Top 8: Which of these potato salads are the cream of the crop
Potato Salads are a great base with lots of potential for innovation. Pictures: Noel Sweeney
A potato salad has lots of potential — potential to be exciting and innovative, whether served at home, at picnics, or at barbecues. It can be elevated to an impressive main dish or work equally well as a side or starter.
What we dress our potatoes with makes all the difference. In France, they tend to favour a vinaigrette dressing, which is added to hot boiled or steamed potatoes whose skins, once well scrubbed before cooking, stay on for extra texture and flavour. They also cook the potatoes in chicken stock for added depth, or toss the hot potatoes in the stock before adding the vinaigrette, with Dijon mustard for extra pep. And sometimes, they like to add slivers of anchovy fillets, along with gherkins or capers. Good on the side with meats or roasted vegetables.
An interesting suggestion from British-based Yotam Ottolenghi ( ottolenghi.co.uk) is to boil the potatoes in water with garlic, celery salt, and sea salt. His layered dressing has yogurt added to mayo, with white wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, maple syrup, along with finely chopped onion, toasted and crushed caraway seeds. Closer to home, Darina Allen has a good recipe for potato and spring onion salad, tossing hot potatoes in vinaigrette, and in mayo later.
For a picnic on a warm day, avoid mayo, as heat can multiply bacteria in the egg. Go for a vinaigrette instead.
The simplicity here of potato, spring onion, mayo, and a pinch of salt has a lot going for it. And here in just the right proportions, which appealed to all ages. The texture is roughly mashed potato, with a not-too-creamy dressing, which was appreciated by some who didn’t like the oversupply of mayo in other samples. Just as you would make yourself on a good day.
- Score:10
Unpeeled, nicely firm, chunky new potatoes are flecked with plenty of dill, finely chopped, slightly sweet gherkins, crème fraiche to lift the mayo, and some more sweetness from honey. There is just the right amount of mustard to flavour the good olive oil with white wine vinegar. Delicious. At the English Market, Cork, Toonsbridge, and the Toonsbridge Dairy shop, Serpentine Avenue, Dublin.
- Score:10
Tasters loved this pure (peeled) mashed-potato texture and the clean taste we expect from ready-made potato salad. Just the right amount of seasoning here with a little chopped onion. At the English Market, Cork.
- Score: 8.5
Chunky new potatoes with skins on are mixed with onions, spring onions and chives, and coated in plenty (maybe even too much) creamy mayo with soured cream to give it a light edge. Nicely seasoned. Tasty was the verdict.
- Score: 8.75
Potatoes are cooked in spices, then cut into chunks and tossed in just the right amount of mayo, with red onion, for an interesting change. The mild flavours mean you can make it the star of a super-quick meal, topping it with a poached or fried egg. The pesto and parmesan version went down well with tasters too.
- Score: 8.25
To cater for vegans, soy milk is mixed with parsley, cider vinegar, Dijon mustard and sunflower oil. The effect is quite bland, and younger tasters didn’t fancy it. Still, it’s handy for the vegan in your life, especially if it gets a decent sprinkle of white pepper and a pinch of crunchy salt to taste.
- Score:7.5
Diced peeled potatoes are mixed with a slightly vinegary mayo. This flavour reminded tasters of salad cream, probably because spirit vinegar is used, which has a stronger, more pungent flavour than the more commonly used cider vinegar. This appealed to older tasters on the panel. Some of the onion is quite crunchy.
- Score:7.5
This has a nice, light, whipped texture, which was worth including here as a contrast to the chunkier samples. No big flavour, but not over-seasoned either. Tasters thought it was a bit pricey. We bought it in Dunnes.
- Score: 7
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