I always used to think potato salad had to be served cold and slathered in mayonnaise until, as a young head chef in the City, one of my chefs who was German introduced me to this. It included my favourite spice, cumin. We served it with black pudding as an appetiser and I’ve used it ever since with meats, fish, sausages and as a sharing salad for feasts. It also goes particularly well with smoked fish. 

Timings

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 40 minutes 

Serves 

4

Ingredients

For the potatoes

  • 600g large new potatoes, peeled
  • 4 medium shallots, peeled and finely chopped 
  • ½ tsp ground cumin 
  • 2 tsp cumin seeds 
  • 180ml chicken or vegetable stock 
  • 2 tbsp white wine vinegar or cider vinegar 
  • 2 tbsp finely chopped parsley
  • 3½ tbsp olive or rapeseed oil

For the dressing

  • 1tbsp cider vinegar
  • 1 tbsp grain mustard
  • 1tsp Tewkesbury or Dijon mustard
  • 3 tbsp rapeseed oil
  • 4 fillets of smoked mackerel

Method

  1. Cook the potatoes in a large pot of boiling, salted water until just tender. This should take roughly 10 minutes. Drain and allow to cool for five minutes before slicing into rings about ½cm thick. 
  2. Put the shallots in a medium pan with the ground cumin and cumin seeds, stock and vinegar. Place over a medium heat and simmer gently until almost completely reduced. 
  3. Add the sliced potatoes, season and stir well. 
  4. Cover and cook gently over a low heat for 10-12 minutes giving the occasional stir. The liquid should have almost disappeared and the potatoes should be starting to fall apart. Stir in the parsley and 3 tbsp of oil, season to taste and cover until required. 
  5. Whisk the dressing ingredients together and season if necessary.
  6. Drizzle the mackerel fillets with the remaining ½ tbsp of oil. Either warm them in the oven preheated to 180C/160C fan/gas mark 4  for a few minutes or leave them at room temperature. Pile the potatoes on plates, place the fish on top and spoon the dressing around.

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