This is my grandma Emmi’s potato salad. It reflects the style of northern Hessia (albeit we are from Lower Saxony), but swapping the late addition of sour cream to mayo.
New waxy potatoes („festkochend“). My grandma would have boiled them in their skins and peeled them when they came straight out of the (unsalted) water. I tried many times, but always made a mess. Now I boil them like this, just until done. When they cool, you want to have the ever so slightest firmness …
Sliced up thinly straight out of the water. Could have sliced them thinner, but too hot. Some broke which is usually an indication of overboiling - but they firmed up nicely later …
The fixings: a cross-section of classic German brands. Pickled cucumbers (and their liquid !), white wine vinegar, medium sharp mustard, mayo (my grandma would have used a different brand that does not exist anymore) and powdered broth (this specific one is very important, I only buy it for this potato salad. It has a clean salty, meaty taste, heavy on the celery - but is essentially a yeast hydrolysate).
Bacon cubes and onions get fried in clarified butter (or lard) until crispy and partly caramelized. Having a few black bits here and there give the correct flavor profile. A healthy dose of mustard is added and fried for 2-3 minutes; this releases an pleasant sweetness. Hot broth & pickling liquid of the cucumbers is added, the acidity is adjusted with the white wine vinegar.
All is mixed up gently with halved & thinly sliced pickled cucumbers and left to cool down a bit.
Mayo is added at the lukewarm stage to create an initial runny consistency (which I love) and the salad is served with a healthy sprinkling of chives (or spring onions, if available). It firms up upon cooling in the next 15 min or so, and is equally nice the next day …
Served with Schnitzel, Frankfurter sausage or - as in this case - the fruits of the BBQ 😉
