Potato salad

The Cook made a great potato salad the other day – the potatoes came strait out of the ground and onto our plate. She grows a variety of spuds in the garden very year including some of the purple specimens which name escapes me. She use’s them in her famous potato salad, a derivation of the German potato salad her mother used to make, and; which I look forward to every summer. The purple potatoes add that wow! Factor and always attract people’s attention and once they see the intriguing purple colour they simply just have to try them.

So - this is how the Cook does it – it’s a secret so don’t tell anybody; First comes the potatoes, they are dug out of the ground when only small, about the size of a golf ball. Give them a wash – but don’t peel them. Cook them in boiling water until soft. Drain and leave to cool a little then peel the skin, use a knife and don’t take any of the white flesh – just the skin.

Whilst they are still warm add two table spoons of mayonnaise and two of sour cream. Before mixing allow the mayonnaise and sour cream to soften – then mix, it’s easier and you don’t accidentally mash the potato. This is the secret part; She slices a little bit of pickled gherkin and adds some dill or parsley and mixes it all together and serves. For my masculine tastes I prefer the pickled gherkin replaced by anchovies – but that’s a personal thing. Also, by not peeling the potato until it is cooked you keep more of the goodness in the potato.

I would have liked to snapped a couple of pictures of this – but; If I had of taken the time to get the camera I would’ve missed out on one of my favourite summer foods. Maybe next year I can get one!