Leaves a bad taste: Russian salad served at Nato summit

Eyebrows were raised at the controversial choice of starters

The Nato menu (Twitter/ Reuters)

International officials and journalists at the Nato summit in Madrid were surprised to find a Russian salad being served on the in-house restaurant menu.

“Russian salad at a Nato summit? I’m a little surprised by that choice of dish,” journalist Iñaki López told Spanish media outlet La Sexta.

The mix of peas, potatoes, carrots and mayonnaise is a staple on Spanish restaurant menus.

But, its presence on a menu ahead of a summit dominated by the consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine seemed a little distasteful.

Despite that, the salad reportedly sold out within hours.

The same mistake was not made twice, however, as the menu underwent a diplomatic retouch before it was served to international defence and foreign ministers at a banquet at the Baroque Santa Cruz Palace in Central Madrid on Tuesday evening.

Despite the questionable name, the salad reportedly sold out within hours (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Jose Andres, the Spanish chef featured in the Netflix series Chef’s Table who coordinated the meal, served the classic tapa but added “tomato dumplings” and re-christened it “Ukrainian salad” as he has done in his restaurants across Spain.

The three-day Nato summit for the leaders of the military alliance was held with an to increase support for Ukraine’s fight against Russian invasion, boost forces on Nato’s eastern flank, as well as examine the emergence of China as a military power.

The summit also focused on the recent application from Nordic countries Sweden and Finland to join the 30-nation alliance, on the back of the growing Russian threat on their security borders.

President Zelensky addresses Nato summit via video call (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

In a video address to the summit, President Volodymyr Zelensky lamented that Nato’s open-door policy to new members (Sweden and Finland) did not appear to apply Ukraine.

He said: “The open-door policy of Nato shouldn’t resemble the old turnstiles on Kyiv’s subway, which stay open but close when you approach them until you pay.

“Hasn’t Ukraine paid enough?”He asked for more modern artillery systems and anti-missile systems to defeat Russia or “face a delayed war between Russia and yourself.”