A Salad For All Tastes

A Salad for All Tastes

This is the one 

Russian salad 

for which

there is no 

definite recipe . . .

R

ussian cuisine has one salad for which there is no definite recipe. It is called by the good old non-Russian word vinaigrette and made from ... well, no one exactly knows. 

In one home, you will be told that vinaigrette is a vegetable salad flavored with mayonnaise, in another, with mustard. And each cook will swear that his or hers is the true, hundred-year-old recipe for vinaigrette. Probably the only thing anyone agrees on is that this salad must contain beets and potatoes.

At one time in the history of Russian cooking, any salad made from vegetables, mushrooms and fish and flavored with mustard or vinegar was called a vinaigrette (i.e., a mixture). (The saying nu i vinegret (what a vinaigrette!)  even appeared in Russia to describe a messy or confusing situation.) It was difficult to find a recipe for vinaigrette in Russian cookbooks up until the end of the nineteenth century, because it was considered a dish for common people. At the beginning of this century, however, there appeared in Russia a very complicated vinaigrette “for aristocrats,” containing salmon, nuts, olives and the like. But it did not even survive as long as the October Revolution. And after that, there were no more aristocrats ...

By the way, in the last years before the Revolution, it was very fashionable among the intelligentsia to show one’s common touch by serving one’s guests a “simple” vinaigrette. But it can’t be said that this was any hardship for the guests. This salad is delicious, and, according to nutritionists, extremely good for you. Plus it is very convenient for its flexible recipe. If you don’t like meat, you can put in fish, if you can’t stand mustard, flavor it with mayonnaise. And you can surprise your guests with different taste combinations.

—Yelena Utenkova

Vinaigrette (our 100-year-old recipe)

Wash and boil the beets (unpeeled), adding a little vinegar, then cool and peel. It is also best to boil the potatoes in their skins so as to lose fewer nutrients (see last month’s recipe). 

Remove the rough, outer skin from pickled cucumbers (in place of cucumbers, you can use sauerkraut or pickled mushrooms.) Cut the onions into rings, and slice the other vegetables. Pour vegetable oil over the sliced beets, add to the other vegetables and mix. Spice the mustard with sugar and salt, add vinegar and pour the mixture over the salad. Sprinkle greens on top. 

You can also add finely chopped boiled or fried meat or decorate with a slice of herring. Vinaigrette can also be made with mayonnaise.

There is no particular recipe for vinaigrette — all vegetables are added in approximately equal proportions, and the salad is seasoned to taste.