparing it in a special room behind a closed door. The journey of the sauce was not easy. Initially, Olivier made a sauce called “Game Mayonnaise.” It consisted of boiled fillets of hazel grouse and partridge, layered with layers of jelly from the broth. Along the edges of the dish lay boiled crayfish necks and small pieces of tongue. All this was flavored with a small amount of homemade Provencal sauce. In the center of the structure was a mound of potatoes with gherkins and slices of boiled eggs as decoration. At the same time, according to the author’s plan, the central potato part was intended rather for beauty. One day, Lucien Olivier noticed that some Russians who ordered this dish immediately broke the whole plan, stirring the entire structure with a spoon, and devoured this tasty mass with great appetite. The next day, an enterprising Frenchman mixed all the ingredients and poured a thick sauce on it. This is how the famous salad was born, reborn from the refined but inconvenient “game mayonnaise” into the no less refined, but closer to the Russian soul, “Olivier salad.”
The salad became the hallmark of the restaurant and was prepared for many years until one of Olivier’s assistants stole the recipe for Provençal sauce. An exact copy of the Olivier salad that appeared among competitors angered the French chef and pushed him to make a more tasty and sophisticated dish. However, the stolen sauce recipe still could not compare with the French one. Something was missing in taste; with identical components, the Olivier sauce was much more delicate. Gradually, the famous salad disappeared from the menu of the Hermitage restaurant, and its numerous copies, “put into circulation,” became simpler and simpler. The salad began to live its own life and Monsieur Olivier could no longer influence it. Here is the recipe for the classic “Olivier salad”, prepared in better times in the Hermitage restaurant (restored in 1904 according to the descriptions of one regular of the restaurant): Fillet of two boiled hazel grouse One boiled veal tongue About 100 grams of pressed black caviar 200 grams of fresh lettuce leaves 25 boiled crayfish or one large lobster 200-250 grams of small cucumbers Half a jar of soya kabul (soybean paste) 2 finely chopped fresh cucumbers 100 grams of capers 5 finely chopped hard-boiled eggs Dressing with Provencal sauce: 400 grams of olive oil, beaten with two fresh egg yolks, with the addition of French vinegar and mustard. One of the secrets of the classic taste of Olivier salad was the addition of certain spices by the Frenchman. The composition of these seasonings, unfortunately, is unknown, so the true taste of the salad can only be imagined based on the descriptions of contemporaries. The preparation itself was no less exciting: Fry the hazel grouse in a 1-2 centimeter layer of oil over high heat for 5-10 minutes. Then put them in boiling water or broth (beef or chicken), add 150 ml Madeira per 850 ml broth, 10-20 pitted olives, 10-20 small champignons and cook for 20-30 minutes over low heat, covered. When the meat begins to slightly separate from the bones, add salt, let cook for a couple more minutes and turn off the flame. Place the pan with hazel grouse, without pouring out the broth, into a large container with cold water and let cool. The purpose of this is to allow the hazel grouse meat to cool gradually. The fact is that when separated while hot, the meat begins to dry out and loses tenderness. However, it is necessary not to overdo it and separate the warm meat - do not let the hazel grouse freeze, otherwise it will completely stop being removed from the bones. Wrap the removed meat in foil and place in a cool place. Do not pour out the broth after cooking the mushrooms - it will make a great soup! (if you don’t find hazel grouse and decide to replace them with chicken, remember - the chicken must be cut into 2-3 parts and cooked a little longer - 30-40 minutes).
The tongue should be free of fat, lymph nodes, sublingual muscle tissue and mucus. Perhaps half the tongue will be enough. Rinse the tongue thoroughly in cold water, put it in cold water, bring to a boil and cook over low heat with the lid tightly closed for 2-4 hours (the time depends on the age of the owner of the tongue - for a young calf 2 hours will be enough). Half an hour before the tongue is ready, add chopped carrots, parsley root, onions and a piece of bay leaf to the same saucepan. Add salt 5-10 minutes before the end of cooking. As soon as the tongue is cooked, immediately place it in a container of cold water for 20-30 seconds, then place it on a plate and remove the skin from it (if the tongue still burns your fingers, dip it in water again). After cleaning the tongue, put it back into the broth and quickly bring it to a boil, then turn off the flame and set the pan to cool in a large container filled with ice water. Also wrap the cooled tongue in foil and place it in a cool place. Cut pressed caviar into small cubes.
Wash the lettuce leaves thoroughly, dry and cut immediately before cooking. Dip live crayfish, washed in cold water, into the boiling solution, head down. To prepare a solution for boiling crayfish, take: 25 grams of parsley, onions and carrots, 10 grams of tarragon, 30-40 grams of dill, 1 bay leaf, a few peas of allspice and 50 grams of salt. After placing the crayfish in boiling water, let the water boil again and cook for another 10 minutes. After turning off the heat, do not remove it immediately, but let the crayfish brew, then cool the pan with the prepared crayfish using the method described above. Finely chop the pickles right before mixing. Grind the soybeans before adding to the salad. Peel fresh cucumbers and chop finely (not necessarily evenly - you can also “crush”). Also chop the capers finely, after drying them. Eggs should be large and fresh. Do not overcook them under any circumstances. Pay close attention to this part. The eggs should feel fresh and the white should be tender, not rubbery. Cook for 7-8 minutes, but not 15. Chop all the ingredients and mix (try to do this carefully, using movements from bottom to top). Add your own homemade mayonnaise and serve immediately. It is important to take