International officials and journalists were shocked to find that the salad – a combination of potato, mayonnaise and vegetable known as ensaladilla Rusa – was being sold as a “Russian-style potato salad” at the summit. “Russian salad at a NATO summit? I am a little surprised by this choice of dish “, said the journalist Iñaki López to the Spanish media la Sexta. Russian salad on a menu in the restaurant of the NATO top multimedia center. Photo: Sabine Siebold / Reuters While the name did little to diminish its popularity – the dish is said to have run out of hours – within a day it was renamed, with the menu now referring to it as a “traditional salad”. Spanish chef José Andrés went a step further, adding tomatoes and calling the dish a Ukrainian salad in solidarity with the dinner he coordinated for the defense and foreign ministers’ visit on Tuesday. It was an extension of a name change that began last month when Andrés announced he would change the name of the dish to all his restaurants, joining a wave of bars and restaurants that have been doing so in recent months. And from tomorrow I officially announce that the emblematic Spanish cap: Ensaladilla Rusa… ..will change its name to Ensaladilla Kiev or Ensaladilla Ucraniana… .in all my restaurants !!! https://t.co/NSb8HKcUaY – José Andrés (@chefjoseandres) May 14, 2022 Among the first was Mesón Martín, a three-decade-old restaurant in the northern city of Zaragoza. “Friends, we decided to change the name of the famous salad,” the restaurant announced on social media in late February. “From today, you will find the Kiev salad on our menu, as a sign of solidarity with the people of Ukraine.” This is not the first time that Spanish staple food – credited to Italian-British chef Charles Elmé Francatelli – has fallen victim to politics. During the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, bars and restaurants often changed their name to ensaladilla nacional, or national salad, to avoid being associated with the distribution of pro-communist propaganda. It is also not the first time that food has ended up as a diplomatic pawn. In 2003, french fries and toast were renamed “toast” and “freedom toast” in US congressional cafeterias by Republicans outraged by France’s opposition to the invasion of Iraq. Subscribe to the First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7 p.m. BST