Olivier salad is one of the most beloved salads around, and its popularity hasn't faded one bit to this day — despite the huge variety of products now available in stores and the countless new salad recipes that keep popping up. After looking through the search statistics on my site, I discovered that people search for this recipe more than anything else in the days leading up to the holidays, even though it always seemed to me like everyone already knows how to make it :-) By the way, I'm often asked whether there's a search function on the site — yes, there is and always has been, in the top right corner. So, listening to what my readers want, today I'd like to share my version of Olivier salad — not the classic bologna version, but one made with boiled beef tongue, which in my opinion is one of the tastiest takes on this dish. Pork tongue, it seems to me, doesn't work as well here since it's too fatty, unlike beef tongue. If you'd like to make the classic Soviet-style Olivier salad, simply swap the tongue for bologna sausage — you can also use boiled chicken or beef. All of these variations are delicious in their own way, and each one has plenty of devoted fans.
Ingredients:
- 400 g boiled beef tongue (or bologna sausage, chicken, or beef)
- 500 g potatoes
- 200 g carrots
- 200 g pickled cucumbers or salt-brined cucumbers
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 can canned green peas
- mayonnaise, sour cream
- salt
How to cook olivier salad
Rinse the tongue, place it in a pot, and cover with water. Add a whole peeled onion, 2 bay leaves, and 5 allspice berries. Bring to a boil and simmer over low heat for 2.5–3 hours. Add salt about 30 minutes before it's done. Transfer the tongue to cold water, let it cool, then carefully peel off the skin (on a properly cooked tongue, it comes off very easily). My tongue weighed 900 g; it shrank a bit during cooking, and I used half — 400 g — for this recipe.
Cover the potatoes and carrots with water, add salt, bring to a boil, and cook for 30–40 minutes until the vegetables are tender (a knife should slide in easily). It's best to cook the vegetables and tongue ahead of time — they'll be much easier to dice once fully cooled.
Place the eggs in water and boil for 10 minutes from the moment the water starts boiling, then cool them under cold running water.
Dice the eggs into cubes as well, and finely chop the cucumbers (smaller than the other ingredients).
Season with salt and dress with mayonnaise or sour cream to taste, then mix well. I used about 200 g of mayonnaise and 100 g of sour cream, but in this case it's best to go by your own taste.
You can serve the salad in one large salad bowl, or in individual portions as I did here. Shape each serving using a ring mold — a clean empty pea can works perfectly for this. I garnished each portion with canned green peas and a slice of tongue. This hearty, familiar Olivier salad is perfect for both holidays and everyday meals — it's always a welcome addition to the table!
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