How to eat like you’re in Paris for the Olympics

For those living in Paris over the past few years, the opening ceremony for the Olympic Games may feel more like reaching the finish line than toeing it, exhausting for organizers and Parisians alike. Spiffing up the city for the Games has been like trying to complete all of Hercules’ labors at once, with so many miles of torn-up streets, capricious metro closings, bus detours to parts unknown and monuments swaddled Christo-style.

Having spent so much energy getting ready, it’s terrific that the best way to celebrate it is also the easiest: apéro dînatoire, the French meal that’s part living room picnic, part cocktail party — and the perfect TV dinner. It’s the least stressful meal with a French name that I can think of, and it’s fun for everyone, including the host. It’s what my Paris pals will be making as they watch the Games — and what I’ll be making 3,500 miles away in my corner of Connecticut.

Apéro dînatoire is more about shopping than cooking, about buying good things and arranging them on platters. Simply. Forget Instagram-worthy boards — you want food that’s easy to reach for when you’re marveling at Simone Biles’ moves. You don’t have to set the table, you don’t have to serve, and you don’t have to be in the kitchen for long spells because no one expects anything hot or homemade, even if I always make a few dishes. Can’t help myself.

For a medal-worthy Olympic-watch party, keep to Parisian tradition for the first round of nibbles — cherry tomatoes, olives, nuts, cold radishes in a bowl with soft butter and sea salt, deviled eggs, a nod to France’s beloved oeufs mayo. To my own, I’ll add gougères, my make-ahead house specialty. Then there should be plates of charcuterie and cheese with pickles and mustards and lots of bread and crackers. They serve as the “main course” in a meal without real courses.

I’ll also clear a place for one of my favorite dishes: salmon rillettes, the fish version of the spread normally made by cooking pork, duck or goose in its own fat. My rillettes — so much lighter and so pretty — are a mixture of quickly cooked salmon (you can use frozen) and chopped smoked salmon. Mashed with a little mayonnaise and butter, sharpened with mustard, lemon and capers and finished with herbs — I like dill and, unusually, cilantro — they get made a day or two in advance and stowed in the fridge. The dish really only needs rounds of baguette or bagel chips, but I’ll also put out cucumbers and pickled beets, for color and crunch.

For dessert: cookies and ice cream — cherry, vanilla and blueberry, red, white and blue, conveniently the colors of both the French and American flags. I thought about homemade hot fudge sauce, but between the gougères and rillettes, I’ll have broken the no-cook rules of the game twice. I wonder if the judges would mind?

Serves 6.

• 2 scallions

• 1 lemon

• ½ c. white wine or white vermouth

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 1 (6- to 8-oz.) fresh or thawed frozen salmon fillet (see Tip)

• 1 small shallot, minced (about 1 tablespoon), rinsed and patted dry

• ¼ c. mayonnaise

• 2 tbsp. grainy Dijon mustard

• ½ tsp. honey

• 1 tbsp. capers, rinsed, patted dry and finely chopped if large

• 2 tbsp. minced fresh dill, plus more for serving

• 1 tbsp. minced fresh cilantro, plus more serving

• Sliced baguette, chips, cucumbers or pickled beets, or a combination, for serving

Directions

Trim the scallions, then mince the white and light green parts and set aside. Toss the dark green parts into a medium saucepan, add a thin slice of lemon, the wine, ½ cup water and a pinch of salt and bring to a boil.

Transfer the salmon to a plate; discard everything else in the saucepan. If desired, remove and discard the salmon skin. Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes or for up to 1 day, covering when it has cooled.

Using a flexible spatula and working in a medium bowl, beat the butter until it is spreadable. Zest the lemon over the butter, squeeze in the juice from half the lemon and add the shallot, the reserved minced scallions, a pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper. Mix thoroughly, then stir in the mayonnaise, mustard, honey, capers, a few drops of lemon juice and some pepper. Stir in the smoked salmon.

Remove the poached salmon from the fridge, cut into bite-size pieces and gently stir into the smoked salmon mixture — even if you’re extremely gentle, the salmon will flake and flatten; go with it. Fold in the dill and cilantro, then taste for salt, pepper and lemon juice.

You can serve the rillettes now, but the flavor and texture are better if you pack them into a sealed container and refrigerate for at least 6 hours. Serve with sliced baguette, chips, cucumbers or pickled beets or a combination and the minced herbs for sprinkling over each serving. The rillettes will keep tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Tip: This dish doesn’t need to be made with the most expensive salmon, smoked or fresh. If you can find cheaper smoked salmon bits or thick-cut smoked salmon, get them. They’re sometimes cut from the end of the salmon fillet so they’re a little saltier. Taste before you add any more salt to the rillettes.