Remember how we used to go without pizza and sushi during the holidays? After all, they lived?! And we had more than enough simple salads: mimosa, Olivier, vinaigrette, herring under a fur coat or cheese with garlic.
Yes, fatty and high in calories. But how festive! Although sometimes it was very difficult to get the right ingredients for the already legendary bowl of Olivier salad. However, in almost any family, for birthdays and New Year's tables, one or more classic Soviet salads were prepared, and is still being prepared.
And in our family to this day, always, when several generations get together, these salads are always prepared. Where can we go without them? There are also fashionable, modern salads, they coexist with their predecessors and do not interfere with each other at the festive table.
And it is with such Soviet recipes that we will be nostalgic today. Those who remember themselves will once again refresh their memory, and it will be useful for the younger generation to learn something new.
Salad "Herring under a fur coat"
Favorite salad of most men. Herring in Soviet times was almost always available. And its quality, again, was up to par. But you can't eat salted fish alone, so boiled beets, pickled onions, mayonnaise and other ingredients began to be added to it.
History has not preserved the name of the author of this Soviet masterpiece, but he firmly established itself in the arsenal of many housewives.
By the way, it is better to really use pickled onions - its pungency goes well with the sweetness of beets and the salinity of herring.
We are preparing this miracle like this:
Cut the herring fillets into small cubes, remove the bones and lay them in a layer on the bottom of a large plate. Finely chop the onion (marinate in vinegar and sugar for 10-15 minutes) and put it on top. Lubricate with mayonnaise.
Three potatoes on a coarse grater, lay out a layer, grease with mayonnaise. Then a layer of carrots and mayonnaise.
Then there are eggs and mayonnaise, and from the very top - grated beets. In the process of eating, the layers can be mixed, but this is as you like.
It turns out very satisfying, especially considering that the Soviet mayonnaise was much thicker and fatter than the modern one. And some housewives knew how to cook it on their own. It turned out gorgeous! When the eggs are fresh.
Now there are so many jokes about pink mayonnaise. I will not reveal the secret of how to make it, who does not know. Your mothers and grandmothers are exactly in the know.
On top of the legend salad, you need to chop the boiled yolk or make a thin mesh of mayonnaise. Mmmm... already want to!
Mimosa salad"
Such a good salad! And yes, this Soviet salad has undergone major changes relative to the original recipe.
Initially, boiled fish went there, but potatoes were not even discussed. But the calorie content and volume had to somehow be increased, so the housewives began to add grated boiled potatoes to the salad. This smoothed out the taste, but increased the nutritional value.
Well, the fish was then generally replaced with canned food. Saury, mackerel, sardine - who likes what and what is more accessible.
Mom prepares this salad like this:
We open the jar, drain off the excess liquid (not all, because it is needed for juiciness) and spread it on a wide plate in a layer. Knead with a fork. Lubricate with mayonnaise.
Separate the whites from the yolks, grate them, put them on top of the fish and grease them with mayonnaise.
Then a layer of grated carrots and mayonnaise. Then a layer of onions and potatoes, again, grated. And grease with mayonnaise. Then cheese and again, mayonnaise, and sprinkle with grated yolks on top. You don't need to pour a lot of mayonnaise, otherwise it will be too greasy.
The order of the layers can vary. But the bottom is always fish, and the top is cheese and yolks. By the way, most often this salad is prepared without cheese. Well, he's not an amateur in general.
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Vinaigrette salad
The original recipe for vinaigrette can be found in cookbooks from the nineteenth century. Only there was veal, pickled apples, plums, olives and porcini mushrooms.
In short, the food that it would be difficult for a Soviet person to get, to put it mildly.
The recipe was also simplified, resulting in one of the most popular classic Soviet salads.
Now the classic vinaigrette looks like this:
Beets, potatoes and carrots - must be cut into cubes, mixed in a large saucepan, seasoned with aromatic vegetable oil, seasoned with salt and pepper.
Sour sauerkraut with pickled cucumbers goes well with sweet boiled beets. Well, it comes out nutritious, of course.
You can also add to the vinaigrette: onions or green onions, parsley, canned green peas or beans, and sometimes pickled mushrooms, celery, and an apple.
Olivier salad
This salad is far from the classic creation of restaurant chef Lucien Olivier.
And it is not surprising, because initially the recipe included hazel grouses, fresh cucumbers, olives, truffles, crayfish necks and all kinds of gherkins. And where to get all this? So I had to replace it with cheaper counterparts.
Instead of hazel grouses and crayfish necks - boiled sausage, instead of fresh cucumbers - salted, and so on. They also added potatoes for greater satiety. And, you know, it turned out pretty well.
It is the combination of taste and nutritional value that made the Olivier salad the most important representative of Soviet salads and a desirable attribute of every holiday.
If suddenly someone does not forget, then he prepares like this:
Boiled potatoes, carrots and eggs are cut into cubes, then they are mixed. Here comes boiled sausage and onions in cubes. And also canned peas. Season the salad with salt, pepper and good mayonnaise. Better to take "Provencal".
By the way, another deviation from the classic recipe: the original salad was flaky. But in the process of simplification, this was also changed.
Cream cheese and garlic salad
The most simple, but very nutritious classic Soviet salad. He didn't even have his own name at first. And then among the people he became known under different, sometimes wonderful, names. Especially memorable was the Squirrel salad.
The dish gained popularity far from immediately, but only with the spread of the legendary cheese "Druzhba".
Nevertheless, the salad turned out to be in great demand both as a post-New Year's breakfast and as an appetizer. Especially loved by the brutal men of my childhood, with vodka.
Now we are preparing it from Voronezh sausage cheese. Unfortunately, "Druzhba" is no longer the same.
How to prepare it:
The curds (sausage cheese) are kept in the freezer for some time, after which they are rubbed on a coarse grater and mixed with chopped garlic.
We fill it all with mayonnaise, add salt and pepper. The resulting mixture can even be spread on bread, like a snack. Some make it with finely chopped boiled eggs or carrots.
We have always prepared this salad without eggs. Only cheese, garlic and mayonnaise.
Now I am preparing such a mixture for filling red fish rolls, tartlets or pita bread. Or you can just cut the smoked fish into it.
Yummy!
Well, that's the whole story about salads from my and your Soviet past.
It is surprising that these recipes have not lost their relevance to this day. And even though now the fashion for holiday salads and snacks has changed a lot, shifted towards fresh vegetables or seafood, but classic Soviet salads are still an invariable attribute of many holidays and banquets.
And it will always be so, no matter who and what would not say. I still want them. Even with a terribly harmful mayonnaise. They are also delicious!
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