Anthony Bourdain's Niçoise Salad Recipe Uses 2 Types Of Canned Fish
Anthony Bourdain has raved about tinned fish before, sampling it by the canful in Spain and Portugal on "No Reservations," including at the famous Espinaler. He also has a recipe that showcases two different types of it in his "Les Halles Cookbook," a roundup of the hits the chef served up at his French-style Brasserie in New York. Originally hailing from Nice, France, salade Niçoise is a simple but delicious salad that's packed full of savory flavor and fresh vegetables. And yes, tinned fish-lovers unite, Bourdain's take on the dish could be the perfect vessel for your "hot girl food" — it features both anchovies and tuna.
The salad is made up of eggs, green beans, green peppers, fresh plum tomatoes, Bibb lettuce, potatoes, Niçoise olives (similar to Kalamata olives), two varieties of canned fish — anchovies and tuna, and a dressing of oil, vinegar, and garlic. Bourdain recommends getting the "expensive white" anchovies, but settling for the normal brown variety will still make a delicious salad, according to some of the TikTok and YouTube chefs who have recently brought the recipe to life. Bourdain also calls for "high-quality tuna in olive oil," meaning it probably wouldn't hurt to shell out a little bit more to enhance your salad.
A simple, summery way to enjoy tinned fish and fresh vegetables
Making Bourdain's Niçoise salad is pretty simple. You'll just have to blanch your green beans, boil and chill your eggs and potatoes, and chop your peppers and tomatoes. The real magic happens when the simple ingredients are united by the tangy dressing and the savory, briny touch of the canned fish.
To create a well-emulsified, flavor-rich dressing, Bourdain's recipe calls for forking a garlic clove and rubbing it all over the inside of the salad bowl, then whisking the oil and vinegar in the bowl with the same fork to distribute the oils and flavor of the garlic throughout. The recipe recommends tossing everything in this dressing besides the tuna and hard-boiled eggs, which you will top each salad with. You can garnish, of course, with more olive oil and a whole anchovy filet because maximizing the amount of canned fish is important here, folks.
Rather than doubling up on the fish, other recipes for Niçoise salad don't call for anchovies at all, and stick to tuna, which can also be seasoned before it's added to the salad. However you make the salad, and however much fish you add, you'll have a bright way to showcase the season's flavors with a unique fishy tang.