Potato & watercress salad with smoked salmon

I have a long-standing relationship with potato salad. It's very popular thing in Austria, though very different from how it is usually made here, and every house-hold has their preferred way of making it. When I went to High School, there was a small "Beis'l" across the street - I am lost for words now, as I am not sure what to call or how to describe this place: I guess it's more like a caff', an unassuming, slightly uninviting place that opens just before midday and stays open until midnight, is always full of semi-drunk, chain-smoking locals who seems to be jobless and in need of company, serves hearty, traditional food that isn't even trying to be chic or healthy or trendy - it's food, for Christ's sake, what more do you want?

When we were old enough to be allowed in without a teacher (the establishment also served as a make-shift canteen for the few pupils who couldn't go home at lunchtime), it was the coolest place on earth to be - not only did that show that you got enough pocket money to afford it, you also got to hang out with the older, cooler pupils who spent more time in the caff' than they did on the school bench. In my last two years, I recall a number of times when teachers sent one of us over to see if any of the kids who hadn't turned up in class were across the road enjoying a sneaky drink... and more often than not, we would score (or never return to the classroom ourselves, as it were!)

I never had much pocket money, so in order to be able to get in, I'd have to loyally share the cheapest item on the menu with a friend... (those were the days when nobody minded me poking around in their food ;-)) which happened to be a potato salad or sometimes even just a breadroll. If you happened to know anyone, and I swear: anyone!, who attended the high school in Peuerbachstrasse in Linz, and you'd ask them who makes the best potato salad (and Hascheeknoedel, might I add), they would say it was that place (Kastner). I once asked the chef cook (see, it's that kind of place where you'd rather swallow your tongue than call whoever mans the kitchen a "chef"... they're a cook. end of story.) how she made it and the secret lies in cooking the potatoes until they're softening, but still firm to the bite, peel them, cut them into thin slices, transfer to a bowl and cover with stock - leave to macerate for hours and only then dress it with lots of mayo, sour cream and sliced onions.

In the UK, a potato salad couldn't be more different if it tried. First of all, people seem to be too lazy to slice or even peel their potatoes. That was my initial thought, anyway. I have since discovered that it is incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to find the type of potato you need for our kind of salad: it needs to be waxy, firm and able to hold its shape when sliced after cooking. I have never, ever found such a potato in the UK, everything here is floury and will disintegrate if cooked without skin. If you're lucky, you might find Kipfler, which I believe are called "rattes" in French, somewhere on a market like the Borough here in London and you'll pay a hefty price for them.

So the solution is to use new potatoes, baby potatoes, Jersey Royals even for a nice, nutty taste. Cook them in their skins, halve the ones that need halving, and enjoy them without bothering to cut them. The recipe below adds a generous amount of watercress, something else I have first encountered here and have fallen in love with, smoked salmon and a dressing of home-made mayo (for which I must remember to post a recipe soon) and wholegrain mustard... I like to use wild Sockeye salmon which has a deep, red colour and contains the antioxidant astaxanthin which is great for your bladder, your immune system and for preventing Altzheimer, Parkinsons and other nervous system disorders... plus it's the most delicious around!

Here you have yourself a lovely spring salad, a great addition to any picnic spread and something that's maybe a tiny bit more sophisticated than what they used to serve at my high school caff' ;-)

Potato salad with watercress & smoked salmon
(serves 4 as a side or starter)

500 g small, new potatoes
2 shallots or 1 medium red onion (thinly sliced)
1 tbsp parsley (finely chopped)
2 handful watercress
400 g smoked wild salmon (I use Sockeye, sliced)

For the dressing:
1 tsp caster sugar
1 tbsp home-made mayonnaise
1 tsp wholegrain dijon mustard
pepper to taste
40 ml oil
50 ml cider vinegar

Cook the potatoes in salt water until soft, but retaining a bite, drain and refresh in ice-cold water. Leave to cool completely.
Prepare the marinade by combining all the ingredients in a jar with a lid, shake thoroughly to combine into a smooth emulsion.
To arrange the individual plates, combine the potatoes, shallots, parsley and watercress in a big bowl, pour over the dressing and toss until everything is evenly coated. Divide between plates and arrange the salmon slices on top.

Serve with toasted sourdough or your preferred bread.

Comments

[Sylvie]

Using new potatoes or baby potatoes is what I always do as well when I make potato salad. I sometimes peel them after cooking though. Just like in Austria, pretty much every houswife in Germany has a way of making great potato salads, so I grew up on them too. I like your additions, they certainly make it fit for company!

[Zabeena]

Snap, Sylvie.
My Mum, from Silesia, insisted on adding minced fish (grüner Hering?)and usually also added Fleischwurst, and my Dad's favourites were with watercress, or better still, lambs' lettuce. Here in Birmingham, no garden party of the German community happens without several different versions - some of which invariably turn out mushy.
I love the idea of adding salmon, especially for a picnic!

[Gourmet Chick]

This looks lovely and light (I don't like potato salad that is too mayonnaise heavy) and I love the addition of smoked salmon.

[Jeanne]

Potato salad - the gift that keeps on giving! I like it in nearly all its incarnations - mayonaissy, yoghurty, olive-oil-and-garlicky - you name it. ALso fell in love with cress when I got to the UK :) Love the combination fo flavours here!

[Niall Harbison]

You have nailed it with this recipe! Love dishes like this that are unpretencious but could just as easily be made at home as in a fancy restaurant. The only thing I would say is that the smoked salmon would of course have to be Irish!