A cooking miracle!

I had a yearning for homemade potato salad tonight, so I made some.

I've been reading Salt, Fat, Acid Heat - a cookbook focusing on those 4 qualities.

I'm in the Acid section, so I decided to add some vinegar to the salad - not a normal part of the recipe, though I do use vinegar frequently.

And lo and behold - before the vinegar the salad was perfect - exactly tasted the way I wanted it to. After the vinegar - yuck. All you could taste was the vinegar. I was very sad. I had over-vinegared.

So I set about trying to correct the vinegar. Added some salt. Meh. Boiled some more potatoes and mixed them in. Nope.

So I googled "how do you correct too much acid in a recipe"

And effing google tells me to add baking soda to it. So I mixed about a tbsp of baking soda with some mayo, and mixed it into the salad.

Tasted it ten minutes later. The salad literally buzzed my tongue. Google tells me - wait till the bubbles subside.

Tasted it 90  minutes later.

Almost as good as the pre-vinegar state!

I was very impressed. I've tried to correct for seasonings in the past, and have never really been successful. So to me, this was a miracle. The vinegar literally vanished. (well, 90% anyway)

Effing Science! It works!

Does anyone know any other esoteric recipe tricks?

That’s fabulous, but vinegar belongs in potato salad.   

I don't disagree, but not as much as I added. I way over-splashed. All you could taste was the vinegar. yuck.

marylago said:

That’s fabulous, but vinegar belongs in potato salad.   

lololol, really

eta:  Said with all respect, db!  Sounds like something I would do, except for the part about cooking more potatoes.

Next time try some lemon juice for the acid kick.  We use it in all kinds of salads including macaroni and potato.  It “brightens” any dish with fat and especially pairs well with mayo. 

I like this cookbook for just that reason:  https://www.amazon.com/Science-Good-Cooking-Illustrated-Cookbooks/dp/1933615982

They take 50 basic cooking processes, explain the science behind them, optimize the process, and give you a recipe to use to demonstrate.

I've over-acidified recipes, to my wife's displeasure, so I hope to remember this trick.

You want another trick? If you cook green vegetables, add some whole fennel seeds. The veggies will take on a new flavor, and not of fennel. I love it.

Start with Hellman's mayo, whisk in a couple of tablespoons of EVOO and a squeeze of fresh (never bottled) lemon juice. You're good to go. 

I love gadgets that make simple things more complicated. That takes talent.

ml1 said: