No, this is not the recipe for Salad
Olivier, although many of the recipes for Russian salad throughout the Internet refer to it as if both salads were one and the same.
Frankly said, I don’t think anybody prepares Salad Olivier at home (or anywhere at all) nowadays.
Salad Olivier was created (predictably) by a Belgian or French chef Lucian
Olivier back in 1860. 19 century was obviously tolerating mayonnaise, salads with mayonnaise were seen as more sophisticated - for
reference see the original recipe for Waldorf Salad.
Unlike Waldorf salad, created
in New York, Russian Salad Olivier was invented in Moscow. It was
not intended to be a simple everyday meal – it contained boiled veal tongue and grouse (a type of bird), crawfish
tails and aspic.
The salad called Russian salad nowadays and served widely
around the world represents a distant echo of Olivier Salad and although this
is one of the recipes which are not followed exactly and which contain varying ingredients
according to the local taste or the ingredients available, it still shall
contain mayonnaise, pickled cucumbers, boiled carrots and potatoes. Many people
add diced ham, boiled eggs, apples. I prefer the version without them.
And
actually this is the recipe perceived as Russian salad in Bulgaria.
