Warm Potato Salad

/ December 24, 2014

Christmas Eve is a busy affair in Germany, between singing carols, opening presents and attending church late at night, these is not much time left for dinner. For this reason, most families have a simple but nevertheless substantial supper, with potato salad and sausages being the most popular option.

Traditionally the Christmas tree is put up on that day and decorated, often with traditional wooden figures like the ones on our tree:German Christmas tree decorations
They are from the Erzgebirge region in Eastern Germany, where they are still turned and decorated by hand. These figured have been adorning our tree all through my childhood, until my mum decided that we were old enough to deal with a more stylish tree, all decorated in white and silver.

Needless to say we were not impressed. But my mum kept them all in a safe place for the time we had our own children, who would appreciate the colourful toys.German Christmas tree decorations 2

Over the years, we have added countless ornaments, such as this pretty knitted robin, made by a friend of mine.Robin

Once the tree is up, the waiting game begins. In fact, Christmas Eve is spent waiting all day for the arrival of the Christkind. the angel who brings our presents at nightfall of the 24th. As I mentioned before, the Christkind had been invented by Martin Luther to replace St Nicholas as the bringer of gifts. In many houses the living room is locked to prevent the children disturbing the angel, and a little bell sounds when it is ready. My whole childhood was spent yearning for an encounter with the Christkind, but every year something came in the way and I missed it. I am sure I was not alone.

At around 5 or 6, the little bell would sound and we were allowed to enter the living room to see the tree, glowing with the soft light of the candles, as well as the countless presents the Christkind had left for us. Now we only had to sing a few carols and recite a poem or two before we were allowed to open them. Finally.
As you can see, food doesn’t really come into this. Although some families, like my friend Christian’s, make the children sit through a proper Christmas dinner, hours of it, before they are allowed to even touch their presents. Until one of them is so anxious that they throw up all over the beautiful table linens, which in turn leads to a complete reassessment of that particular tradition and usually ends up adapting a more child-friendly routine. Unfortunately that child was his little nephew, so the change came too late for poor Christian.
The most popular meal on Christmas Eve is therefore a simple potato salad, served with sausages and lettuce on the side. Easy to prepare, quick to eat, and substantial enough to keep you happy all through the late-night church service or midnight mass …Potato salad and sausages 2
Warm Potato Salad (serves 6)
  • 1.5 kg small salad potatoes
  • 1 onion, very finely chopped
  • 2 tsp dijon mustard
  • 7 tbs white wine vinegar
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1/2 tsp sugar
  • 300ml beef or vegetetable stock
  • 50ml vegetable oil
  • 1/2 bunch chives, finely chopped
Boil the potatoes and peel them while they are still fairly hot. Heat up the stock.Potato Salad potatoes
In your serving bowl, mix the mustard, vinegar, salt, pepper and sugar, add the chopped onions and cut the luke-warm potatoes into thin slices directly into the dressing.Potato Salad cutting
Pour half of the heated stock over the potatoes, toss them very carefully, then cover the bowl and let it stand for around 20 minutes.Potato Salad adding consomme
Ideally, the stock should have been soaked up by the potatoes – check before you add the rest of the stock as you want the salad to be wet, but not swimming in the stock!Potato Salad cut
Cover and leave for another 15 minutes. Before serving, add the oil and toss the salad carefully so that you don’t break the slices unnecessarily. Decorate with the chives and serve.Potato Salad finished
At Christmas Eve, we have it with Frankfurters, which I heated up in hot water, as well as some mustard and a side salad. I chose lamb’s lettuce – the very lettuce Rapunzel’s mother craved in the fairy tale – as it goes perfectly with Hänsel and Gretel’s gingerbread house.Potato salad and sausages 1
What are you folks eating at Christmas Eve? I am sure you wouldn’t want to overdo it either, especially with Christmas Day coming up so soon ..
Merry Christmas, and Fröhliche Weihnachten!

 

 

 

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29 thoughts on “Warm Potato Salad”

  5. Merry Christmas Ginger, I love your potato salad and frankfurters. German potato salad is wonderful and perfectly paired with the sausage. I’ve never seen that lettuce before, it almost looks like basil. It’s beautiful.

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  7. Marry Christmas to you and your family Ginger! Have a wonderful and joyful holidays! And of course let it be filled with lots of sweets, cakes and other delicious meals! Hugs!
    The potato salad looks very tasty, I do like such potato dishes. 🙂

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  10. Thanks so much for sharing the stories and traditions! I loved hearing about them. Funny, my Mom did the same thing with our Christmas ornaments – I think she just got to the point where the big tree was too much and she wanted to simplify and after years of sustaining tradition, after we were all on her own, she wanted to do what she wanted!:)

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  11. Oh, and I forgot, I’ve always wanted to try a “real” German potato salad! I’m excited to try it – and we always have my sloppy joes on Christmas eve, an accidental tradition my mom started because we felt the same way – Christmas eve should be something simple and easy.

    This year I traveled to Georgia to spend Christmas with my brother and his family and my daughter and hers – so I was able to make them on Christmas eve for my daughter, son in law and their four children. A tradition passed on.

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      • The winters here are moderate, it’s ranging from 40’s at night to about 55 during the day, and sometimes it gets cold enough to snow, or even colder. Summer is a different story, and I have yet to visit then! I would melt, being used to my much cooler Minnesota climate! 🙂 This is the first Christmas without snow.

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