You say potato …

One of the very few traditions I hold dear is my/our families Christmas dinner, which is potato salad and wieners. Actually this is one of the Christmas dinners that is tradition all over Germany, independent of social status and wealth. I actually don’t know how it developed but I would assume that if you ask three Germans what they eat on Christmas eve, at least one would answer potato salad.

Another “tradition”, at least in my family, is that we don’t have a recipe handed down the generations, but each generation makes up their own. So after the click you will find my attempt at an recipe.

Oh, one more thing, in Germany there is a big divide, in the south potato salad is usually eaten with a stock and vinegar “dressing” in the north with mayonnaise. It’s basically a religious war (don’t ask), so what I tried to do is to anger both parties alike in creating a recipe using both.

Shopping List

  • 2kg (4,4092452 lb) Potatoes
  • 150g (5,2910943 oz) Onions
  • 1/2 l Stock
  • Vinegar
  • Mustard
  • 5 Eggs
  • Baloney
  • Gherkins
  • 250g (8,8184905 oz) Mayonnaise
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Sugar

should you make your own mayonnaise you will also have to get

  • Oil (best use a flavourless one)
  • Crème Fraîche
  • 2 (extra) Eggs

Preparation

For the mayonnaise

  1. Blend two egg yolks
  2. Add pepper and salt
  3. Add about a tablespoon of mustard
  4. While blending pour a steady stream of oil (about 250 ml (0,5283441 pt)) into the mix
  5. Add about a table spoon of Crème Fraîche

For the potato salad

  1. Cook potatoes, best a day before making the salad.
  2. Chop potatoes, either in slices or bite size.
  3. Chop Onions
  4. Cook eggs, about 6 minutes, they should be liquid anymore but not cooked hard.
  5. Chop gherkins, baloney and eggs, fine, you can already mix these.
  6. Mix potatoes and onions.
  7. Prepare vinegar and stock
    1. Mix Stock with 5 tablespoons of vinegar, a tablespoon of mustard, salt, pepper and a little sugar
    2. Cook Stock
    3. Let the mix cool down so that it is only lukewarm
  8. Mix vinegar-stock with potato-onions and wait about 5-10 Minutes
  9. Mix with chopped gherkins, baloney, eggs.
  10. Mix with Mayonnaise.
  11. Wait at least 1h.

Bon appetite.

In anticipation of me not being able to blog, due to me having little time the next two weeks, have a nice holiday and a happy new year.