The food lab better home cooking through science ( PDFDrive ) 973

FINGERLINGPOTATO
SALAD
WITHCREAMYVINAIGRETTE
I’ve made simple vinaigrette-dressed potato salads in the
past—they tend to work pretty well with the firm lowstarch fingerling-style potatoes you find in the spring. I
actually like the cleaner, sharper flavors, which really
allow the potatoes to shine. But they’re never quite as
satisfying as a real creamy, mayo-based potato salad
texture-wise (like the Classic American Potato Salad
here).Whattodo?Whynotusethepowerofthepotatoes
themselvestocreamify†mydressing?
I knew that the starch granules naturally present in a
potato could be a powerful natural thickener, adding
richness and creaminess to otherwise thin sauces. I
initially tried mashing a few of my cooked fingerlings to
see if I could get them to form a creamy coating, but it
didn’t work. Those small, young potatoes are so low in
starch and so firm textured that they never really get
smooth and creamy unless you go so far as to pass them
throughatamisorfine-meshstrainer.
MucheasierwastojustaddasingleYukonGoldpotato
to the mix and then fish out a few pieces of it after
cooking all the potatoes, along with a bit of the starchy
cooking liquid. I added the chunks and the liquid to the
base for my dressing (a simple vinaigrette made with the


vinegar, whole-grain mustard, shallots, and sweet pickle
relish), then started smashing. Once the potatoes were
relatively smooth, I slowly whisked in some extra-virgin
olive oil. I ended up with a semi-loose yet creamy

vinaigrettethathadtheadvantageofbright,freshacidity
and a texture that didn’t dilute any of the wonderful,
subtleflavorsofthefingerlingpotatoes.
Just a few more seasonings and textural elements—
sugar, pepper, celery, parsley, capers, and sliced shallots
—andmynewlightfingerlingpotatosaladwasborn.And
whatadeliciousbabyitwas.