They say that if you argue about "Olivier", then there can be only one topic: does he have the right to the existence of its Soviet version, or "Olivier" can only be called the salad that existed before the revolution?
Ha!
Not everything is so simple, dear friends (and not friends either). Olivier is an inexhaustible storehouse of themes for a skillet battle. And without even delving into the historical jungle and not figuring out what it is - a real master's salad, which with lanspek (or without it), with crayfish necks (or without them), whether with quails, hazel grouses, or what else delicacy.
The proletarian "Olivier" familiar from Soviet times, it is just like borscht, every family has its own!
Here I tried to initiate a discussion among my acquaintances about which type of "Soviet Olivier" is correct, so I was ashamed, people argued almost to hoarseness and calluses on their fingers.
Fundamental differences that many consider it necessary to defend, an eerie multitude.
Controversial point number of times
For example, what kind of cucumbers to put in the "Soviet Olivier"? Fresh or salty? Or maybe, in general, pickled ones are better?
It turns out to be very important! Supporters of pickled cucumbers lead the evidence base - they say fresh cucumbers for the new year were a rarity, because - only pickled! And supporters of fresh argue - with salty - this is so, an everyday option, so on the New Year's table - exclusively fresh!
- My grandmother in Siberia grew cucumbers on the windowsill for the sake of the New Year! -Informed the most ardent supporter of exclusively fresh, and we all immediately imbued with the heroism of my grandmother. No, you can probably grow cucumbers on the windowsill, which just for the sake of your beloved grandchildren you won't go ...
Controversial point number two
Is it necessary to add... boiled carrots to the "Soviet Olivier"?
At first I thought that there would be only two camps - those who are for (boiled) carrots and those who are against. But then among the acquaintances of acquaintances (that is, I personally do not know, but someone is on friendly terms) there was a lady who curled up - in their house in Olivier they were crumbling raw carrots.
Now I won't be surprised if someone adds a Korean carrot to it.
Controversial point number three
And the meat component?
Only sausage (boiled) or is boiled or baked meat acceptable? Or, if instead of sausage in "Soviet Olivier" there is meat, then the salad is no longer "Olivier", but "Stolichny"? In the recipe books, there may be a different name, but more than half of the disputants adamantly stood their ground:
- Whatever they put in the salad, sausage or meat, it remains the same New Year's "Olivier", and we don't need any la-la!
Controversial point number four
And, most importantly, refueling.
Can it be seasoned with sour cream, or should it be pure mayonnaise? Is it permissible to call "Olivier" a salad dressed with a mixture of sour cream and mayonnaise? And now try to at least object to anyone.
I personally do not intend to argue with anyone. In general, I got the impression that Olivier is being discussed, this is not Olivier at all for a long time, this is a kind of hodgepodge of the twentieth century, a recipe born in every family from year to year anew, and now talking about one, authentic recipe for this salad, which has long become a "Soviet folk" - is simply to no purpose.
As with borscht, okroshka, cabbage soup, hodgepodge, he still has a direction - approximately, and everyone has their own incarnation.
What do you think?