Having spent about two-thirds of my life to date avoiding salade ni?oise I'm taking a deep breath before wading into this subject. It is as contentious as the exact rules of p?tanque or the optimal ratio of pastis to water at l'heure de l'ap?ro, and I feel scantily qualified.
In my defence, when I actually spent some time in Nice and its environs I realised my prejudice was entirely based on the British version of the dish, which regards tinned tuna (my bete noir) as a mandatory ingredient. In the cafes of the Alpes Maritime, however, the constituent parts are far more of a lottery ? and tuna, in my happy experience, is definitely less popular than the diminutive anchovy. As Nigel Slater observes, "whenever I say 'hold the tuna' I am invariably told that I wasn't going to get any anyway".)
In this country, then, as well as the objectionably odoriferous fish, a salade ni?oise will always, always contain hard-boiled eggs, potatoes and French beans ? and perhaps a couple of rubbery black olives. These are exactly the kind of ingredients that provoked the considerable ire of Nice's former mayor, Jacques M?decin, who managed to take time out from sympathising with the Front National to write a Ni?oise cookbook, in part, he says, inspired by the horrific experience, "all around the world' of seeing 'the remains of other people's meals being served under the name salade ni?oise".
"Whatever you do," M?decin begs, "if you want to be a worthy exponent of Ni?oise cookery, never, never, I beg you, include boiled potato or any other boiled vegetable." And, just because the man was convicted of embezzlement and accused of womanising and racism doesn't mean he couldn't make a decent salad. Just ask any chef.
The matter of fish
Gary Rhodes recipe salade ni?oise - heavy on the tuna. Photograph: Felicity Cloake As it's the issue that looms largest in my mind, first I'm going to tackle the issue of fish. M?decin says that traditionally anchovies are a more common addition than expensive tuna, which was saved for special occasions, and that the two would never be used together (although he admits sadly that "nowadays even the Ni?ois often combine anchovies with tuna").
I'm surprised to find that the first few recipes I look at eschew the tuna altogether ? Rowley Leigh, Nigel Slater and Simon Hopkinson all prefer it without ? but finally, I find an exponent in good old Delia Smith, who calls the ni?oise "one of the best combinations of salad ingredients ever invented". And, although I also expect to find lots of recipes calling for seared fresh tuna, as served in what Delia describes as many a "slick restaurant", I actually have to hunt around a bit for one of them too, finally finding one in an old Gary Rhodes book. Perhaps the idea has gone the same way as sun-dried tomatoes and balsamic reductions.
In order to give the fish a fair trial, I shell out for the priciest tinned tuna I can find (Ortiz, which, as well as passing muster on sustainability, I am gratified to later discover, also has a fan in Mr Hopkinson), and enlist a tasting panel of less biased ni?oise fans. I try a bit straight from the can, and it's actually not bad, even when sniffed at close quarters, but in the salad I'm not convinced. It's nice enough, but it has quite a mild flavour which doesn't have a hope against the strident saltiness of the anchovies. Indeed, the majority of my tasters agree it's "a bit pointless" in this context ? so that's tuna out. If you do want to use it, I'd obey M M?decin and leave out the anchovies.
Gary serves his chargrilled tuna with a sort of ni?oise salsa. It makes, I must admit, a very fine supper, but it's not a salade ni?oise ? and chopping up such an expensive piece of fish and tossing it together with the salad would seem like a terrible waste. Anchovies it is. And again, we'll go with Ortiz.
Fruit and vegetables
Delia Smith recipe salade ni?oise. Photograph: Felicity Cloake Gary and Delia Smith are the only recipes that use potatoes ? waxy little new ones, as in the finest potato salads. I'm unsurprised to find that they're utterly delicious with the anchovies, capers and eggs, but I'm not convinced by them with the tomatoes and cucumber ? indeed, M?decin's diatribe has given me pause for thought.
Although the Provencales aren't averse to the odd spud (see also brandade), you'd be hard-pressed to call them a typically Mediterranean ingredient, and I think they clash with the sunshine flavours of the rest of the salad. A French website I find notes that, all too often, "salade ni?oise" is simply used as another name for a mixed salad ? and however nice potatoes are in a salad, they quite possibly have no place in this particular one. Reluctantly, I ditch the spuds.
On to French beans, again as used by Delia and Gary, and which also have their fans in Nigel Slater and Simon Hopkinson. Rowley Leigh is strongly against them, and David Lebovitz, who proclaims himself a disciple of M?decin on this point, goes for raw broad beans instead. The tasting panel is divided: two of our number come out very strongly in favour of the French beans, while the rest of us like the broad variety.
What is certain is that both add body to the salad, tomatoes and cucumbers being undeniably rather watery entities, so I'm going to sit on the fence on this one and recommend broad beans for as long as you can get the fresh kind. If you really want to make a salade ni?oise at any other time of the year (which I wouldn't recommend, with ripe tomatoes so hard to get hold of in this country at the best of times) go for French beans instead.
Rowley Leigh recipe salade ni?oise. Photograph: Felicity Cloake Lebovitz uses torn lettuce in his salad, as does Nigel Slater, while Delia says she now likes "to abandon [it] in favour of a few rocket leaves". The panel unanimously prefers the salads, like Rowley Leigh's, which contain no leaves whatsoever ? although I serve the Lebovitz salad immediately one taster describes it as "a little bit sad' in comparison with the robust crunchiness of its competitors. Even the peppery rocket seems a bit of an afterthought.
