Nicoise Salad

From Nice, codified by mayor Jacques Médecin in his 1972 book La Cuisine du Comté de Nice as an explicit defense against the Parisianized version that had taken over French restaurants. Médecin's rule: only raw vegetables (anchovy, tomato, egg, olive, oil), no boiled potato or cooked green bean. Escoffier's earlier 1903 Le Guide Culinaire had already added those cooked elements, which is why the international standard differs from the local one.

Nice's contested salad — Escoffier added boiled potato and green bean (Northern French logic), Niçois purists like Jacques Médecin insist on raw vegetables only, plus anchovies, tuna, olives, hard-boiled egg. No mayo, ever.

Composed, not tossed: tomato wedges, hard-boiled egg quarters, oil-packed tuna or anchovy, small black Niçoise olives, raw broad beans or artichoke hearts, scallion. Dressed with olive oil and red-wine vinegar at the table. The Nice purist position: no cooked vegetables, no green beans, no potato — those are tourist additions. Eat at room temperature in summer.

The dressing is olive oil and red-wine vinegar in a 3:1 ratio, applied at the table — never premixed and tossed. Tossing crushes the tomato and breaks the egg yolks into the oil, turning the salad into mush within minutes. Composed plating preserves each ingredient's structure and lets diners hit different flavor combinations across the plate. Anchovy goes on the salad; the tuna version is a later compromise.