Oktoberfest celebrates much more than just beer, it embraces the German culture and of course the delicious food. Kartoffelsalat is one of the traditional dishes that I truly enjoy. Properly prepared the texture and flavors are unparalleled to any mayonnaise based American salad I have had. The recipe is rather quite simple with few ingredients making the potato the star of the dish. So why not celebrate the season with a batch of Grußmutters salad, some sausages, and a stein of bier and relax and enjoy an easy old world dinner.
This past weekend we decided to take the train downtown and meet up with some friends at the Denver Oktoberfest. It had been a number of years since we had attended and in anticipation of our trip to Munich next week to visit the mother of all Oktoberfest’s, we thought it would be fun to check it out and really get in the spirit of things. For some reason Denver Oktoberfest is one of the largest celebrations in the country hosting some 350,00 people over six days. While these numbers are small compared to the real deal, that’s a lot of folks, and any time you throw that many people together with beer, music, and food…… well it is just bound to be a good time.
People watching at any event of this size is always fun, and this festival seemed to have it all. This evening also happened to coincide with the Great American Beer Festival, a Colorado Rockies Game, and a Tim Burton Nightmare before Christmas celebration. So between people in lederhosen and dirndls, skeleton and ghoul costumes, Microbrew aficionados, and Rockies fans it was quite the mix. We enjoyed “several” brews while we mingled and listened to a band or two, and also found the beer keg bowling quite entertaining. We decided upon a vendor selling brats and weisswurst for a snack. You don’t commonly see weißwüst, which is one of my favorites, so we grabbed one and enjoyed it in the beer tent. I was a bit disappointed at the limited offerings of German food. Of course there were giant soft pretzels and strudel, but other than that, brats were about it, and no kartoffelsalat to go with the sausages! So there was only one thing to do, go home and make some. So I did, and it was delicious! Maybe next year I should get a booth……
Making the salad is really rather easy and requires very few ingredients. One of the keys to an authentic dish is the preparation of the potatoes. Normally you would peel, dice and boil, however traditional German salad requires a different approach. The potatoes need to be boiled whole, then peeled and sliced. This method creates a completely different texture to the potato which allows it to soak up the marinade giving the salad a deep rich flavor.
I use a stock pot and fill it two thirds of the way with water so the potatoes are well submerged. Because of the length of time it takes to boil the spuds, quite a bit of water will evaporate so you need to start with plenty. It can take anywhere from 30 to 50 minutes to boil the potatoes depending on their size. The potatoes need to be cooked “fork tender” but I find a skewer is the best way to test the potatoes. Whole potatoes hold quite a bit of heat, so make sure to let them cool until you can easily handle them. Running them under cool water will speed up the process a bit. Gently scraping the skin with a paring knife will remove it and it will often peel in rather large strips leaving the surface with the desired rough texture.
Allow the potatoes to soak up the marinade for at least an hour. Drain any excess marinade off before adding the chives and salt and pepper. Go easy on the salt as the vinegar tends to amplify the flavor. The salad is traditionally served at room temperature or while slightly warm. For an authentic German dinner serve the kartoffelsalat with some steamed wieners, a bit of mustard and horseradish and you are set. That’s it! So simple.
- 2 pounds small Yukon Gold potatoes boiled whole
- 2 tbsp oil
- 2-3 strips bacon small diced
- 1 medium onion finely diced
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1/3 cup white wine vinegar
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1 bunch of chives chopped and garnish
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Wash potatoes and place whole and unpeeled in a large pan of water. Boil until fork tender, 30 – 40 minutes, time will depend on size of potatoes.
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Drain potatoes and allow to cool until safe to handle. Peel boiled potatoes with a paring knife. Slice cooled potatoes in ¼ slices and place in a large heat resistant bowl.
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Cut the bacon into small cubes.
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Peel onion and finely dice.
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Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add bacon and cook until beginning to crisp, then add onions and continue cooking until onions are translucent. Add broth and vinegar and stir, heat until mixture begins to bubble.
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Pour hot marinade over the potatoes and toss to mix. Allow the potato salad to stand at room temperature for at least 1 hour to absorb the marinade. Strain off an excess marinade.
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Season with salt and pepper and mix well.
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Reserve some long chives for garnish, and cut the remainder into small pieces. Mix the chives in the salad and taste. Season with salt and pepper as needed.
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Serve salad at room temperature.
Cooking the potatoes whole and then peeling them is key to this dish. It creates a different texture than the usual peel, cut, and boil that allows the marinade to absorb in to the potatoes.
For a traditional German meal serve the room temperature salad with some steamed wieners or bratwurst, that's it! Genießen!
