German potato salad

This is a salad my German uncle used to often make and I have memories of post-beach families BBQs eating this alongside grilled sardines or cold meat.

You might be surprised by the amount of vinegar, and especially the ratio to olive oil, but it really does work, I promise! Be mindful that this is probably not the salad you want to eat before a date, unless you want to go home (on your own) quicker.

Ingredients:

• 1 kg baby potatoes
• 3 shallots or 1 onion
• 1 tsp. salt
• 4 tbsp. of vinegar (potentially more if you’re like me)
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• Chives 1/3 bunch
• Black pepper to taste
• Onion seeds optional

Method:

Boil the potatoes in their skins until just cook through. They need to be cooked all the way through but you don’t want to cook them for too long and end up with mashed potatoes.

While the potatoes are still warm, peel them, slice them and put them in a large bowl. Someone on Instagram mentioned it was a shame to peel the potatoes and they are not wrong. I’m just giving you the recipe as I remember it but feel free to do what you want with it. I have to say I quite enjoy the challenge of handling the potatoes while still hot and trying not to burn myself, but that’s probably just me…

Add the vinegar and salt, mix and leave while you’re attending to the rest. This is to let the warm potatoes soaked up the vinegar; this is an important step!

Finely mince the shallots/onions (I prefer shallots in this recipe but I didn’t have any) as well as the chives.

Add the onions, chives, oil and a crack of black pepper. Mix and leave to cool.

Before serving, decorate with onion seeds and chive flowers, if you feel so inclined.

This isn’t a meal in itself but it works great as a side or as part of a BBQ.