A head scratching potato salad from the early ‘80s

[Mosca]

Okay, the potato salad itself is a pretty straightforward potato-egg affair; dill can be divisive, but it’s optional, and that’s okay.

But the dressing…. Flour? Egg yolks? Milk? Butter? “Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly…” WHUT?

I try to be open minded about recipes. I am acutely aware that there are ways we expect things to taste, and that I can be resistant when my expectations aren’t met.

BUT THIS IS POTATO SALAD. Even within the bounds of what we expect from potato salad, a dozen people can show up at a pot luck with a dozen different potato salads that will all taste completely different. And I guarantee you not a single one of them will have flour, or milk, or butter in it.

There’s a reason potato salad has become canonical, and that is exactly why: within its boundaries, it is nevertheless infinitely customizable. The boundaries evolved organically, and stupid variations were discarded as inferior, or (as is most likely here, because this obviously didn’t stick) as needlessly complicated and fussy.

This probably tastes okay, but not better, so not worth the extra foofala. I might give this a shot on a small scale, some day when I should be doing something more productive but would rather waste money and time.

[DaveD]

I read this as there being two recipes on that clipping: one for the potato salad, and the other for a salad dressing, and the two are unrelated to one another. The recipe that's continued from a previous page ends with the three centered asterisks. There are also three centered asterisks at the bottom of the potato salad recipe, which I take to denote "this is the end of this recipe". Then the salad dressing recipe begins.

Occam's Razor...

[Mosca]

I had to look at it for a bit, too.

Make the vegetable mixture, and refrigerate overnight. Add the eggs and the dressing the next day, and the optional dill if desired.

[Alan Brice]

Wow! DaveD a principle often attributed to 14th century Scholastic philosopher William of Ockham (1285-1347/49) "plurality should not be posited without necessity."
I am going to impress the wife with that one. ; - {))> pray for me.

[DaveD]

Mosca, I stand corrected, you're exactly right. So yeah - very weird!

[DaveD]

And can I say I am really digging these recipes from days gone by! Thanks for doing the historical research!

[SheilaAnn]

Very odd dressing indeed. I did a double take on the dressing as well, but it looks like it is meant for the potato veggie mix. I agree with you Mosca very odd. It’s like a savory crème anglaise.

🤢 for potato salad

[SheilaAnn]

Mosca I’ve got a bunch of clippings and all from my grandma and aunties if you’re interested. I had a post about them a while back, but I can’t find it now.

[STEbbq]

Are you actually keeping these recipes after
posting or tossing them?

[Mosca]

Once I photograph them, I don’t need the clippings. They were folded into old cookbooks in the garage, and some of those had gotten wet and were musty. The ones I like, I’m copying into Paprika, and using the photo with the entry. When everything is copied, the actual clippings are gone.

Back then, you would get a bbq sauce recipe three times a year: the week before Memorial Day, before Independence Day, and before Labor Day. Now I can Google bbq sauce and get… 651,000,000 hits in .57 seconds

[texastweeter]

I'd do it. For sure

[acorgihouse]

I wondered, has to be two recipes? I pulled out some of the ancient cookbooks I have, from my aunt, my gm and my mom. The most applicable, ie. American cooking, is the Fannie Farmer Cookbook that belonged to my aunt. Was inscribed to her in 1962 by the relative who gave to her, and has basic American cooking. Even there, the potato salads (US and German) use prepared mayo and mustard, and vinegar, nothing cooked like this. Same with the egg salads. If I were really curious, I'd cook it up and see, with no expectations. I would also consider that our cooking methods, ingredient availability, and overall palates are far beyond back then. Older isn't always better.

[Mosca]

It may be a separate recipe for salad dressing, but it is referenced in the first recipe, so 🤷🏻♂️? But I agree, this is sloppy writing and/or editing.

I like to watch Glen and Friends YouTube recipes, where he makes things from old cookbooks. Poor instructions are a common theme, and he says that often things that were obvious to people at the time are meaningless now. But this just looks like sloppiness to me. Maybe someone was hung over and just needed to get the morning paper out.

[Mosca]

Oh, btw, I have that Fannie Farmer cookbook, too, the 1974 edition, and also Joy from back then as well!

[Prof Bunky]

This is a cooked dressing, not at all uncommon for the time. 'Salad dressing' AKA Miracle Whip, may be similar.

—says the Mrs.

[DavidNorcross]

Looks sweet to me. The sugar in the dressing is just not to my taste in a potato salad.

[STEbbq]

I rarely eat potato salad. In fact, I usually eat chicken potato salad. I guess it never really occurred to me that I was just eating potato salad mixes that sucked. Now I suppose I need to deconstruct my potato salad to find my own custom blend that I like. I mean, it is a nice lunch snack done right.

[SmokeyGator]

The 60s and 70s were dark times for recipies. I have seen some that put canned tuna in jello to make some kind of cat food that people ate.

Anyhow I blame Quaaludes. But even after they were banned, some horrible things carried over into the early 80s. Probably because of cocaine. Miami Vice was not just a TV show and Scarface was not just a movie. Both were documentaries.