Potatoes · Recipe · Swabia · Reference page
Schwäbischer Kartoffelsalat
Schwäbischer Kartoffelsalat / Grombiresalat
Waxy potatoes boiled, peeled while still warm and thinly sliced, then left to soak up hot stock with vinegar, mustard and onion before oil and chives are folded in. No mayonnaise. The recipe is from the German potato industry's marketing body, KMG.
- Servings
- 4
- Preparation
- 15 min
- Cooking
- 25 min
- Resting
- 30 min
- Total
- 1 h 10
- Difficulty
- Easy
Equipment
- Large saucepan
- Small saucepan for the stock
- Mandoline or sharp knife; large bowl
Ingredients
Method
Boil the potatoes in their skins in plenty of salted water for about 25 minutes, until done.
Timer · 25 min25:00Meanwhile dice the onion finely. Bring the stock to the boil and season it well with salt.
Drain the potatoes, let them cool a little and peel them while still lukewarm. Slice them thinly or shave them on a mandoline.
Why Warm potatoes drink up the dressing; cold ones only get coated by it.
Mix the hot stock with the mustard, vinegar and onion, pour it over the potatoes and leave for about 30 minutes.
Timer · 30 min30:00Add the oil and fold in carefully. Season with salt and pepper and scatter with the chives.
Why Oil goes in last: added first, it would coat the slices and stop them absorbing the stock. Some slices break as you mix, which is wanted: the salad should be creamy and glossy.
To drink & serve with
Editorial suggestion: the usual partner in Swabia is a schnitzel, Maultaschen or Leberkäse.
- Käsespätzle
From the same Swabian kitchen.
Substitutions
- Vegetable stock → Beef stock, which many Swabian cooks use (and which makes the salad non-vegetarian).
- Chives → Finely sliced spring onion.
Common mistakes
- Using floury potatoes: they collapse into mash.
- Dressing cold potatoes: the salad stays dry.
- Adding the oil first.
Storage & reheating
Best the day it is made, at room temperature. Refrigerate within 2 hours and eat within 2 days; let it come back to room temperature and check the seasoning.
Safety
Contains mustard, sulphites (wine vinegar) and often celery (many vegetable stocks): check the stock label. Cooked potatoes left warm can grow bacteria; refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours.
Allergens
Mustard · Celery · Sulphites
Check labels: stock, bacon and sauces can contain further allergens.
Dietary
vegan
Potato salad without mayonnaise
In the south-west of Germany potato salad is dressed with hot stock, vinegar and oil, not mayonnaise. The recipe here is published by the Kartoffel-Marketing GmbH, the joint marketing body of the German potato trade and growers. Its method is the classic one: waxy potatoes are peeled while still lukewarm, sliced thinly and left for half an hour in hot, well-salted stock with vinegar, mustard and onion, and only then is the oil folded in.
Broken slices are the point
KMG notes that some of the slices fall apart as you mix, and that this is exactly what is wanted in a Swabian potato salad. The broken pieces thicken the stock into a creamy, glossy dressing that binds the salad without any egg or mayonnaise.
