Insalata Russa Piemontese

Insalata russa is not Russian. It is Italian, through and through, despite what the name suggests. A French chef named Olivier created something with this name in Moscow in the 1860s, but what Italians make bears little resemblance to that original. We took the idea and made it ours, as we have done with so many things.

In Piedmont, this salad reaches its highest expression. The vegetables are cut into precise small dice, each piece the same size so they cook evenly and bind uniformly in the mayonnaise. The mayonnaise is made by hand, never from a jar. Quality tuna packed in olive oil provides richness. Some families add capers, others cornichons, still others a touch of anchovy. These variations are not errors. They are traditions passed through generations.

This is a dish that requires patience. You cannot rush the dicing. You cannot skip the homemade mayonnaise. You cannot serve it without proper chilling time. What you put in matters, but so does how carefully you execute each step. Simple does not mean easy.