into account the amount of alcohol guests drink. The more, the hotter the sauce should be. If the guests are sober, then it would be more logical to season with classic mayonnaise in order to appreciate the delicate taste of all the ingredients. This was the recipe at the time it was reproduced by one of the restaurant’s regular customers. Perhaps something was not taken into account, but the main components that are difficult to hide from the sophisticated public are present in the recipe. The secret of the spices that made the taste of the dish signature and unique, unfortunately, has been lost. After the death of Lucien Olivier in 1883, the Hermitage restaurant went to the “Olivier partnership”; for a long time the restaurant passed from hand to hand, and famous recipe went to the rich houses of the capital, or rather the kitchens of these houses. The personal chefs of many of the capital's richest people tried to recreate the French master's recipe and offered this famous salad at dinner parties.
This situation could have lasted forever if not for the First World War and then the revolution of 1917. The sudden disappearance of many products hit Olivier salad hard. At that time there was no time for delights - for many years the country plunged into the darkness of timelessness, and on the food side - into severe hunger and a rationing system for food distribution. But already in 1924, the era of NEP began and products that seemed irretrievably gone again appeared in the country. However, much was no longer possible to return. Branded “bourgeois” hazel grouse or crayfish necks became unavailable, and simply irrelevant among the city dwellers of that time. The NEP times gave us several options for salad, which, at the very least, were prepared in restaurants. One of these restaurants, and it must be said that it was central at that time, since senior party workers dined there, was the Moscow restaurant. It was headed by the same Ivan Mikhailovich Ivanov, who, as a young man, stole the salad recipe from the master himself, Lucien Olivier. This shameful act, however, preserved, although in a modified form, the recipe for the famous dish, close to the original. And the realities of time have made their own changes to the recipe. Recipe for “Olivier Salad” according to the Moscow restaurant version of the mid-20s of the 20th century: Ingredients: 6 potatoes, 2 onions, 3 medium-sized carrots, 2 pickled cucumbers, 1 apple, 200 grams boiled meat poultry, 1 cup green peas, 3 boiled eggs, half a glass of olive mayonnaise, salt and pepper to taste. Preparation: Take medium-sized, fresh vegetables. Cut all ingredients finely and very evenly into equal pieces. Boil the potatoes and carrots, peel them, chop everything, mix and season with mayonnaise, top with parsley and apple slices. As you can see, not much remains from the original recipe. However, the main principle remains the same - chop everything and season with mayonnaise. This principle became widespread throughout the Soviet and post-Soviet space, and throughout the world Olivier salad is called “Russian salad” or “salade a la Russe”. Hazel grouse were first replaced with partridges, then chicken, and then just sausage. There were also recipes with beef, but this is too tough a component, and beef did not take root. Crayfish necks, unfortunately, have sunk into oblivion, and in the 20th century they were no longer added to salads; boiled carrots were added instead. Capers were replaced with more accessible green peas, and onions appeared in the salad, which immediately gave it a pungent taste. Lettuce leaves were replaced with parsley. Soy, veal tongue, as well as pressed black caviar (and truffles, according to one version), also disappeared from the recipe. Mayonnaise was replaced from home-made mayonnaise to factory-made mayonnaise. Be that as it may, the Olivier salad continued to live even in these difficult conditions, being a symbol of chic and delicacy for a large part of the impoverished country. In the post-war period, in the second half of the 50s, when the country was experiencing powerful growth and the standard of living rose again, the old salad reappeared on the holiday table. Many products returned to sale, but even banal peas or Provencal mayonnaise were in terrible short supply, and these products were always set aside to create the “holiday” Olivier salad. Simplifying, Olivier's salad recipe acquired the main thing - from quite high-calorie dish, with tasty, but still heavy and expensive ingredients, the salad has become vegetable salad, the meat share of which was incomparably small. As in the 19th century, modern salad Olivier is made from those products that are most available at the moment. If caviar, crayfish necks, hazel grouse and capers were available then, now it is boiled sausage, green peas, carrots and onions. And you can buy mayonnaise in the store. Losing expensive ingredients, the salad inevitably gained popularity among wide sections of the population of one sixth of the planet, and now boasts not just a name, but the name of a whole class of salads that began to appear in later years. Soviet era. After all, the salad with canned fish, and from crab sticks, as well as numerous other Soviet salads, appeared thanks to the ingenuity and partly poverty of the counters, forcing the imagination of housewives and cooks to work. The symbolic significance of Olivier salad for Russian cuisine cannot be overestimated. This is always the main dish on the table, in the best salad bowl; no other salad deserves such a constant presence at a festive feast. The tradition of putting food on plates is indicative. Olivier is always placed either first or after the potatoes. This is a respectful attitude simple salad could not hide from the unobtrusive gaze of foreign guests, who, of course, were also treated to Olivier salad. Throughout the rest of the world, our salad is known as “Russian salad,” but it is most correct to call the modern version of the dish “Soviet Olivier.” Like “Soviet champagne” it has its own destiny, its own unforgettable taste and is considered an equally powerful and indestructible symbol of the holiday. P.S. I'll go get some canned peas)))

