Essay on Potato Salad

Everybody knows the recipe for a potato salad, right? Mayo, mustard for the base and then relish, cheddar cheese, potatoes and eggs. The seasonings are paprika, salt and pepper.  Potato salad is such a basic recipe but it's also one that hits the spot in summer.  Here are a few of my thoughts on how to make yours better.

The secret to potato salad is layering! My mother says it is an equal ratio of eggs to potatoes, but I found that was too many eggs. I'm saying 1 egg to 1 and a half potatoes.  So you start with your base. Add mayo and mustard until you get a nice light yellow color. Add 1 and 1/2 potatoes, diced into bite sized pieces. Dice a boiled egg.

Sprinkle salt, pepper and paprika over this layer. (This is the key!)
Spoon a dollop of sweet pickle relish.
Sprinkle with cheddar cheese.
Do not stir, and repeat layers three or four times.

Mix together carefully. This stuff is soft and you need to be gentle.

Now for the top, sprinkle additional cheese and give it good going over with your paprika and salt and pepper.  I have found this to make a huge difference in the flavor.  I think probably most potato salads are under salted and the salad loses its flavor.

Also, letting it set in the fridge helps a lot. Potato salad needs to be cold and it helps the flavors meld together if it spends some time in the fridge. See if it helps your recipe. I made some last week and felt like I had oversalted it, guess what? Tasted just fine! You know how potatoes soak up salt, so go for it.