SALADE NIÇOISE
SOURCE: JULIA CHILD. FROM JULIA CHILD’S KITCHEN.
Much like an original piece played by a musical orchestra, Salade Niçoise is a composed salad. That is, the salad is preferably served as a harmonious arrangement of individually dressed ingredients instead of getting chaotically tossed in a platter. Having originated from the French Riviera, the elements of the salad are a subject of contentious debate and scrutiny between conservative purists, such as disgraced Nice mayor, Jacques Médicin, and liberal food icons like Provence-born haute cuisine founder, Auguste Escoffier. The centrism of Julia Child towards Salade Niçoise strikes a balance among beauty, taste, tradition, and seasonal availability of ingredients. For that, the resulting accord that brings forth the flavors of the sun and the Mediterranean Sea invokes the reciprocity of appreciation and gratefulness.
Ingredients
Vinaigrette Dressing
1-2 cloves garlic
Salt
1 tablespoons/15 mL lemon juice
1 1/2 teapoons/8 mL white wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons/8 mL Dijon mustard
1/2 to 2/3 cup/120 to160 mL extra virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
Finely chopped basil leaves, preferably picked fresh on the same day for best results
Potato Salad
3-4 medium-sized waxy red potatoes, such as Desiree, weighing around 150 grams each, washed and scrubbed off dirt
1 tablespoon/6 grams finely minced shallots or scallions
Salt and pepper to taste
2 to 3 tablespoons/30 to 45 mL white wine or chicken stock
2 to 3 tablespoons/30 to 45 mL water
5 salt-packed anchovies, whole OR 10 anchovy fillets, preserved in olive oil
1 1/2 pound/680 grams fresh Boston/Butterhead lettuce leaves, chilled
4 medium-sized ripe red tomatoes, each weighing 5 ounces/150 grams OR 1 1/4 pounds/600 grams cherry tomatoes
1/2 pound/250 grams French string beans, blanched for 5 minutes, drained, and chilled
2-3 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and quartered
2-3 tablespoons/15-23 grams pickled capers, drained
1/2 to 2/3 cup/90 to 120 grams pitted black olives, preferably the Cailletier/Niçoise variety
7 ounces/200 grams canned tuna OR 10 ounces/280 grams fresh tuna fillet
Specific Equipment
Mortar and pestle
Whisk
Mixing bowl to toss the salad
Serves 6 to 8
Instructions
1. Prepare the Vinaigrette Dressing by vigorously mashing the garlic and 1/4 teaspoon salt altogether into a fine and smooth paste using a mortar and pestle. Whisk in lemon juice, wine vinegar and Dijon mustard. Beat in the extra virgin olive oil gradually until everything is well-blended into an emulsion. Season the emulsion with a few grindings of black pepper and chopped basil leaves. Adjust the oil, salt, pepper, or basil, if desired.
2. Prepare the Potato Salad by steaming the potatoes over a pan of boiling water for 20 minutes or until tender when pierced with a knife. Peel and cut the potatoes in half lengthwise and into 3/8-inch/1-cm-thick slices. Toss the potatoes gently with minced shallots or scallions, and season lightly with salt and pepper. Add the chicken stock or white wine and water, and toss gently again. Let the potatoes sit for 5 minutes, and toss gently for a second time until they absorb as much liquid as possible. Fold 1/4 cup/60 mL Vinaigrette Dressing into the potatoes. Adjust the seasoning, if desired, and refrigerate the Potato Salad until well-chilled.
3. Wash the salt off whole anchovies under running water. Soak the anchovies under in several changes of cold water for 40 minutes to 2 hours until softened. Fillet the anchovies by separating the top flesh from the central bone with two forks and the central bone from the bottom fillet. Run the fork along the length of each fillet to remove any fins or extraneous parts. Soak the anchovy fillets in water for another 15 minutes, if still salty. Cover the filleted anchovies with the Vinaigrette Dressing. Omit this step if using oil-preserved anchovy fillets. Refrigerate for at most 2 hours before serving time.
4. Toss lettuce leaves with several spoonfuls of Vinaigrette Dressing, and arrange them around the edges of a deep serving serving platter. Place the Potato Salad at the center of the serving platter.
5. Season the tomatoes lightly with salt, and arrange them in groups around the Potato Salad. Drizzle each group with teaspoonfuls of the Vinaigrette Dressing.
6. Toss the French string beans with a spoonful of dressing. Season lightly with a sprinkle of salt and pepper to taste. Arrange the French string beans in groups between the tomatoes.
7. Distribute the slices of hard-boiled eggs, yolk-side up, at evenly intervals around the salad. Place anchovies and capers over the eggs.
8. Surround the Potato Salad with a ring of pitted black olives.
9. Break up the tuna into small flaky chunks, if desired, and scatter above the potatoes or around the edge of the salad in intervals. Drizzle the tuna and olives with a spoonful of the Vinaigrette Dressing. Dribble the rest of the Vinaigrette Dressing over the Potato Salad. Decorate the tuna by sprinkling with chopped parsley.
