Salmagundi

Origin: British      Period: Elizabethan

This is a traditional Elizabethan salad (also known as Solomon Gundy) that's described in Robert May's Good Huswives Treasure. Many versions also incorparated anchovies and/or pickled herring and I've added anchovies to my redaction. The name ultimately derives from the French salmigondis (literally, a disparate assembly of things, ideas or people that forms an incoherent whole). This dish is also the antecedent of the Caribbean paste, http://www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/miscellaneous/fetch-recipe.php?rid=misc-solomon-a-gundy">Solomon-a-gundy made with pickled herrings mashed with peppers and onions.

Original Recipe

Salmagundi (from The Good Huswives Treasure, Robert May)

Cut cold roast chicken or other meats into slices. Mix with minced tarragon and an onion. Mix all together with capers, olives, samphire, broombuds, mushrooms, oysters, lemon, orange, raisins, almonds, blue figs, Virginia potatoes, peas and red and white currants. Garnish with sliced oranges and lemons. Cover with oil and vinegar, beaten together.

Modern Redaction

The recipe given above is for what is, very much, a springtime salad. My redaction, below, keeps this a springtime dish and I've kept as faithful to the original as possible. The broom buds are optional and you can use spring onions instead of the samphire. Essentially all the ingredients are variable (just don't add tomatoes or bell peppers if you want to be truly authentic).

Ingredients:

1 poached chicken allowed to cool
100g French beans (or mange tout), blanched and refreshed in cold running water
1 small red onion, finely chopped
4 tbsp fresh tarragon, finely chopped
150g marsh samphire, blanched
60g broom buds
6 eggs, soft boiled
8 radishes, sliced
6 button mushrooms, sliced
60g flaked almonds, toasted
60g plump raisins
8 figs, quartered
handful of beet leaves (or Cos lettuce)
1 tbsp capers, finely chopped
60g black olives, sliced
8 new potatoes, boiled, cooled, and sliced
4 tbsp mixed chervil, parsley and chives, finely chopped
1 orange, peeled and sliced
150g red currants (or black seedless grapes, halved)

For the Dressing:
200ml extra-virgin olive oil
60ml red wine vinegar
juice of 1/2 orange
juce of 1/2 lime
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste

Method:

Boil your eggs for about 6 minutes, or until soft-boiled then drain and place under cold running water until chilled. Then peel. Par-boil all the vegetables that need to be cooked (samphire and French beans)

Remove the flesh from the chicken and cut into strips. Add to a bowl and toss with the tarragon before seasoning with salt and black pepper. Toss together the leaves and broom flowers. Use these to line the base of a large salad bowl. Arrange the chicken on top then layer the remaining ingredients. Finish with the orange slices then scatter the chopped herbs over the top.

Whisk together all the ingredients for the dressing and pour over the salad immediately before serving.

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