Ensaladilla rusa (Spanish potato salad)

The most eaten tapa in Spain: a cold salad of potato, carrot and peas bound with mayonnaise, with tuna, olives and hard-boiled egg. It came from Russia in the 19th century and never left. It must be served properly cold.

Ingredients

• 4 potatoes, peeled
• 2 carrots, peeled
• 100 g peas (frozen is fine)
• 2 eggs
• 1 tin of good tuna in olive oil, drained
• 8-10 green olives, chopped
• 250 g mayonnaise (homemade if you can)
• Salt

Method

1. Boil the potatoes and carrots whole in salted water until tender (20-25 minutes), and the eggs for 10 minutes. Cool, then dice the vegetables small.
2. Boil the peas for 3 minutes and cool.
3. Mix the diced vegetables with the tuna, olives, chopped egg and most of the mayonnaise. Season carefully.
4. Chill at least 2 hours. Serve with a slick of mayonnaise on top, breadsticks (picos) and, for the full bar experience, an anchovy on each portion.

Tips

• Dice small and even: it is a salad eaten with a fork from a saucer.
• Homemade mayo with mild olive oil changes everything; the bottled kind works, add a squeeze of lemon.