Food Potato-Cucumber Salad from Austria

Here comes a classic potato-cucumber salad from Austria. A recipe by the famous austrian-german cook Johann Lafer. You can serve it lukewarm or cold to meat, classic would be Wiener Schnitzel, or fish and seafood.


Ingredients

1,2 kg waxy/salad potatoes
1 cucumber, sliced
1 shallot, chopped
100g bacon, cubed
1 tbsp mustard
20g butter
80 ml white wine vinegar
200 ml chicken broth
8 tbsp sunflower oil
1 bunch chives, chopped
optional: pumpkinseed oil


Preparation

1. Cook or steam the potatoes in water for 20-30min

A4170C0D-1EF4-4E6E-BF23-A1EE5361D821-300x225.jpeg



2. Meanwhile cook chopped shallot and bacon cubes in butter

80FE1B72-794F-435B-A9A8-CD1DC03D8F06-300x225.jpeg



3. Add vinegar, also add broth and let it reduce a bit on moderate heat for 5-10min

5103FCC4-72ED-45C2-BE0C-EBBD587D9E20-300x225.jpeg



4. Finally add mustard

9B1BFC29-5F68-4954-BBE5-9392A30EE0C9-300x225.jpeg



5. Peel cucumber and remove the inner core with a teaspoon

4A52D63B-CA52-4343-89A8-6BE563F95242-300x229.jpeg



6. When the potatoes are ready peel them and slice thinly(!) when they are still hot. Put in a salad bowl and also add cucumber slices

696CBD4D-9E79-41E6-9C87-14EA207E7BA1-300x225.jpeg



7. Add the warm broth and let it rest for 30min

C769486F-C0E7-499A-96F0-DF9E07612F9E-300x225.jpeg



8. Add salt&pepper and sunflower oil. Combine everything.

540E0FC9-4ED0-49F8-8D6C-501FC4B9E630-300x225.jpeg



9.Also add chives and if you have drizzle with a bit pumpkinseed oil

4ADDE6D3-B84D-4C88-9775-A12C1ECDE611-300x225.jpeg



10. Finally some additional chives on top. ENJOY

D79B9B22-D837-4EF2-8348-ACD316E6B86E-300x225.jpeg



P.S. the liquid was a bit too much in this original recipe, so I recommend 1,2 kg potatoes (me 1kg) and maybe 1,5kg would work too. Anyway despite too much liquid; very tasty
 
Last edited:
P.S. You can also made it without bacon cubes and use a veggie broth instead of chicken broth.

Like in Germany there are also regional differences regarding potato salad. I guess in Vienna they serve it without bacon to the famous Wiener Schnitzel. In contrast to the countryside with bacon.
 
Last edited:
Lovely recipe, Martin. They look like excellent potatoes, too - they always seem pleasingly yellow in Germany!

Didn't know you'd lived in Austria, Richard. How come, and what was it like? I toy with the idea of living near the alps, though perhaps good ole Brexit uncertainty makes that unwise. Who knows.
 
My father loved potato salad, a memory of his Berlin youth.It's usually though not always easier to buy suitable potatoes here these days, but it's a very difficult dish to make when they are floury. What kind are you using, Martin? the white interior compared to the yellow outside suggests to me that they are cooked quite al dente-is that because they soften further in the warm broth?
 
My father loved potato salad, a memory of his Berlin youth.It's usually though not always easier to buy suitable potatoes here these days, but it's a very difficult dish to make when they are floury. What kind are you using, Martin? the white interior compared to the yellow outside suggests to me that they are cooked quite al dente-is that because they soften further in the warm broth?


Good eye, Thom. YES, they were a bit al-dente. First I steamed them 20-25min which normally works, but they were clearly too much al-dente. Then I let them steam again 5-10min, but still a bit too al-dente. I was really frustrated and puzzled. Then I thought the hot broth would help which he did. But still clearly a bit al-dente. At the end of the day it was delicious. I think the potatoes were better used for Bratkartoffeln or made in the oven.

Fair to say if I would have to present this (!) Kartoffelsalat to my grandmother from whom I learned cooking she would be disappointed with me. Also the slices were sometimes a bit too thick. haha

I used festkochende potatoes.
 
Last edited:
Didn't know you'd lived in Austria, Richard. How come, and what was it like? I toy with the idea of living near the alps, though perhaps good ole Brexit uncertainty makes that unwise. Who knows.
I did a year in 1978 as the Englischer Lektor at the Handelsakademie 1 right near the Opernring in the first district. A fascinating year and Wien was a very different city then to now. In 1978 it looked back to the war and to its delayed independence thereafter. Now the city looks forward.
 
Top