Salade niçoise — a Provençal composed salad — is one of the most argued-about preparations in French cooking. Nice's culinary tradition is unambiguous: authentic niçoise contains no cooked vegetables. No green beans. No potato. These are Parisian additions that have become globally standard but are rejected by every Nice chef.
**The traditional niçoise (Nice tradition):** - Raw ingredients only: tomatoes, raw broad beans, raw baby artichokes, small radishes, niçoise olives, anchovies, hard-boiled eggs, tuna (packed in olive oil, not water). - Dressed with olive oil alone — no vinegar. **The Parisian niçoise:** - Adds blanched green beans, boiled potato, sometimes green pepper. - Dressed with vinaigrette. Both versions are correct within their traditions — the distinction is cultural specificity, not culinary correctness.
France: The Cookbook