Salade niçoise

salade nicoise1

Salade niçoise

Salade niçoise has gone through many variations since it moved north from Nice many years ago. In bistros throughout France, it almost always contains tuna, along with cooked ingredients like green beans, rice or even corn. This version is closer to the original, using just raw vegetables along with anchovies and olives. Only the eggs are cooked.

If you are not in Provence, it can be hard to find the small, black, brine-cured olives from the Nice region that are used in a traditional salade niçoise. Not to worry. It is fine to substitute a different kind. Go for the wrinkly salt-cured black olives shown in the photo — known in French as olives à la grecque — or for any dark, brine-cured Greek olives.

Two more ingredients deserve mention. ‘Spring onions’, found readily across Europe, are similar to scallions but have a large white bulb at the bottom. If they are not available where you live, use small red onions, the younger the better. And as for the artichokes, in France there is a variety known as poivrade which is a small, purplish, elongated artichoke. Elsewhere, choose small artichokes — again, the younger the better.

The proportions below are for two people as a main dish or four as a starter.

2 eggs
2 large tomatoes or 4 medium tomatoes
1 green pepper
1 cucumber
2 spring onions or small red onions
2 baby artichokes (optional)
1 garlic clove
4 anchovy filets
12 black olives
4 tbsp. olive oil
6 fresh basil leaves
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place the eggs in a saucepan of cold water. Bring to a boil. Cook exactly 5 minutes. Gently tip out the hot water and refill with cold running water, immersing the eggs. Wait a moment and repeat. Leave the eggs sitting in the cold water until ready to shell them (this will make shelling easier).

Rinse the tomatoes and cut into wedges, removing the hard flesh around the stem.

Rinse the pepper. Slice the bottom half finely into rounds. Remove the core. Slice the top half finely into rounds or strips.

Rinse the cucumber and slice very finely on the bias.

Peel the onions and slice into thin strips or rounds.

If using baby artichokes, begin by preparing a small dish of cold water. Add the juice of half a lemon. Remove and discard the leaves and stem of the artichokes retaining only the heart. Remove and discard the choke. Plunge the hearts into the lemon water — this will prevent discoloration. Remove one heart and slice very thinly. Return the slices to the water. Repeat. Leave the slices immersed until ready to assemble the salad.

Peel the garlic clove, cut in half. Rub the inside of your salad bowl with the garlic.

Now assemble the salad. Arrange the tomatoes, pepper, cucumber, onions and artichoke slices if using. Peel the eggs, cut into quarters and place them on top of the other ingredients.

Cut the anchovy filets in half lengthwise and lay them on top of the other ingredients. Scatter the olives over the salad.

For the dressing, pour the olive oil into a small bowl or cup. Snip the basil leaves into the cup. Add some salt (go easy, as the anchovies and olives are already very salty) and grind in some black pepper.

Pour the sauce over the salad just before serving. Serve with crusty bread and a chilled bottle of dry rosé. Serves 2 as a main dish, 4 as a starter.

This recipe is adapted from ‘Cuisine de France’ by Paul Bocuse.

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9 Responses to Salade niçoise

  1. Brenda Prowse says:

    Thank you Meg, I am serving your Salade Niçoise for Sunday dinner on this very warm Sunday in Paris. It’s in the fridge chilling out-looks incroyable in a large Tunisian red patterned bowl. I used green beans, and some tuna along with all of your recommended ingredients, just to make it a bit more substantial of a meal. The rosé is chilling and the baguette is pas trop cuite.

  2. Janeth H. says:

    Ah! A lovely Salade Nicoise recipe without the potatoes! We are trying to stay away from the carbs as much as possible and this beautiful recipe will fit the bill perfectly for tonight’s supper. It’s been crazy hot here in Phoenix (109 to 113 F just about every day!) so this refreshing and gorgeous salad is a must! Merci une fois de plus for your amazing recipes, Meg!

  3. Andrew Dobbie says:

    Yum. Reminds me, too, of the time I lived in the Midi. A family lunchtime favourite. I usually follow Claudia Roden’s recipe, but I I’m looking forward to trying yours.

  4. Kay says:

    Thank you for this recipe…salade nicoise is such a marvelous summer staple…& so great when having guests.
    Funniest coincidence: I, too, worked in the caves of Nice in the summer……..did this a number of summers as well as on the Bronze Age carvings above Nice in the Alpes Maritimes…..must have been 1972-75 (?!)………geesh……those were the days!

    • Meg says:

      Kay, that is indeed a coincidence. Meantime, in terms of searching for pre-Neanderthal man, I still haven’t found him…

  5. Harley Schlanger says:

    Meg — as you may remember, I was introduced to Salad Nicoise by you, on a beautiful , sun-drenched spring day in Nice, many years ago. When you described it to me, it did not sound very appetizing, to my typical American taste — there was tuna included with our salad, but the thought of tuna, with olive oil instead of mayonnaise, did not appeal to me. But you were persuasive, as always, and I tried it, and it was delicious, so much so, that reading your post today has my mouth watering. I will definitely try this recipe this weekend!

    Thanks for the memories!

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