In Spanish tapas cuisine, ensaladilla rusa is the Spanish version of Russian salad, also known internationally as Olivier salad.
The dish usually combines potatoes, carrots, peas, mayonnaise, and sometimes tuna, hard-boiled egg, roasted pepper, or olives. Spanish bars commonly serve it cold as a tapa, often with breadsticks or on a small plate.
Lucien Olivier, a Belgian chef working in Moscow, created the original salad in the 1860s at the Hermitage restaurant. His exact recipe was secret, but later versions became simpler and more widely reproducible.
A common mix-up is treating ensaladilla rusa as identical everywhere. Spanish versions vary by region and bar, but the potato-and-mayonnaise mixture is the familiar foundation.