Not Niçoise

Eastside Road, Healdsburg, August 4, 2009—

THOUGH THE REASON eludes me: it looks and tastes like a salade Niçoise to me. When I asked Lindsey why it wasn't, I got the answer you so often get: Because.
Let's see: tuna, peppers, tomatoes, green beans, cucumber, onion, hardboiled eggs, boiled potatoes, lettuces, olive oil, vinegar, salt. Oh: cucumbers. They certainly don't belong in a Niçoise. And where are the olives? I know: not everyone agrees about the potatoes. But olives; surely they're definitive when it comes to Niçoise.

Whatever: it was truly delicious, with all that point, to use a French word, that fine focus, that means so much to a savory dish. Really good olive oil, and salt, and nice Jerez vinegar, and recently-picked vegetables, either from the garden or from the Farmer's market. You can't beat this.

Pinot grigio, Sonoma county, "Forestville," 2007