Brandenburger Kartoffelsalat

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large pot for boiling potatoes
• •Small saucepan for the broth dressing
• •Wide mixing bowl
• •Small sharp knife or peeling knife

Instructions

1. 1

   Boil the potatoes

   Put the unpeeled potatoes in cold salted water and bring them up gently, then simmer until a knife slips in without cracking them apart, about 20 to 25 minutes. Starting them cold cooks the centre and outside together; drop potatoes into boiling water and the skin splits before the middle is done.

   Use waxy potatoes, not floury ones. Waxy potatoes slice cleanly and hold the dressing; floury potatoes break down and give you paste.
2. 2

   Make hot dressing

   While the potatoes cook, heat the broth and stir in the vinegar, pickle brine, diced onion, mustard, sugar, and a few grinds of pepper. Keep it hot but not boiling hard. Hot dressing wakes the onion and opens the potato slices; cold dressing sits on top like rain on a wax coat.

3. 3

   Slice while warm

   Drain the potatoes, let them stand just until you can handle them, then peel and slice them about 5mm thick into a wide bowl. Work while they're warm because this is the moment they drink. Pour the hot dressing over in two additions, folding gently after each, so the slices take the broth without breaking.

4. 4

   Let it rest

   Cover the bowl and let the potatoes stand 45 minutes, folding once halfway through. The slices will look too wet at first. Leave them alone. As the starch settles, the broth thickens lightly around the potatoes and the vinegar moves from sharp to clean.

5. 5

   Fold in larder

   Add the oil, Fleischwurst, diced Gewürzgurken, chopped eggs, and most of the chives, then fold with a broad spoon so the eggs don't turn to crumbs. The oil goes in after the broth has soaked in; add it first and you seal the potato against the seasoning.

6. 6

   Taste and serve

   Taste after the salad has rested, then salt only as needed because broth, sausage, and pickle brine are already doing work. Add more vinegar if it tastes flat, more broth if it has tightened too much, and the last chives on top. Serve slightly warm, at room temperature, or chilled after a night in the refrigerator.

Chef Tips

• •Cook the potatoes in their skins. The peel keeps water out of the flesh, so the slices taste of potato and broth instead of boiled starch.
• •Use a strong broth. A thin cube dissolved in water gives you salt and not much else. A small pot of stock from bones or vegetables is better, and Weggeworfen wird nichts.
• •Do not drown it in mayonnaise. This Brandenburg version should be glossy and loose, not white and stiff. Berlin can keep that bowl.
• •If the salad tightens overnight, wake it with a splash of warm broth and a spoon of pickle brine. Cold potato firms up; a little liquid brings it back.

Advance Preparation

• •Make the salad up to one day ahead; the flavour settles overnight, but hold back a few chives for serving because they go dull in the refrigerator.
• •Boil the eggs up to three days ahead and keep them unpeeled in the refrigerator.
• •If serving from cold, let the salad stand at room temperature for 30 minutes and loosen it with a splash of warm broth before tasting for salt and vinegar.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 365g)