Sam's Härdöpfu Salad
Härdöpfu is one of the Swiss German words for potato (depending where you live the pronunciation and spelling vary).
A quick google search comes up with some Swiss potato recipes, as well as numerous German to Swiss German lexicons explaining what the word means. This Bärndütsch one clarifies that the word can also be used to express zero points, a 'Nuller', when you are playing Jass or another sport or card game.
This potato salad is far from a Härdöpfu.
In fact, Sam's potato salad is easily my favourite carb based side salad. I was unfamiliar with the mayonnaise-free potato salads of southern Germany, so his tart, mustardy, salad was a delightful surprise.
Without such a rich and creamy base, I find this a better potato salad for a hot summer day. It still has an element of creaminess—the potatoes mush together to meld with the sauce—and richness—from the beef stock—so it is just as satisfying, only lighter (and much less likely to give you food poisoning after sitting on a picnic table out in the sun).
1 kg potatoes, peeled
250 ml beef stock
1 onion, chopped
100 ml vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp mustard
50 ml vegetable oil
Chives to garnish
In a medium pot of salted water, boil the peeled potatoes until they are cooked through (when pierced with a paring knife they should easily fall back into the water).
Meanwhile, bring the beef stock and onion to a boil, take off the heat and stir in the vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper, and mustard.
Once they are cool enough to touch, chop the potatoes in rounds and put them in a large bowl. Pour over the hot stock mixture.
Let cool. Once it has stopped steaming, cover and put in the fridge until serving.
Just before serving, drizzle the oil on top and mix well.
Garnish with chives.
- Generally, firm cooking potatoes are used, however it is also nice to use small new potatoes, halved, with the skin left on.
- According to Sam's taste, there should actually be two or three more onions added to the broth.
- Other additions to the salad could be hard boiled egg, bits of crispy bacon, raw onions, or apple.
More Swiss summer salads?
Cervelat Salat
