Salad Olivier

The Iranian version is built on chicken and Persian pickled cucumbers, and it is eaten in a sandwich.

Chicken, Egg. Not vegetarian — contains chicken.

Ingredients

• 600 g chicken breast or thigh, poached and finely diced
• 700 g potatoes, boiled and finely diced
• 4 eggs, hard-boiled and finely diced
• 250 g Persian pickled cucumbers, finely diced
• 2 carrots, boiled and finely diced
• 150 g peas, cooked
• 300 g mayonnaise
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• juice of 1 lemon
• flatbread or baguette, to serve

Method

1. THE IRANIAN VERSION IS BUILT ON CHICKEN AND PERSIAN PICKLED CUCUMBERS, AND IT IS EATEN IN A SANDWICH. Its article is specific, and the specifics are why this page exists at all: in Iran it is usually made with potatoes, eggs, PERSIAN PICKLED CUCUMBERS, carrots, CHICKEN, peas and mayonnaise, and it is a frequently used sandwich filling. Neither the chicken nor the pickles belong to the Russian salad this descends from, and the sandwich is a different dish from a bowl of salad. Its article also notes the version eaten in Iran is more commonly made with eggs and chicken, which is the same point put twice.
2. EVERYTHING IS DICED TO THE SAME SMALL SIZE. Five millimetres, every component. It has to spread on bread and hold together, so it is closer to a coarse paste than a salad of pieces.
3. THE POTATOES ARE BOILED WHOLE IN THEIR SKINS AND PEELED WARM. Boiled whole they do not take up water, which is what makes a mayonnaise salad go slack. Peeled while warm, cooled completely, then diced.
4. THE PICKLES ARE SQUEEZED OUT BEFORE THEY GO IN. Persian pickled cucumbers are packed in brine and carry a lot of it. Diced, then pressed in a sieve. They are the sharpness in the dish and the brine is what would ruin its texture.
5. THE CHICKEN IS POACHED, NOT ROASTED. Gently simmered in salted water with a bay leaf for twenty minutes, cooled in its liquid, then diced. Roast chicken is drier and its browned flavour sits oddly in a cold mayonnaise salad.
6. THE MAYONNAISE GOES IN WHEN EVERYTHING IS COLD, AND GRADUALLY. Three hundred grams, added in two or three goes, folded rather than stirred, until it just binds. Warm components make mayonnaise split.
7. LEMON JUICE AT THE END IS WHAT KEEPS IT FROM BEING HEAVY. Three hundred grams of mayonnaise needs acid beyond the pickles. Taste it.
8. IT IS PRESSED INTO A DISH, CHILLED, AND TURNED OUT. Several hours in the fridge, firmly packed, so it slices rather than slumps -- then spread thickly in flatbread or a split baguette.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Iran · All recipes