What Side Are You On in the Salade Niçoise Debate?
The purists versus everyone else
A debate is raging over what constitutes a “correct” salade Niçoise. To the purists, the rules are very clear: no vinegar, no lettuce, no fresh tuna, and absolutely no boiled vegetables, like potatoes or green beans. If you try to add any of these, you will be labeled as a heretic and sent to hell for your sins. To everyone else, any and all additions are fair game. So what is the true history of salade Nicoise and what exactly goes into it?
Salade Niçoise began its life as a household catch-all salad based on what was available from the garden, with the addition of anchovies packed in olive oil. It first appeared on menus in the late 1800s a few decades after Nice became part of France finally for the last time. Over the years, everything under the sun has been added, from salmon, corn, shrimp, avocados, lemons, to even grains. Even in Nice, I have witnessed every possible mutation of this salad on restaurant menus.
Simple Cooking for Frugality
Jacques Medecin, the disgraced former mayor of Nice who wrote the definitive cookbook on Niçoise cuisine, said, “At its most basic — and genuine — it is made predominately of tomatoes, consists exclusively of raw ingredients (apart from hard-boiled eggs), and has no…
