Salade Cauchoise

Salade cauchoise is a simple, savoury potato salad from Normandy. Potatoes, cream, ham and celery form the base. This version is deliberately kept classic and provides a good starting point for variations.

Serves: 4
Preparation: approx. 10 minutes
Cooking: approx. 20 minutes
Total time: approx. 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 750 g small waxy potatoes (for example baby potatoes)
• 3 sticks celery
• 150 g thick slice of cooked ham
• 100 ml whipping cream or crème fraîche (preferably from Normandy)
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar (preferably Norman apple cider vinegar)
• A few sprigs of chervil
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

• Wash the potatoes thoroughly. Peeling is not necessary for young, thin-skinned baby potatoes.
• Wash the celery and remove any strings from the outside.
• Set aside a few nice leaves for garnish.
• Slice the sticks into thin half-moons.
• Cut the thick slice of ham into small cubes.
• Pick the chervil leaves from the sprigs.
• Finely chop the chervil and keep some back for garnish.

Method

1. Boil the potatoes
   Put the potatoes in a large pan of cold water with a generous pinch of salt. Bring to the boil and cook the potatoes for 15–20 minutes, depending on their size, until tender. Drain and let the potatoes steam-dry briefly in the hot pan so they become a little drier.
2. Dress the potatoes
   Let the potatoes cool slightly until lukewarm. Then slice them thinly and put them in a large bowl. Drizzle the apple cider vinegar over the lukewarm potatoes and gently toss so all the slices get a little vinegar.
3. Mix the salad
   Add the celery half-moons and the ham cubes to the potatoes. Pour the whipping cream or crème fraîche over the salad. Toss everything very gently so the potato slices stay as intact as possible. Season generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Taste and adjust if necessary. Finally, stir in most of the chopped chervil and keep a little back for finishing.
4. Serve the salade cauchoise
   Divide the salade cauchoise between plates or generous bowls. Garnish with the reserved chervil and a few celery leaves. Serve lukewarm or at room temperature; that is when the flavour is at its best.