Salade Niçoise is probably one of the most famous of all dishes from Provence. Everybody knows it and has probably eaten it at some time or other.

Some die-hard Niçois traditionalists insist that a real Salade Niçoise should contain only raw vegetables. No potatoes. No cooked green beans. In fact, no cooked vegetables of any description whatsoever!

So here it is....An authentic version of the old stand-by for your consideration and (hopefully) delight.

Une Véritable Salade Niçoise:

(A Real Salad Niçoise)

Ingredients (for 4 servings): 10 large, ripe tomatoes; 1 garlic clove; 1 large cucumber; 1 green pepper; 1 red pepper; 6 spring onions; 12 anchovy fillets in olive oil; 125g black olives; 4 hard-boiled eggs; 90 ml olive oil; 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar; the juice of 1 lemon; assorted salad leaves; a small handful of fresh basil.

Method: Cut the tomatoes into 6 pieces. Put them into a dish and sprinkle them with a little salt and leave them for half an hour or so to let their juices drain.

Cut the cucumber in half lengthwise and scoop out most of the seeds with a spoon. Then cut the (unpeeled) cucumber halves into slices (but not too thin).

Finely slice the peppers and the spring onions.

Peel the garlic clove and cut it in half. Rub the cut halves around the inside of a large (preferably wooden) salad bowl.

When you are ready to serve the salad, lay the salad leaves over the base of the bowl. Drain the tomatoes and arrange them on top of the leaves, as decoratively as you can, with the quartered hardboiled eggs, the cucumber, the peppers, the spring onions and the drained anchovy fillets.

Scatter over the black olives.

Make a dressing with the olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, salt and freshly-ground black pepper. Sprinkle it liberally over the salad and scatter with roughly-torn fresh basil leaves just before taking to the table.

Some people like tuna with their salade nicoise. It seems a pity to spoil these lovely fresh ingredients with tinned tuna. So why not convert the dish into a light and tasty lunch by lightly sautéing four small fresh tuna steaks and serving them atop the salad on a large oval serving dish - or, of course, on individual plates?