Treat your taste buds this Oktoberfest with German potato salad

Sometimes recipes I share for ethnic foods strike a chord.

Like my family’s German potato salad, popular at Oktoberfest celebrations. When my editor, Stephen Wilder, made it a couple of years ago, his comment was “everyone loved it.”

I was brought up on middle eastern food, so my first taste of German potato salad from my husband’s aunt Marg was a defining food moment for me.

One bite was sweet – the next tangy. My taste buds were experiencing a flavor profile that I had not had before.

My German mother-in-law, Clara, made a yummy German potato salad, as well, but her “receipt," as she called it, was never written down. Like so many heirloom recipes, it was passed to each generation in a “watch how I make this” fashion. So it took me a few tries to replicate this beloved potato salad.

Here’s the recipe, tweaked a bit, along with a light cucumber dill salad that takes minutes to make and is a little sweet and a little sour. Both salads are perfect sides to pan fried schnitzel.

If you make German potato salad and it’s different from this, let me know, ok?

Clara’s stovetop German potato salad

Want a sharper tasting sauce? Add more vinegar – more sugar if you like it sweeter.

Red or Yukon Gold are less starchy than baking potatoes so they don’t break up much. But go ahead and use whatever you have.

Ingredients

6 cups or so boiled potatoes, peeled or not, sliced 1/4” thick

1/2 pound or so thick bacon, cut into small pieces, then fried and set aside. Save drippings.

1 yellow onion diced (not sweet onion)

3 ribs celery, diced

2 tablespoons flour

2/3 cup cider vinegar or to taste

1/3 cup water or to taste

3-4 tablespoons sugar or to taste

Salt and pepper

Parsley for garnish (optional)

Instructions

While potatoes are cooking, make sauce:

Cook onion and celery in drippings until tender but not brown.

Sprinkle flour over, stir and add vinegar and water. It will look lumpy. Boil until slightly thickened, whisking as you go, then stir in sugar, salt and pepper.

Put potatoes and bacon in bowl, pour dressing over and blend gently.

Let sit a bit to absorb flavors and adjust seasonings.

Serve warm or chilled.

Cucumber dill salad

Let salad sit for 20 minutes, then adjust seasonings if you like. Recipe doubles or triples and keeps in the refrigerator for a couple of days.

Ingredients

1 unpeeled English cucumber, thinly sliced

A little more than 1/4 medium red onion, thinly sliced

1/4 cup cider vinegar

2 tablespoons sugar or equivalent substitute

About 1 tablespoon dried dill leaves (or about 3 tablespoons fresh)

Salt to taste

Instructions

Mix cucumber and onion together.

Whisk remaining ingredients together and pour over salad.

Give it a few good stirs.

Gilding the lily:

Tear up nasturtium flowers or leaves (a natural pepper substitute) and sprinkle on top for a spicy bite and pop of color.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: This Oktoberfest, try out this German potato salad recipe