Chef Lesia
Buryakovyi Salat (буряковий салат, raw beet salad)
The beet stays raw, so the salad bites back: crimson, garlicky, nutty, slick with green sunflower oil, and ready before the bread is on the table.
Culinary Explorer
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Olivier (олів'є, potato-and-pea salad)
Created by
The most festive Ukrainian salad is built from winter pantry things: pale potatoes, orange carrot, green peas, sharp pickles, eggs, and enough mayonnaise to make the spoon stand up.
Salads
Ukrainian
New Years
Celebration
Make Ahead
35 min
Active Time
30 min cook•1 hr 5 min total
Yield10 servings
Awinter table can be loud without being hot. Olivier arrives cold, squared off into tiny dice, green peas flashing through the pale mayonnaise, pickles cutting through the richness, the whole bowl disappearing faster than anyone admits. This is the New Year king, even when everyone pretends they only want one spoonful.
The whole dish depends on the cut. Dice everything small enough that potato, carrot, egg, pickle, and pea arrive together on the spoon, but not so fine that the salad turns to paste. Aunt Nadia wrote only "cut neatly, don't be lazy," which is rude and correct. The mayonnaise binds; it should not drown. You want a salad that holds its shape when spooned, then loosens in the mouth.
Use chicken, ham, or good cooked kovbasa if that's your table. Leave the meat out and add more egg if that's your life. The tradition survives because every family adjusts the bowl and still knows exactly what it is.
Olivier began as a lavish nineteenth-century restaurant salad associated with Lucien Olivier at Moscow's Hermitage restaurant, but the version that settled into Ukrainian homes was a Soviet-era winter holiday dish built from available staples: potatoes, carrots, eggs, pickles, canned peas, mayonnaise, and often doctor's sausage or chicken. In Ukraine it became fixed to Novyi Rik, New Year, because the ingredients kept well through winter and the salad could be made ahead in the enormous bowl every celebration table needs.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
waxy potatoes
Quantity
800g
scrubbed
carrots
Quantity
350g
scrubbed
eggs
Quantity
5 large
cooked chicken, ham, or good cooked kovbasa
Quantity
300g
diced small
fermented or brined pickles
Quantity
250g
diced small
canned peas
Quantity
250g
drained well
spring onions (optional)
Quantity
4
finely sliced
thick mayonnaise
Quantity
250g, plus more if needed
pickle brine (optional)
Quantity
1 tablespoon
dill
Quantity
1 small bunch
finely chopped, plus extra to serve
fine sea salt and black pepper
Quantity
to taste
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| waxy potatoesscrubbed | 800g |
| carrotsscrubbed | 350g |
| eggs | 5 large |
| cooked chicken, ham, or good cooked kovbasadiced small | 300g |
| fermented or brined picklesdiced small | 250g |
| canned peasdrained well | 250g |
| spring onions (optional)finely sliced | 4 |
| thick mayonnaise | 250g, plus more if needed |
| pickle brine (optional) | 1 tablespoon |
| dillfinely chopped, plus extra to serve | 1 small bunch |
| fine sea salt and black pepper | to taste |
Equipment Needed
- •A large pot for boiling the vegetables
- •A small pot for the eggs
- •A sharp knife
- •The biggest mixing bowl you own
Instructions
- 1
Cook the roots
Put the potatoes and carrots in a pot of cold salted water and bring them to a gentle boil. Cook until a knife slides in without cracking them apart; they should smell sweet and earthy, not watery. Lift the carrots out as soon as they yield, and give the potatoes longer if they need it.
Waxy potatoes are your friend here. Floury ones collapse when diced, and then the salad starts behaving like mashed potato. - 2
Boil the eggs
Boil the eggs until the yolks are fully set, then cool them under cold water and peel. For this salad, a soft yolk is not romantic. It smears through the mayonnaise and makes the bowl heavy.
- 3
Cool everything
Let the potatoes, carrots, and eggs go completely cold before you cut them. Warm vegetables drink mayonnaise like thirsty soil, and the clean little cubes turn greasy. Cold first, then dice.
- 4
Dice it small
Peel the potatoes and carrots if the skins are tough, then dice them small, roughly the size of the peas. Dice the eggs, pickles, and chicken or kovbasa the same way. This is the one why that decides the dish: every spoonful should carry all the parts at once.
- 5
Mix gently
Put the diced potatoes, carrots, eggs, pickles, meat, peas, spring onions if using, and dill into the biggest bowl you own. Fold with a wide spoon, not a stabbing motion, so the peas stay round and the potatoes keep their corners.
- 6
Bind and chill
Add the mayonnaise, black pepper, and a little salt, then fold again until everything is lightly coated and the salad holds together on the spoon. If it tastes flat, add a spoon of pickle brine before reaching for more salt. Cover and chill until the flavors settle and the salad tastes like one bowl, not five separate ingredients.
Chef Tips
- •Drain the peas properly. Wet peas loosen the mayonnaise and make a puddle at the bottom of the bowl.
- •Fermented cucumbers give the best bite, but good brined pickles work. Sweet pickles pull the salad in the wrong direction for my table.
- •Meat is flexible. Chicken is gentle, ham is salty, cooked kovbasa is the New Year memory for many families, and no meat at all is a perfectly working bowl.
- •Add mayonnaise in two goes. You can always fold in more, but once the salad swims, it won't come back.
- •Make a vast bowl. Olivier is never as much as you think it is once people start passing it around.
Advance Preparation
- •Cook the potatoes, carrots, and eggs the day before, then chill them whole. Cold ingredients dice more cleanly.
- •The finished salad is best after 2 to 6 hours in the fridge and keeps well for 2 days, covered.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 255g)
Calories
375 calories
Total Fat
25 g
Saturated Fat
5 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
19 g
Cholesterol
125 mg
Sodium
1050 mg
Total Carbohydrates
25 g
Dietary Fiber
4 g
Sugars
4 g
Protein
13 g
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