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Potato Salad

A salad of boiled potatoes mixed with a dressing of butter, flour, corn starch, mustard, salt, sugar, vinegar, olive oil, and egg yolk.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Potato and corn match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 938 recipes. Both carry (e)-2-octenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Potato Salad

Ingredients

Directions

Make the dressing

  1. Cook four good-sized potatoes with skins on until tender.

  2. While the potatoes are cooking, melt one tablespoon butter.

  3. Add two level tablespoons corn starch to the melted butter.

  4. Add one tablespoon flour to the mixture.

  5. When blended, add one cup warm water and cook until thickened.

  6. Mix together one-fourth teaspoon mustard, one-half teaspoon salt, one teaspoon sugar, and the yolk of one egg.

  7. Add the mixture to the cooked sauce with one-fourth cup vinegar.

  8. Remove from heat and add two tablespoons olive oil, beating thoroughly.

  9. Cover and keep hot.

Assemble and chill

  1. Peel and slice the hot potatoes.

  2. Dust lightly with salt and pepper.

  3. Sprinkle a few drops of onion juice over each layer.

  4. Put dressing on each layer.

  5. Cover the dish and set aside for several hours, if possible, before serving.

  6. Serve very cold on lettuce leaves, with finely chopped parsley sprinkled over top.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

970Calories
24 gProtein
32 gFat
146 gCarbs

Counts 9 of 10 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Mustard1 tsp (5g) yellow3
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Potato + corntop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together938 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  2. Olive + potatotop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,458 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

  3. Mustard + potatotop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,340 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Mustard + olivetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,950 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Potatoes
Form the bulk of the salad and absorb the dressing as they are layered.
Corn starch
Thickens the cooked sauce so it clings to the potato slices.
Egg yolk
Emulsifies the oil and vinegar into a smooth, creamy dressing.
Butter
Adds richness and flavour to the base of the sauce.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that brightens the dressing and balances the richness.
Olive oil
Adds fat that gives the dressing body and a smooth mouthfeel.

The step that matters

Adding the oil off the heat while beating thoroughly. Adding oil to a very hot starch sauce can cause it to separate or turn greasy. Removing the pan from heat first and beating well helps the oil disperse evenly into the dressing.

Swap the potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, mustard, sugar, vinegar, olive, butter, corn):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Lettucefits better
  4. Potatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, mustard, sugar, vinegar, olive, butter, corn. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

More potato salad recipes

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