Sunday, May 15, 2016

At Home Salade Niçoise

Salade Niçoise is a French classic. Julia Child wrote my favorite recipe for it. I've ordered it in restaurants and bistros in Paris and in its place of origin, Provence. During our recent trip, I ate Salade Niçoise at a tiny restaurant in the midst of the Camargue in the Rhone Delta, with its salt marshes and vast open spaces. It's where we saw flamingos, many other wild birds, black bulls, white horses, and rice paddies.

The Salade Niçoise there included all the classic components: potatoes, green beans,
tuna, anchovies, boiled egg quarters, olives, tomatoes, and in addition a decorative
piece of toast and radish flower. The real classic uses canned tuna!
And now for the version I made for dinner tonight:

I used the same basic ingredients, arranged on glass plates atop lettuce leaves.
This was the first time I've used the placemats that I bought in Arles at a beautiful shop
with a large selection of very good quality Provencal textiles. 

6 comments:

Beth F said...

Gorgeous table setting! I love salade Nicoise.

Paulita said...

The placemats are gorgeous. I don't believe I've ever had a Salade Nicoise. It sounds delicious and I think I'll wait until I'm in Nice next year.
Thanks so much for playing along with Dreaming of France. Here’s my Dreaming of France meme

Kim | a little lunch said...

What an appealing table! I love Salade Nicoise, too, and your rendition would make Julia proud. :)

Jeanie said...

Mae, your salad and the table both look gorgeous! (I'm a sucker for textiles!). Sounds too delicious!

Vicki said...

I think your salad looks much better! I'd leave out the anchovies though :)

Mae Travels said...

VIcki -- I asked all my guests before I put the anchovies in, and they said "yes." If you come to dinner, I'll leave them off of your portion! They are traditional, but optional.