I was looking through my recipes one day, and I found one that I thought that I had lost. Some years ago I had printed off a recipe that I had found on the internet... one of my favorite Spanish tapas, "ensalada rusa"... Spain's version of potato salad.
"Ensalada rusa" translates as "Russian salad". I never knew where the name came from, so I did a bit of research. In the late 1800s a French chef opened a luxurious restaurant in Moscow. Drawing upon earlier recipes which were called "Russian salad", he created an elegant dish which added caviar, venison or partridge, veal tongue and crabmeat to the potato salad. It became a favorite with the Russian upper class. After the Russian Revolution, aristocrats took the recipe with them into exile throughout Europe. In Spain the dish evolved into a salad made with inexpensive ingredients and it is served today as a "tapa" in bars throughout the country.
This recipe tastes just like the "ensalada rusa" that I have eaten in Spain.
1. Boil two pounds of Idaho potatoes in salted water until fully cooked. Cool to room temperature and skin.
2. Blanch 1/2 cup of diced carrots, 1/2 cup of frozen peas, 3/4 cup of diced red bell pepper until tender crisp. Drain and refrigerate.
3. Drain one pound of canned tuna. Place on a clean towel and wring out the excess water.
4. In a large bowel mash the potatoes with a fork until large pieces are gone. Add the tuna, the vegetables, 1/4 cup of shredded hard boiled egg, 1 1/2 cups of mayonnaise, and 1/2 teaspoon of white pepper, and mix thoroughly. Salt to taste. Refrigerate.
By the way, they have "ensalada rusa" in Mexico but they make it without the tuna.
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