Kartoffel Salat
There are some things that get imprinted on you very early in life—like the way a certain dish is supposed to taste. For me, potato salad is one of those things. I admit, I can’t come close to making mine taste like my mom’s signature Kartoffel Salat, (partly because she wings it every time), but I invite you to try.
1 pound red potatoes (about five or six)
Three or four eggs, hard boiled
Two dill pickles*, diced
One red onion, minced (optional)
2 tablespoons vinegar*
3 tablespoons olive oil
Fresh herbs (chives, parsley, dill), minced
Salt (to taste)
Sugar (to taste)
Pepper (to taste)
2 tablespoons sour cream (optional)
Directions:
1. Boil the potatoes whole until they’re cooked through. (You can test with a fork.) Drain, and allow to cool.
2. Peel the potatoes and cut in thin slices.
3. Slice three eggs.
4. In a bowl, gently stir all the ingredients (except the fourth egg) until coated.
5. Allow salad to sit overnight in the refrigerator. The next morning, taste and adjust seasonings as desired.
6. Slice fourth egg and layer on top.
The thing about this Kartoffel Salat is that it’s easily adaptable. My mom would always go into the garden and see which herbs looked good to pick that day, and that’s how she’d decide which ones would make it into the salad. Sometimes she’d add sour cream, sometimes not. On occasion, she’s even swapped lemon juice for the vinegar. Every time I watched her make it, she’d sprinkle on the salt and sugar, then taste, then sprinkle a bit more, then taste again. So, I recommend using the above list as a guide, and definitely do a lot of taste-testing while you’re at it! Enjoy.
*The main difference between mom’s Kartoffel Salat and anyone else’s are the pickles. Seriously, no pickles that I’ve tasted in the U.S. come close to the flavor of Gundelsheim dill pickles. The other special ingredient is the vinegar. My mom uses Kühne Salata vinegar or Hengstenberg vinegar—available at many import groceries. It doesn’t quite taste right otherwise.
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