Makes 3 large servings (serving a crowd?)
-
2½ lbs potatoes
¾ cup water
¼ cup of cider vinegar
2 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon unbleached flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon white pepper
2 heaping teaspoons prepared mustard
1 cup finely chopped onions
3 teaspoons finely chopped parsley
3 or 4 rashers bacon
Special equipment
- none
Method
- This is best made a day or two ahead, so that the potatoes have a chance to marinate in all the flavours.
Scrub your potatoes, but do not peel. Boil them in lightly salted water for half an hour, but not longer lest they turn to mush. Drain and cut into ¼ inch slices.
Fry the bacon till crisp. Drain and chop into tiny pieces. In a heavy saucepan, combine the water, vinegar, oil, flour, salt, pepper, mustard, onions and parsley. Bring it to a boil and simmer, stirring constantly, for about five minutes until it thickens slightly. Add the bacon bits and pour over the potatoes, turning them with a slotted spoon to coat them evenly. Chill.
Notes
- Just a traditional German potato salad. That’s all the word Kartoffelnsalat means: ‘potato salad.’ The seasonings are strikingly different from American potato salad: sharp and tangy. It’s often served hot. The recipe is a family tradition.
You can easily transform this dish into a vegetarian side by substituting an uncooked dressing with 1½ ounces crumbled Roquefort for the bacon, using ½ a cup of cider for the water, using finely chopped scallions instead of onions, and forgoing the flour. For a little more flavour, substitute lemon juice for half of the vinegar.