Mom’s Potato Salad
My mother’s potato salad was famous all over the Midwest – well, maybe it was only all over St Joseph County, but for sure, it was famous at the south end of Fisher Lake. She said her secret was the Durkee’s Dressing instead of mayonnaise, [i]My own view was that it had more to do with her sparing use of the Durkee’s and her minimal inclusion of hard-boiled eggs. and much to my surprise, it is still available after more than 100 years on the market.
American-style potato salad most likely was brought here by German and other European immigrants in the 1800s, so it has countless variations with unusual ingredients. However, a wise person once said, “Knowing that a tomato is a fruit shows intelligence – knowing not to put it in a fruit salad shows wisdom”, and that same person probably also said, “If God had intended for eggs to be included in potato salad, he (she) would have named it potato and egg salad”.
Trying to duplicate her recipe recently prompted me to take a deeper dive into the whole subject of potato salad ingredients, listed below but in unspecified quantities or order of priority.
- Essential Ingredients
- Potatoes – thin-skinned variety, not the big russet types
- Optional Ingredients
- Celery – for the crunch
- Onions
- Olives
- Dill Pickles – not sweet ones
- Jalapenos – sparingly for Gringos
- Capers – eliminates need for salt
- Bacon
- Vinegar
- Lemon juice
- Salt and pepper
- Paprika
- Mustard
- Dill
- Garlic
- Cilantro
- Ingredients to be avoided
- Mayonnaise – or similar
- Eggs
Regardless of the ingredients chosen, the following three basic principles of potato salad making must be adhered to without exception.
- No recipe
Following the same recipe, time after time, can take all the fun out of cooking and eating. Following one’s capricious whims in the kitchen often results in a pleasant surprise, which outweighs the occasional disaster that goes into the garbage disposal. - Minimal slimy stuff
Mayonnaise can be a reasonable substitute for wallpaper paste, but it has no place in the kitchen. - Nothing finely chopped
All ingredients, including hard-boiled eggs for those who cannot resist, should be left in pieces large enough to be easily picked out and hidden in a napkin or tossed under the picnic table for the dog.