FRESHLY dug potatoes are at the market and the weather is warm, so it’s a good time for potato salad. I don’t mean a pale scoop next to a grilled sausage. I want more of a meal: savory, garlicky, shot through with anchovy and capers and herbs, and topped with skinny green beans and hard-cooked eggs.
If this sounds like a pared-down salade niçoise, it is. Yes, there are countless variations on that Provençal classic, and many include tomatoes, peppers, lettuce and good canned tuna.
But I know a French cook who swears that the original was about potatoes, beans, anchovy and nothing more. Purists, food historians and other culinary zealots may disagree. In fact, many cooks from the region insist that only raw vegetables can make it authentic.
That’s fine. Let them use their preferred ingredients. When good sweet tomatoes and peppers appear here, I might be inclined to add them myself.
My version is easy. Make a bold vinaigrette that is unapologetically fragrant with garlic and anchovy. Boil medium-size potatoes in their skins. Choose a yellow-fleshed potato like Yukon Gold or Yellow Finn, if possible. (I find the texture better than red or white boilers.) Peel, slice and dress them while they are still slightly warm.
Look for the smallest, tender beans. They can be true haricots verts or French beans, or a mixture of other runner types, like small Blue Lake or yellow wax or even flat romano beans. Give them a brief simmering and a cool rinse to keep them bright.
You can do all of the work in advance, then combine the elements on a big platter just before serving, with a lightly dressed arugula salad on the side and a bowl of olives.
Authentic, traditional or somewhere in-between, maybe we’ll just call this a potato salad with a southern French accent and let it go at that. My guests the other night agreed it made for a satisfying early summer supper, served at room temperature with a bottle of crisp cold rosé.
sumber dari: nytimes.com
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