Oma’s German Potato Salad
Germans and potato salad—a match made in heaven, right? At least, that’s what I thought, standing in the kitchen, determined to surprise my then-boyfriend (now-husband) who was busy tending to the garden.
Armed with a cookery book I found lurking in the kitchen cupboard, I excitedly flipped to the potato salad recipe. It began with a cheerful, “Man nehme Pellkartoffeln und schneidet sie in feine Scheiben...”
Hold on a second. “Pellkartoffeln? What exactly does that mean?”
A quick check in the dictionary told me it means “potatoes in their skins.”
You’d think a whizz-kid like me, who did well in cooking theory exams at school, wouldn’t struggle with this. But cooking theory is one thing. Actual cooking? Now that’s a whole new game.
So, there I was, scrubbing and slicing potatoes as thin as paper, and tossing them into my salad dressing. All while keeping it hush-hush so as not to spoil the surprise.
Fast forward a few hours. Dinner time came. I served my pride and joy—my potato salad.
And can you guess what happened next?
My boyfriend burst out laughing. “Oh dear, Christine,” he said, wiping a tear from his eye. ”Pellkartoffeln means potatoes COOKED in their skins!”
Can you believe it? Talk about a facepalm moment. 🤦
Has anything similar happened to you before? I’d love to know.
So what did I learn?
- There’s no shame in saying, “Hey, I’m not sure what this means.“
- Mistakes happen, but that’s how we learn. In the end, the experience (and hopefully the delicious food) is what matters most.
Have you had any similar cooking mishaps?
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