Potato Salad

[bloviatrix]

I love potato salad and it's one of my husband's favorite foods. I make both mayo and vinagrette based potato salads depending on my mood and the rest of the meal. When making a mayo based salad I always make my own mayonaise. I'm partial to garlic mayo, but I recently made a basil mayo which I found pretty tasty. Currently, my favorite is a "dilled" potato salad. The vinagrette is EVOO, white wine vinegar, mustard and paprika with lots of dill, chopped dill pickles and scallions.

[tanabutler]

I didn't see it mentioned specifically but potatoes should always go into the cold water and then be brought to a boil, otherwise they cook unevenly (the outsides cook first, rupturing their skins). I recently started turning them down to medium heat after bringing to a boil, and cooking around 7-8 minutes. This has been very successful in preventing overcooking and split skins and watery potatoes.

My potato salad evolved from one of those "there's nothing in the refrigerator" days. It turned out to be a family favorite, and an often-requested recipe when we're invited to a potluck.

Into a bowlful of chopped, cooked, and cooled (not necessarily chilled, but at least room-temperature) potatoes, I toss:

• mayonnaise (do not even utter the words "Miracle Whip"—it's an abomination of ghastly sweetness)
  
• fresh, shelled English peas
  
• diced red bell pepper
  
• Cardini's lime-dill salad dressing
  
• minced fresh tarragon
  
• salt and ground black pepper
  

It's unconventional but it's delicious. Promise. And it's pretty with the red peppers and green peas and tarragon. I just bought some peas at the farmer's market and they're headed for potato salad. (Frozen, thawed peas will do in a pinch. Not as good, but they'll do.)

[suzilightning]

I didn't see it mentioned specifically but potatoes should always go into the cold water and then be brought to a boil, otherwise they cook unevenly

(do not even utter the words "Miracle Whip"—it's an abomination of ghastly sweetness)

[*]fresh, shelled English peas

[*]diced red bell pepper

tana -

agree with you about the potatoes. usually buy the smallest i can and quarter them to cook.

minced red ,orange or green peppers are always welcome. no celery since i am allergic to it.

for the husband do german style like grandma did

can NOT agree with you on miracle whip. grew up with it and can NOT stand the taste of mayo. i want my potato salad - potatoes doused with apple cider vinegar when they are barely cooked then, the next day when they are cold, minced shallot, miracle whip, peas, and either fresh dill and/or flat leaf parsley with some salt.

Edited September 1, 2003 by suzilightning (log)

[browniebaker]

My tastes vacillate between two potato salads that reflect the Asian and American (Southern) influences in my childhood. The Asian: My mom has always made a shrimp-and-potato salad such as you see in many Chinese cookbooks. It is sweet and peppery and umami-ish, containing the following:

small shrimp, salted, skillet-cooked, and peeled

baking potatoes, boiled in salted water, skinned, and diced

carrots, boiled and diced

fresh green peas

mayonnaise

monosodium glutamate

sugar

ground black pepper

salt

Note the MSG! My mom insists on using baking potatoes, otherwise it would not "get fluffy when stirred," she says.

The Southern side of me also likes a mashed-potato salad made with the following and served either slightly warm, room temperature, or cold:

baking potatoes, boiled in salted water, skinned, and coarsely mashed

eggs, hard-boiled and coarsely chopped

dill pickles, finely diced

scallions, finely sliced

Hellman’s mayonnaise

sour cream

dill-pickle juice

ground mustard

ground black pepper

salt

I guess the common denominator between the two potato salads in my life is the use of baking potatoes. My taste for a "fluffy" potato salad must come from early and repeated exposure to my mom's "fluffy" shrimp-potato salad. I like the waxy-potato salads, too, though, maybe equally.

But I refuse to use MSG in any of my cooking, not even when I make my mom's shrimp-potato salad!

Edited September 1, 2003 by browniebaker (log)

[capers]

"Suzanne F,Sep 30 2002, 06:25 AM] Mmmmm -- potato salad! Always start with yukon golds or red-skin new potatoes. YES, waxy is better!

When I was little, a German deli in our neighborhood made a very simple, very delicious potato salad, with a creamy white dressing and chopped parsley only. I wish I could find out how they made the dressing: it was a little sweet, a little tart, and pure white -- not mayo, but ?????"

I agree with waxy is better. As far as the dressing goes and I'm just guessing here Suzanne, but most likely it was made with a combination of Miracle Whip, sour cream, regular white vinegar (1 - 2 Tb.) with milk added at the end to give it the proper consistency. The Miracle whip adds the sweetness, the sour cream and vinegar make it a bit tart. I use this combination for my potato salads when I want a creamy one. When the potatoes are cooked and while they are still a little too hot to handle, I mix up a couple of 3 - 4 Tbs. of white vinegar and a Tbs. or 2 of canola oil, salt & pepper and I cut the potatoes into this, mix and then let cool in the fridge, mixing them occasionally with a rubber spatula. Then I add the creamy mixture before serving. It's a simple, old fashioned recipe - I love it.

