A special dish, eaten in your family on a special day

Every family have a special dish, which eaten at the every celebration. Some families eat roast turkey, other eat grill-meat etc. Also different nationalities have own national dish. For example: strudels and schnitzel are popular in German-speaking countries, different types of fish are used in Scandinavian countries, traditional special dish in Spanish-speaking regions is grape, grill lamb meat serve in Caucus.

I’m from Russia and in central region of my country the most popular special dishes are jelly, caviar, pancakes, some kinds of meat and salads. In my family traditional dish for every celebration is Russian salad – Olivier. We cook and eat it at every event. But I know, that when this salad was concocted, it had more differs with it cooked nowadays. And I would like to tell you about history of this salad.

In the second half of 19^th century one ethnic French chef lived in Moscow. His name was Lucien Olivier. He decided to start up with Russian merchant, who name was Pegov, new French restaurant and named it «the Hermitage». A little time later this well decorated, rich place became the most popular holiday destination of Moscow nobility.

But few years later, gentlemen tired from dishes in «the Hermitage» and their interest for this place was go down. Then Mr. Olivier invented absolutely new dish for return glory and fame to his restaurant. Originally it was not a salad. The dish consisted of: bits of boiled meat of grouse and partridge, meat of cancers and beef, in centre of the dish was pieces of boiled potato, cooked eggs and gherkins. All meat components flavored of special sauce named “mayonnaise”.

But Lucien observed that guests of his restaurant shake all components of the dish, which he cooked and serve so carefully. After that, Mr. Olivier didn’t attempt to decorate the dish and simply chop all ingredients and flavored its with mayonnaise. All guests was happy when eat the Russian salad and it have been the most famous salad around the world especially in Russia for nowadays.