Cucumber is pretty much a constant, apart from in a version by Jean-No?l Escudier in his La Veritable Cuisine Provencale et Ni?oise, quoted by Elizabeth David in French Provincial Cooking, which is a very simple affair of tomatoes strewn with anchovies, chopped green pepper and black olives. I like the crunch it adds ? and the simple refreshment it provides in a dish which, for maximum enjoyment, should be saved for very hot days. Deseeding it is essential however, so it doesn't make the salad too watery, and peeling it in stripes, as Rowley Leigh suggests, is a very easy way to make it look pretty too.
Escudier recipe salade ni?oise. Photograph: Felicity Cloake As Escudier's recipe suggests, tomatoes should be a major part of every ni?oise ? and they have to be really ripe. I'm tempted to regard skinning them, as Rowley and Delia suggest, as an unnecessary cheffy faff for such a rustic salad, until I realise that without their skins they absorb even more of the dressing. It only takes a minute in any case. Deseeding them is another must, for the same reason as the cucumber.
Gary and Rowley Leigh use spring onions, Delia shallots, and David Lebovitz suggests spring onions or thinly sliced red onion. The raw shallots are too aggressive, but I quite like the red onion ? the flavour of the spring onion, however, wins on freshness grounds.
M?decin uses green pepper, as does Escudier, which suggests to me it's the traditional choice. Gary opts for yellow, presumably for the flash of colour it delivers, but I prefer the sweetness of Rowley Leigh's red pepper with the saltiness of the anchovies and olives. Rowley also uses radishes, which seem too northern. M?decin suggests small globe artichokes, sliced and added raw, which I'm unable to find ? Nigel's marinated artichoke hearts seem like a clear contravention of the cooked vegetable rule.
The eggs factor
Sadly missed in the Escudier recipe, eggs should be hard boiled, as Rowley Leigh suggests. Hot things in cold salads are not particularly nice, and cold soft-boiled eggs are divisive. One of my tasters sagely observes that they maintain their integrity better cut into wedges, rather than sliced.
The dressing
David Lebovitz recipe salade ni?oise. Photograph: Felicity Cloake M?decin, and thus David Lebovitz, dresses his salad with fruity olive oil (local of course). Rowley Leigh and Escudier go for a simple drizzle of red wine vinegar and olive oil, Delia makes a garlicky, mustardy vinaigrette, and Gary mixes finely chopped eggs with garlic and herbs and olive oil. Delia's dressing is too dominant: you don't need Dijon mustard if you have Provencale olives and anchovies (although Delia actually uses English mustard powder). A hint of vinegar is nice though ? Lebovitz's salad tastes a bit too oily without it.
Garlic, however, is an absolute must ? and adding it to the dressing is a more reliable way of doing things than the classic rubbing of the salad bowl trick. I'm also borrowing an idea from Gary Rhodes' salsa ni?oise and finely chopping a few anchovies in addition to the slivers of fish used as a topping; this way you get a punch of gloriously salty anchovies in every bite, which is definitely a good thing as far as I'm concerned. Capers are, I think, optional ? M?decin doesn't use them, but they do work well with the other Provencale goodies in the dish.
A classic fines herbes is a popular addition to salade ni?oise ? Delia suggests chives and chervil and tarragon, among others, a combination also favoured by Escoffier, and she also adds chopped parsley but I finally decide on the basil preferred by Leigh and M?decin ? it puts the final, Mediterranean stamp on the dish.
Perfect salade ni?oise
Felicity's perfect salade ni?oise. Photograph: Felicity Cloake Serves 2
2 eggs
500g broad bean pods or 50g French beans
4 ripe tomatoes
? cucumber
2 spring onions, finely chopped
? red pepper, thinly sliced
50g small black olives, pitted
1 tbsp capers
4 anchovies, cut into slivers
A few basil leaves, roughly torn
For the dressing:
1 small clove of garlic
Pinch of coarse salt
2 anchovies, finely chopped
Small handful of basil leaves, torn
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
? tbsp red wine vinegar
Black pepper
1. Put the eggs in a pan of cold water and bring slowly to the boil. Simmer for 7? minutes, then decant into a bowl of iced water. Meanwhile, pod and then peel the broad beans (if using French beans, top and tail them, then cook in salted boiling water until just tender and decant into iced water) and drop the tomatoes into boiling water for 15 seconds, then peel, slice and deseed them. Peel the cucumber in stripes, then deseed and cut into half moons.
2. Make the dressing by pounding the garlic to a paste in a pestle and mortar along with a pinch of coarse salt. Add the anchovies and then the basil, and pound to a paste, adding the olive oil and the vinegar as you go. Season with black pepper.
3. To put the salad together, toss the beans, tomatoes, cucumber, spring onion and red pepper together with two-thirds of the dressing and decant on to a plate. Peel and quarter the eggs and arrange on top, along with the olives, capers, anchovy strips and basil leaves. Spoon the remaining dressing over the salad and serve immediately.
Are you passionate about potatoes, fanatical about French beans, or do you think a salade ni?oise wouldn't dare step out on the Promenade des Anglais without its tuna? Does anyone make it with whatever's in season, peasant-style, and is it a dish that demands expensive anchovies, or will anything from a tin do?
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2012/aug/01/how-make-perfect-salade-nicoise
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