Edited September 1, 2003 by capers (log)

[Sweet Willie]

What constitutes a perfect potato salad?

What are the absolute essentials for a classic recipe?

What kind of potatoes do you use?

Where did you get your favorite recipe?

question 1: sorry for the obvious, but taste/texture

question 2: mixing the "sauce/dressing" w/the potatoes while they are still warm so they take in the flavor

question 3: mostly red, never white

question 4: Mom

[Suvir Saran]

What constitutes a perfect potato salad?

What are the absolute essentials for a classic recipe?

What kind of potatoes do you use?

Where did you get your favorite recipe?

question 1: sorry for the obvious, but taste/texture

question 2: mixing the "sauce/dressing" w/the potatoes while they are still warm so they take in the flavor

question 3: mostly red, never white

question 4: Mom

I must agree that after I started making potato salad, all but one answer from me would be same as yours.

I found the best recipe for me to come not from Mom, but from Ed Schoenfeld.

Ed has been Mom to many. Fat Guy, Mrs. Fat Guy, myself and many others blessed New Yorkers have found in his kitchen dishes that one would mostly eat at Moms. And his rendering of those classics are often amazing and even so without bias.

Potato Salad from his kitchen is addictive and so very easy. It was amazing to see that something so easy to prepare and so very simple, can be so exciting to the taste buds.

He pretty much said everything you have said to me about the basics for making a good potato salad.

[KatieLoeb]

Wow - what a great thread I'd not noticed before! I'm in the I-love-any-and-all potato salads camp with Suvir. You just can't go wrong with potato salad lest you overcook the taters or over-drown it in the dressing of your choosing. Gloppy dressing will NOT do! Mayo/Miracle Whip (I like the stuff personally) based dressings should be whisked with a little milk and/or sour cream to a smooth consistency before being added to the rest of the solid ingredients. Contrast of textures and colors is always appealing so I like diced bell peppers of any color, diced celery, diced pickles, diced radish or even diced water chestnuts to add a little crunch. I've sometimes added a bit of chopped watercress for that peppery bite and some color.

Some very interesting combinations listed here, especially by Jinmyo. Will have to try a few as lunch salads soon.

Does Nicoise Salad qualify as a potato salad? I've always thought of it as a vehicle for Tuna on a green salad that had quartered hard cooked eggs, tomato wedges, Nicoise olives, steamed haricot vert and tiny boiled new potatoes de rigeur. Are the versions that you speak of with lots of boiled potatoes with the potatoes mixed in? Sounds intriguing but I'm not certain if I'm picturing this correctly.

The "speck" that I'm familiar with from eating in Austria and Bavaria was definitely not like bacon or pancetta. I can see how some might think that because it has the stripes of fat throughout and might be the same cut of meat, but it was more of a cured product that was closer to prosicutto or Serrano ham but cured to an even drier texture that was like a "moist" jerky, if that makes sense. Very delicious stuff though, and I'm certain fantastic in kartoffelsalat.

Every year for Cristmas my grandmother always made those little nut cookies rulled in powdered sugar that go by a thousand different names

:Heavy sigh: If these are the vanilla kipferl I dream of then I understand your nostalgic feelings perfectly. Little crescent shaped cookies that are mostly ground almonds with tons of butter holding them together and they're rolled in powdered vanilla sugar.

Yes - that's a drooling emoticon!

[enthusiast]

this thread shows how much eGUllet has moved on(? back?) in a year - virtually no mention of bacon anywhere. a little bit of speck (but that was yesterday) and that's about it.

[fifi]

I read through this thread rather quickly but I didn't see the "secret" to my mom's potato salad. Hers was pretty much the standard... red potatoes, a sprinkle of vinegar on the potatoes, onion, celery, sometimes some pimento, sometimes some diced pickle, boiled egg mixed in the dressing. The dressing was mayo (Hellman's) and a little mustard. The "secret" was celery seed.

[Suvir Saran]

I read through this thread rather quickly but I didn't see the "secret" to my mom's potato salad. Hers was pretty much the standard... red potatoes, a sprinkle of vinegar on the potatoes, onion, celery, sometimes some pimento, sometimes some diced pickle, boiled egg mixed in the dressing. The dressing was mayo (Hellman's) and a little mustard. The "secret" was celery seed.

mashed boiled egg yolk can also be that secret ingredient that can make the dressing really delicious.

I shall try using celery seeds. Thanks for sharing this secret.

[SobaAddict70]

A little tahini in the dressing does wonders.

Soba

[Toliver]

The "secret" was celery seed.

That's what my mom uses, too!

Her "sauce" is Miracle Whip, a dab of yellow mustard and a tiny splash of cider vinegar. She uses the same "sauce" for her deviled eggs, which are wonderful.

A couple years ago, a coworker took me to lunch at a local restaurant and told me that he always went to this particular place because they had an incredible potato salad. I took one taste and had to laugh because it tasted exactly like my mom's potato salad, right down to the celery seed!

Edited to add that my mom also used celery seed in her slaw. It adds that little "extra something".

