Bayerischer Kartoffelsalat

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large pot for boiling potatoes
• •Small saucepan for the broth dressing
• •Paring knife
• •Wide mixing bowl
• •Rubber spatula or wide spoon

Instructions

1. 1

   Boil the potatoes

   Put the unpeeled potatoes in a pot, cover with cold salted water, and bring them up gently. Starting cold cooks the centres and edges at the same pace, so the outside doesn't split before the middle is done. Simmer until a small knife slides in without force, about 20 to 25 minutes depending on size.

   Use waxy potatoes, not floury ones. Floury potatoes are for Knödel, dumplings; here they fall apart and turn the bowl to mash.
2. 2

   Cook the onion

   While the potatoes cook, warm the broth with the diced onion, vinegar, mustard, sugar, salt, and pepper. Let it simmer for 2 minutes so the onion loses its raw bite and gives its sweetness into the broth. Keep it hot; warm potato needs hot dressing if it is going to drink properly.

3. 3

   Peel and slice

   Drain the potatoes and let them sit just until your fingers can handle them, then peel while warm and slice about 4mm thick into a wide bowl. Warm potato slices absorb; cold ones resist. Cut too thick and the middle stays plain, cut too thin and you make potato rubble.

4. 4

   Add hot broth

   Pour the hot broth mixture over the warm slices in two or three additions, folding gently after each one with a rubber spatula or wide spoon. The starch on the cut potato loosens into the broth and binds it, which is why the salad turns creamy without mayonnaise. Stop when the slices look wet but not drowned; potatoes vary, and the bowl tells you.

5. 5

   Rest the salad

   Let the salad rest 30 minutes at room temperature, folding once halfway through. Das braucht seine Zeit. The broth moves from the bottom of the bowl into the potato, and the onion, vinegar, and mustard settle into one dressing instead of three separate tastes.

6. 6

   Finish with oil

   Fold in the oil only after the broth has soaked in, because fat coats the potato and would block the dressing if it went in first. Taste for salt and vinegar, then finish with chives. Würzen, Fett, Salz zum Schluss. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature, glossy and loose, not stiff.

Chef Tips

• •Buy firm waxy potatoes of similar size. They cook evenly and hold clean slices, which is the difference between Bavarian potato salad and a bowl of broken edges.
• •Use warm broth, not cold dressing. The heat opens the potato and carries the vinegar and onion into the slices; cold dressing stays on the surface.
• •Add oil after the broth. Oil first makes a raincoat around the potato, and then you can pour all day and nothing useful happens.
• •For a meatless table, use a proper vegetable broth with onion, carrot, celery, bay, and peppercorns. A salty cube gives you salt water with confidence. Nicht aus dem Glas.
• •Serve it with Schweinebraten, grilled Bratwurst, Schnitzel, or cold cuts and rye. It also sits well in a picnic basket because there is no mayonnaise to worry about.

Advance Preparation

• •Make the salad 2 to 4 hours ahead and keep it covered at cool room temperature if your kitchen is not hot; the flavour settles and the slices keep drinking.
• •For longer storage, refrigerate up to 24 hours, then bring it back toward room temperature before serving. Cold dulls the vinegar and tightens the potato, so taste again before it goes out.
• •Hold back a little hot broth if making ahead. Fold in a spoon or two before serving if the potatoes have drunk the bowl dry.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 280g)