Russian Zakuski / закуски Recipe: Smoked Salmon with Olives

The tradition of the zakuski board dates back to the 18th Century.  On arrival guests would be greeted with a bountiful board of small dishes, a bottle of vodka, possibly a bottle of sparkling Georgian wine, and of course a bubbling samovar for tea.  What better welcome could one wish for?  Not all of the dishes are complex… one of my favourites is simply smoked salmon arranged decoratively with green and black olives.

Here’s the (ever so) simple recipe below…

Ingredients

Smoked salmon slices

Green and black olives

Juice of one lemon

Instructions

Fold then roll the slice of salmon to form a nest and arrange on a plate

Place an olive into each nest of salmon

Drizzle over lemon juice and serve