Grandfather Vitya, aka Viktor (baptized as Vincent) Ludvigovich, brought it to Moscow and in Novorossiysk grandfather’s sister, Felya, aka Felincita, skillfully prepared it.
This salad is a southern dish – the hot sun and dryness do not allow for a fresh cucumber to last long, so we use pickles, but tomatoes are available for a long time and you can enjoy this salad from then until December. And with the arrival of Uzbek tomatoes in Moscow markets – all year round.
We added some Cadiere elements to the salad.
- So, we take four ripe tomatoes, better two or three different types – round, bull heart, pink (in Cadiere they are called Crimean), cocoa, yellow. Put each tomato in boiling water, remove it, pour cold water over it, remove the skin. Cut tomatoes into large pieces.
- Chop the four pickled cucumbers into smaller pieces. Finely cut a small bunch of dill. Tear the red basil. Press one clove of garlic or finely chop it.
- Gently mix all the ingredients, adding black pepper from the mill, thyme, and black olive oil or Georgian sunflower oil from Khasheria (see below).
- The salad is ready, it should be consumed immediately. Better with a piece of rye bread and a glass of Provençal rose. We recommend you drink the juice that is left in the salad bowl – you will not regret it!
Oil became the main trophy of our trip to Georgia several years ago. In Tbilisi, we were shown Khaseria, a modernist restaurant serving traditional Georgian dishes, including khash. Knowledgeable local and advanced tourists go there to cure their hangover, but we found there unique sunflower oil infused with spices. Now we ask everyone who goes to Tbilisi to bring back a bottle.
