With the end-of-year holidays approaching, this Russian-French version of gravalax makes a fine festive dish. The salmon is marinated overnight in salt and sugar — et voilà, it’s ready. Although I enjoyed this dish many times while working in Russia, where it is known simply as riba salyonnaya, or salted fish, I only started making it in Paris thanks to a Russian friend who passed along her family recipe. Served with shots of vodka or flutes of Champagne, it will get your holiday meals off to a spectacular start.
Saumon mariné à la russe / Gravalax, French-Russian style
The key to success with this recipe is to use very fresh fish. The first time I attempted it, the fishmonger didn’t have salmon, but he did have a very large, very fresh sea trout — which would also work fine, I’d been told. I had him fillet the trout. As I was leaving, he asked, “But wouldn’t you like to take the roe too?” Why not? I thought, figuring I could experiment and try to make trout caviar. As soon as I got home, I reached for my old-style Russian-language cookbook and flipped excitedly to the page for caviar. “To separate the roe from the membrane,” the recipe said, “first gather a couple handfuls of snow.” Oops. End of experiment. But the fish — ah, the fish. Almost sinfully succulent. Happy cooking!
One of the things I find most amazing about cooking is the way the simplest of ingredients can be turned into a dish that is, frankly, sublime. Red onion tart is such a dish. The onions are gently sautéed with a pinch of thyme, then placed in the tenderest of savory pie shells, sprinkled with cheese, bathed in a mixture of egg, milk and cream, salted, peppered and sprinkled with nutmeg. And all it takes to prepare this creation is one red onion.
Does North African cooking count as French cuisine? I had dinner a couple nights ago with friends who insist that it does. ‘After all,’ said Jack, ‘when the French are asked to name their favorite food, the dish that comes up most often is couscous.’ And indeed, the influences back and forth between France and its former colonies are so strong that North African cuisine can be found virtually around every corner here. This Moroccan carrot salad — fresh, flavorful and oh so spicy — will transport you to a hot and exotic land.
Let’s demystify mayonnaise — one of France’s most versatile and elegant sauces. It is reputedly so difficult to make that only culinary experts should attempt it. Guess what The Everyday French Chef has to say to that? Poppycock. If you have the ingredients on hand, you can whip up a bowlful in less than five minutes. And the results are spectacular. Once you’ve tried it, you may find yourself singing, ‘Ain’t nothin’ like the real thing, baby, nothin’ like the real thing…’ 
I first tasted this dish in the home of Valérie Lapierre, a superlative cook. She and another friend, an artist, had concocted a fabulous meal but refused to say what the main course would be. And then they arrived bearing dinner plates, each with its own small stuffed pumpkin. The pumpkins’ caps were lifted. An amazing aroma escaped. Spoons were dipped in. Out came succulent baked pumpkin and a filling of mushrooms, onions and cheese. It was one of the best things I’ve ever tasted, and quintessentially French.
