Russia and the Chicken Salad

That’s right. You read correctly. The chicken salad was made famous in heart of Russia. Chicken salad is certainly not a new concept, but few people know where it actually got its start. Chicken salad sandwiches are packed in our children’s lunch boxes day after day. Chicken Salad is still a Russian favorite today. But who would have though that Russia is who popularized this tasty delightful little dish we know as the chicken salad.

The chicken salad history all started when Peter the Great of Russia decided that Russia needed a fresh look to catch up to ever changing world around it. He gave several orders to help achieve this new goal. He instructed that women were to no longer wear a veil and men were to toss out the long hair styles. He also instructed the royalties to learn at least one foreign language. Of course having an interest in what was going on in Europe, he preferred it to be French. To get the ball rolling he threw elaborate parties in his palace in St. Petersburg. While the nobilities of Russia did hesitate on the wild and crazy plan, it wasn’t long before the comfortable life style was adapted by all. In fact, even after the death of Peter the Great, royalties and nobilities of Russia continued in the newly established tradition of parties, meaning most of all, fabulous foods.

By the 1800’s most of the upper class Russians were speaking fluent French. While much of Russia continued to get a European spin, cuisine, interestingly enough wasn’t. Climate and customs made it hard for foods to change much from their Russian traditions. The main Russian foods consisted of plenty of fish, meat, game, pickles, sour cream, beets, caviar, tea and vodka.

Before long a wonderful mysterious sauce made it’s début in France: mayonnaise. This exotic and delicious sauce made it a favorite among royalties very quickly and arrived in Russia only shortly after it had been invented in France. Below is a recipe of the original chicken salad from Russia. This chicken salad is the father of all chicken salads and can be traced back as early as the late 1800’s. While the original recipe would have been made with wild fowl, chicken became fairly popular thereafter. Many variations of the chicken salad have since been created to include all sorts of things. Today we find grapes, nuts, raisins, shredded or cubed cheese, apples and a long list of other foods in our chicken salads, especially in America, but this is the one that started them all.

Cook a whole chicken. This chicken should be around two pounds. When cooked, dice up the meet into small cubes. Put it into a mixing bowl with 4 boiled new potatoes that have been thinly sliced, three hard boiled eggs that have been thinly sliced, and two chopped sour dill pickles. Sprinkle the mixture with salt and pepper (to taste) and lightly toss the chicken salad to combine the ingredients. In a separate, smaller bowl, whisk together ¾ cup of sour cream and ¾ cup of the infamous mayonnaise. Take half of this mayonnaise/sour cream mixture and add it to the larger bowl. Mix together and taste to ensure proper seasoning.

Take a large serving platter and layer it with crisp Boston or bib lettuce leaves. Heap the salad mixture on top of the leaves. You want it to be a large heaping mound. Spread the second half of the mayonnaise/sour cream mixture over the chicken salad, as if it were a cake. Sprinkle the salad presentation with about 2 tablespoons of capers and a tablespoon of chopped fresh dill. Cut three tomatoes into quarter wedges and spread them around the salad with about ½ cup of small black or green olives.

This delectable dish has been a favorite in Russian, even to this day. Serve this chicken salad at home, and you’ll see just why.

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