Ingredients
Base
- 4ripe tomatoes, quartered
- 1small cucumber, sliced
- 1green pepper, thinly sliced
- 4spring onions, or 1 small red onion
- 8radishes, sliced
- 12small artichoke hearts, raw and trimmed
- 150 graw young broad beans, optional
Protein
- 200 ggood tinned tuna in olive oil
- 12anchovy fillets
- 4eggs, hard-boiled
To finish
- 100 gsmall black Niçoise olives
- 1 clovegarlic
- fresh basil
- good olive oil
- salt and black pepper
Note
- no cooked vegetables, no vinegar, no lettuce in the strict version
Directions
- Start with the tomatoes, which are the centre of the salad. Quarter them, salt them, and let them stand in a colander for 15 minutes.
- Use genuinely ripe tomatoes, because the whole salad rests on them. Rub the inside of the serving bowl with a cut clove of garlic. Slice the cucumber, pepper, radishes and spring onions thinly.
- Trim the artichokes down to the tender hearts and slice them thin, dropping them into lemon water so they do not brown.
- Add the tomatoes with their salted juices. Flake the tuna over in large pieces rather than shredding it. Use good tinned tuna in olive oil rather than fresh seared tuna, which is a modern restaurant addition.
- Lay the anchovy fillets over the top. Quarter the eggs and set them around the edge. Scatter the olives and tear basil over generously.
- Use small black Niçoise olives if you can, which are sharper and less fleshy than large ones. Do not toss it at the table, and let people serve themselves from the arranged bowl.
- Serve it at room temperature with bread, and never cold from the fridge, which flattens the tomatoes.
Technique
- The potato and green bean version is standard everywhere outside Nice and is what most people expect.
- Médecin’s book is the usual reference cited in the argument, which is now over fifty years old and still running.
- It is a whole meal rather than a starter.
Substitutions
- Good tinned tuna, which is the traditional choice.
- Tinned artichoke hearts in oil, drained, out of season.
Variations
- With cooked potato and green beans, which is the widespread version.
- With anchovies only, which is the older form.
- Pan bagnat, the same ingredients pressed into a loaf.
History
Nice’s raw salad of tomatoes, anchovy and olives; mayor Jacques Médecin’s 1972 cookbook insisted no cooked vegetable belongs in it.
Frequently asked questions
What is Salade niçoise?
Salade niçoise is a salad & side from France: tuna, anchovies, olives, green beans, egg, tomato salad. Nice’s raw salad of tomatoes, anchovy and olives; mayor Jacques Médecin’s 1972 cookbook insisted no cooked vegetable belongs in it.
How long does Salade niçoise take to make?
Salade niçoise takes 30 min of preparation and 10 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Salade niçoise?
Yes, within limits. Good tinned tuna, which is the traditional choice. Tinned artichoke hearts in oil, drained, out of season.
What is the most important thing to get right in Salade niçoise?
Use genuinely ripe tomatoes, because the whole salad rests on them. Rub the inside of the serving bowl with a cut clove of garlic. Slice the cucumber, pepper, radishes and spring onions thinly.
