A Niçoise salad as the Parisian makes it
Say wine, snacks or haute cuisine and the gourmands at online food magazine FavorFlav know where to drink, how to eat it and what to cook. This time our cheffies serve you: this is how you make the one and only Niçoise salad.
The Provençal cuisine is one of the most popular regional cuisines in France. Beautiful products come from Provence due to its location and favorable climate; products from the land and the sea. You can also taste influences from Italy and North Africa in the typical dishes from Provence. Alex Jackson tells you in the beautiful book Provence how to make a real Niçoise salad.
The correct preparation method for a Niçoise salad is a contentious issue. The discussions have never prevented the residents of Nice from continuing to make this salad as it should be. Jacques Médecin, former mayor of Nice and author of an authoritative cookbook on La cuisine Niçoise (the cuisine of Nice), was partly driven to write this book by his experience with the untraditional and downright offensive versions: ‘Worldwide,’ he states in the introduction, ‘I have had the unpleasant experience of being served leftovers that were supposed to pass for a Niçoise salad.’ Médecin urgently requests us: ‘If you want to be a worthy interpreter of the Niçoise cuisine, please never add cooked potatoes or any other cooked vegetables.’
Delightful as the South French summer
A Niçoise salad should be an expression of the South French summer: crispy, colorful, present, and fresh. Squeaky green beans have no place here, let alone simple potatoes. And please: avoid raw bell pepper. Feel free to (slightly) improvise. Tomatoes and cucumber are indispensable, and I love the crunchiness of sliced radishes. Artichokes, of course raw, add a delicate luxury, while raw broad beans are delicious when they are small and sweet. Zucchini flowers would not be out of place. I love it when the salad is served with salted anchovies, but good quality canned tuna is also nice. Go for a good Spanish tuna in olive oil. Jacques says you should never use anchovies and tuna at the same time, but he won’t find out if you do.
This is how you make the Niçoise salad
- Rub the inside of a serving bowl with the garlic. Clean the artichokes and cut them lengthwise into thin slices. Slice the cucumber and radishes, but not too thin. Peel the onion and cut it into the thinnest possible rings. Cut the tomatoes into pieces, wedges, or quarters, depending on their size. Don’t cut them too thin, or the salad may become too wet.
- Mix the vegetables in the serving bowl. Add the olive oil and red wine vinegar and sprinkle with salt and black pepper. Adjust the seasoning if necessary. Stir in the tuna or anchovies, olives, and basil. Taste again. Cut the hard-boiled eggs in half or quarters, lightly sprinkle with salt and black pepper, and place on the salad. Finally, drizzle with some olive oil if you think the salad needs it.
Title: Provence
Author: Alex Jackson
Price: €25,95
Publisher: Good Cook
