Niçard dialect of the Occitan language, insalata nizzarda in Italian, is a salad that originated in the French city olives in tuna salad Nice. Salade niçoise can be served either as a composed salad or as a tossed salad.

Freshly cooked or canned tuna may be added. The version known in Nice in the late 19th century was a basic combination of tomatoes, anchovies and olive oil, described as “simple food for poor people”. Over time, other fresh and mostly raw ingredients were added to the salad as served in Nice. Former Nice mayor and cookbook author Jacques Médecin was a strict salad traditionalist. An organization called Cercle de la Capelina d’Or, led for many years by Renée Graglia until her death in 2013, continues to protest against deviation from traditional local recipes. The group, which certifies restaurants in Nice, sticks with Médecin’s standards.

In 2016, French Michelin-starred chef Hélène Darroze posted a salade niçoise recipe on Facebook that included cooked potatoes and green beans. According to journalist Mathilde Frénois, the reaction on Facebook was quick and hostile from the “purists”. Darroze’s version was called “a massacre of the recipe”, a “sacrilege”, and a violation of the “ancestral traditions” of the salad. The question of the proper ingredients appropriate for a salade niçoise has long been the subject of debate and even controversy.