Just a couple of years ago it was impossible to imagine festive table without Olivier. A traditional New Year's film memorized, down to the intonations of the characters, "Soviet" champagne and such a dear "French"!

The author of our beloved culinary masterpiece is considered to be Lucien Olivier, a chef of Belgian or French origin. Coming from a large family, who came to the Russian Empire in the second half of the 19th century, he remained here. Unlike his many brothers who fed the French intellectuals, the enterprising young man took a closer look at the gastronomic habits of the Russian bourgeoisie. A close acquaintance with the Moscow merchant Yakov Pegov, out of love for snuff, soon led to the creation of the Hermitage tavern. Despite the official status of the tavern, the establishment did not at all look like an eatery. The waiters were dressed in shirts made of fine Dutch material, belted with cords of real silk. The name had nothing to do with the building in St. Petersburg; hermitage translated from French means “place of solitude.”

Initially, the Frenchman treated restaurant guests to truly French gourmet dishes. The mayonnaise sauce (the recipe for which Olivier brought with him from his homeland) was especially chic. This sauce included ground boiled yolks, vinegar, Dijon mustard, and butter. However, it became increasingly difficult to satisfy the fastidious tastes of the Moscow nobles, and Lucien began to think about innovations.

There is even a legend about what exactly prompted the great chef to change. One day, the cook Olivier, who was once again preparing the sauce, either on purpose or by accident, put raw yolks in the sauce instead of boiled ones. Of course, he received a formal scolding. However, the taste of the sauce turned out to be so unusual that the chef decided to play with this innovation. Having improved mayonnaise with the help of seasonings (which ones are still unknown, it is believed that this is the main secret of the salad), Olivier came up with a dish called “Game Mayonnaise.” It was prepared as follows: boiled fillet partridges and hazel grouse, cut into cubes, were placed in a heap in the center of the salad bowl. They were mixed with cubes of jelly from the poultry broth. Boiled soup was laid out along the edges beef tongue and crayfish tails and topped with new sauce. By the way, the sauce was called “Provencal”.

However, the dish served in this way was gradually turned into a salad by the Russian intelligentsia, which horrified and confused the sophisticated Frenchman. But, yielding to the Russian mentality, the cook soon began serving the dish with the ingredients already mixed, thickly pouring sauce over it. The dish was named after the creator of “Olivier Salad”. This is the history of the creation of Olivier salad.

Composition of Olivier salad

As for the composition of the Olivier salad, no one was able to find out the recipe for the salad; the creator took it with him to the grave. However, in 1904, the composition of this salad was first published, reproduced according to the restaurant’s regulars.

The traditional composition of the salad is as follows:

crushed quail eggs (hard-boiled) in the amount of 5 pieces;
pressed black caviar in an amount of approximately 100 grams;
boiled hazel grouse in the amount of 2 pieces;
boiled beef/veal tongue in the amount of 1 pc.;
small pickled cucumbers (gherkins) in the amount of 5-7 pieces;
boiled crayfish (25 pieces) or boiled lobster meat in the amount of 1 piece;
mayonnaise sauce "Provencal".

During Soviet times, the original composition of the salad changed many times. More expensive hazel grouse and crayfish gave way to potatoes and green peas. As a result, today we are all familiar with the following composition of Olivier salad:

Boiled potatoes;
Boiled carrots;
Boiled chicken eggs;
Canned green peas;
Salted and fresh cucumbers;
Boiled sausage / chicken / boiled meat
Mayonnaise

It's interesting that: In February 2009, the “Olivier Index” was invented to determine the level of consumer prices for food. According to the Trud newspaper, this indicator more realistically reflects the situation with inflation than even Rosstat data.