King of Potluck Celery and Potato Salad
One of our favourite things to bring to a potluck or a picnic is our celery and potato salad. One of the ultimate comfort foods, this salad brings some additional freshness and crunch with bits of celery. It’s a welcome addition to any party – or as something to eat at home when you need a bit more comfort in your life. Want to mix it up? Add some diced green apple, or some diced sweet dill pickles. Going the extra mile? Make your own mayo: a matter of having superfresh eggs, lemon juice, olive oil and pepper.
Potato salad is generally believed to have originated in Germany: German potato salad has been called “one of the great triumphs of traditional German cuisine”. In 2001, an Atlantic food writer visited Lübeck for a definitive version of this original potato salad:
I arrived in time to go out with the last herring expedition before local fishermen headed to colder waters for the summer. And I absorbed very useful salad-making tips from a woman descended from a line of professional women cooks. The surprisingly light and intensely flavored German potato salad—tangy from vinegar and subtly oniony, with the note of sweetness common to all the region’s salads—comes as a revelation to people used to bland, mayonnaise-slathered salads that weigh down plates at barbecues. (It’s a far safer picnic and buffet dish, too, given that warm mayonnaise is an ideal bacteria-growing environment.)
European-style potato salad is warm, served with olive oil or vinegar, and herbs. American-style potato salad generally has mayonnaise: though as with many much-loved dishes, there are many variations across families and states, often served cold.
Serves 4x Picnic Guests
10 minPrep Time
20 minCook Time
30 minTotal Time
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Ingredients
- 1 whole Celery Heart
- 2kg of cocktail potatoes
- 6 tbsp of whole egg mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp of whole grain mustard
- ½ bunch of dill, picked and chopped
- ½ bunch of parsley, picked and chopped
- 1 lemon, squeezed
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Boil potatoes in water until a fork slides in easily, then cut in half and peel. Alternatively, if you need this salad in a hurry, cut the potatoes into quarters before boiling them.
- Cut up the cooked potatoes into bite-sized chunks.
- Dice or chop some celery, no need to be fancy.
- Mix the mayo with mustard and herbs.
- Stir them into a bowl with the peeled potato chunks and all remaining ingredients.
- Season with lemon juice, salt and pepper.