A salad from Nice is so nice in warm weather

A conversation with a friend about the different interpretations of salad nicoise made us realize that there may be as many versions of this internationally known French favorite as there are cooks.
Nicoise is a phrase used to describe dishes served in and near the city of Nice, in the south of France.
We agreed that our favorite version is made with imported canned Mediterranean tuna packed in olive oil, ripe red tomato wedges, anchovy fillets and freshly cooked new potatoes and green beans tossed with a mustard vinaigrette. All of this is arranged gracefully on salad greens and garnished with a few salty black olives.
We also agreed that we object to modern versions of the classic that are made with fresh tuna. While fresh tuna might make a good salad, it's not a salad nicoise. We also strongly agreed that canned tuna in vegetable oil or water is to be avoided, at least for this particular salad.

posted by Frodgie at 12:58 PM