The French don’t need any reason to philosophize about their food and drink. In all of France, everyone talks passionately about food and cooking. This means that everyone has an opinion about literally every dish, if only to have a heated discussion over a glass of wine or pastis.
There is no salad that is the subject of so much culinary controversy as the Salade Niçoise. This salad originated on the southern coast of France, the Cote d'Azur ('the Azure Coast'), and is named after the city of Nice.
As is often the case, there was no fixed recipe for the Salade Niçoise, as the inhabitants of the coast simply used whatever ingredients were available at a particular time and place. The version served at the end of the eighteenth century consisted only of a combination of tomatoes, anchovies, olive oil and some black pepper. A simple dish for poor people, according to an old cookbook.
Over time, people began to add more and more ingredients to this salad. In 1903, Henri Heyraud already found in his textbook 'La Cuisine à Nice: en usage a l'Ecole Hoteliere de Nice et du Littoral' ('The Kitchen of Nice: for use in the Hotel School of Nice and the Coast') that it should contain tomatoes, anchovies, artichokes, olive oil, red peppers and local black olives . The dressing consisted of olive oil, vinegar, mustard and herbs. Later on, tuna (instead of anchovies), boiled potatoes and lettuce were sometimes added.
In its most accepted version, the Salade Niçoise nowadays consists of tomatoes, local olives, raw young broad beans, raw young artichoke hearts, hard-boiled eggs, radishes, green peppers and is further decorated with canned anchovies. The whole is then seasoned with some black pepper and sufficient extra virgin olive oil. But boiled potatoes are also sometimes found in this salad nowadays.
Perhaps the development of the Salade Niçoise also shows us the increase in prosperity on the southern coast of France. Yet there are people who still prefer the traditional version. Why would you want to improve perfection, they think.
Of course, the 'original version' is the most authentic: slice tomatoes, shred a few anchovy fillets (for the savoury flavour) and sprinkle with plenty of extra virgin olive oil and some black pepper.
But a salad should also move with the times. The tastiest Salade Niçoise is the one you like best. Cooking should be that simple.