Edited September 5, 2003 by Toliver (log)

[fifi]

That is really interesting. Yes, mom used to take the same approach to her deviled eggs. I wonder if there wasn't some published recipe that started it all. My mom's potato salad with the celery seed is the only one I ever came across. If I wanted to do some research, I would start with cookbooks from the late '40s. Of course, it could have been something in the newspapers and one could never trace that.

[zilla369]

You can put anything you like in your potato salad. It's the dressing that makes it or breaks it.

A couple years ago i stumbled across a recipe for potato salad dressing, made a couple of adjustments, and have never looked back.

2 eggs

1/2 c. sugar

1 tsp. dry mustard

2 Tbsp. flour

1/2 c. good red wine vinegar

1/2 c. water

Cook until thick over low heat, stirring constantly.

Cool. Mix equal amount of this recipe salad dressing with

equal amount mayonnaise - I use Duke's or Hellman's.

That being said, in my potato salad i use small red new potatoes (cooked then cubed), chopped "bread and butter" pickles, diced red and yellow bell peppers, scallions cut on the bias, tons of chopped flat-leaf parsley (rinsed well), shaved celery, fresh ground black pepper, and celery salt.

[Toliver]

If I wanted to do some research, I would start with cookbooks from the late '40s...

That's a possibility. My mom did get her Swiss Steak recipe from the recipe book that came with her Presto Pressure Cooker that she received as a wedding present in the mid-'50's. I know her cooking "bible", another wedding present, was the 1953 Better Homes & Garden New Cookbook (which I just replaced with a copy I found on eBay last Christmas).

I will have to check with her to find out whether it was a recipe handed down from her older sister or if she got it out of a cookbook.

[fifi]

I will have to check with her to find out whether it was a recipe handed down from her older sister or if she got it out of a cookbook.

That would be an interesting piece of food history. Please ask. My mom is long gone so I can't ask her... theoretically anyway!

[Toliver]

fifi,

I checked with my mom this weekend and she says she learned to add the "secret ingredient" (celery seed) to her potato salad from her older sister, Mary, who raised her after their parents died. Most of my mom's recipes, from potato salad to meatloaf (with strips of bacon on top...Mmmm) were learned from Aunt Mary. My mom then reminded me that she adds celery seed to her cole slaw, too, which I've already posted about.

I also asked her where she thought Aunt Mary got her recipe for potato salad from and my mom said she probably made it up. They were poor so she didn't get it from a cookbook (couldn't afford it). Mom said Aunt Mary usually added whatever was on hand to what she was making at the time.

It is possible Aunt Mary could have learned it from their mom but not likely. My grandmother came over from the Old Country (Bohemia) and I don't think potatoes figured too prominently in that area's cuisine (egg noodles were probably more like it).

Hope this helps...

[arjay]

If you are fortunate enough to find DUKE'S mayonnaise, it's probably the best ever made commercially. No sugar added and it has been featured in

"Food and Wine". This is a southern product, but is available in some other areas. There are many who won't eat mayonnaise if they can't get Duke's.

[Andy Lynes]

Its a very long time since I've seen it, but one of the clearest memories I have of the film "La Regle Du Jeu" is when the chef explains his recipe for potato salad and says that you must always sprinkle the potatos with white wine whilst they are still warm so that they absorb the flavour, and I have followed that advice ever since.

[Peachpie9]

I never met a potato salad I didn't like!!! I take that back---I hate that sweet relish mushy stuff people buy in the grocery store and bring to covered dish dinners when they are too lazy to cook something.

It is exactly the same potato salad that made me wonder for years if I would ever eat a tasty mayo based potato salad.

And after eating Ed's version, I have become a convert, but also spoiled for life. Few versions stand upto his. I simply get myself invited to his home when I have a craving.

He is not a lazy cook.

←

Who is this Ed person?

Catherine

[Bella S.F.]

and what is his wonderful recipe???

[Jason Perlow]

There are a number of potato salad recipes in RecipeGullet:

Potato Salads (RecipeGullet)

[Peachpie9]

There are a number of potato salad recipes in RecipeGullet:

Potato Salads (RecipeGullet)

←

Thank you, Jason, but after spending twenty years perfecting my own potato salad (when my place of work published a cookbook, we got at least a dozen calls asking if my potato salad recipe was in the book), it would take a BIG vote of confidence from someone I trust to get me to consider changing anything. Suvir Saran engenders that trust somehow, so I want HIS favorite, made by this mysterious Ed person.

I have to tell you, though, Jason...I have tried to get to Recipe Gullet countless times before, all failures. Clicking on YOUR link got me there! First time EVER!!! Thank you!

Catherine

[Jason Perlow]

Recipe Gullet was re-launched about 2 months ago, it had been out of commission for over six months -- which would probably be why you couldn't get to it. Clicking on the RecipeGullet link at the top of every page will also get you to where you need to be.

The mysterious "Ed" is NYC Chinese restaurant entepreneur/pioneer Ed Schoenfeld, who we had a eGullet Q&A with back in late 2002:

eGullet Q&A with Ed Schoenfeld