Name: Scandinavian potato salad
Ingredients: 500ml sunflower (or vegetable) oil, for frying; 1 large onion (180g), peeled and cut into very thin rounds (use a mandoline, if you have one); 2-3 tbsp cornflour; Fine sea salt and black pepper; 700g charlotte potatoes, or new potatoes, cut in half; 70g unsalted butter; 1 tub salmon relish (40g) – we used Patum Peperium’s The Poacher’s Relish; 10g chives, finely chopped; 10g picked dill leaves, finely chopped; 1½ tsp white mustard seeds; 60g sweet pickled cucumbers, thinly sliced, to garnish, plus 2 tbsp brine

Side Picnic

Serves 4 as a side

Prep 15 min

Cook 45 min

This is based on a favourite test kitchen snack that involves a schmear of mustard and a quick squiggle of Swedish cod’s roe from a tube. We love the mountain of fried onions here, but you can happily use shop-bought, if you prefer.

Ingredients

FOR THE CRISP ONIONS
500ml	sunflower (or vegetable) oil, for frying
1	large onion (180g), peeled and cut into very thin rounds (use a mandoline, if you have one)
2-3 tbsp	cornflour
	Fine sea salt and black pepper
FOR THE POTATOES
700g	charlotte potatoes, or new potatoes, cut in half
70g	unsalted butter
1	tub salmon relish (40g) – we used Patum Peperium’s The Poacher’s Relish
10g	chives, finely chopped
10g	picked dill leaves, finely chopped
FOR THE PICKLE
1½ tsp	white mustard seeds
60g	sweet pickled cucumbers, thinly sliced, to garnish, plus 2 tbsp brine

Method

First, make the onions. Put the oil in a medium saute pan on a medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, toss the onions in the cornflour, then fry in two batches, stirring occasionally, for five to seven minutes, until golden. Drain on a plate lined with kitchen paper, then sprinkle over an eighth of a teaspoon of salt.
Put the potatoes in a large pot of well-salted water and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat to medium-high, leave to cook for 12-15 minutes, until tender, then tip into a colander. Wipe the potato pan dry and return it to a medium-high heat. Add the butter and, once that’s melted, stir in the salmon relish, potatoes and a good grind of black pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, for a minute or two, until the potatoes are well coated, then take off the heat and stir in all the herbs.
Now for the mustard seeds. Put the mustard seeds and two tablespoons of pickled cucumber brine in a small saucepan on a medium heat, leave to cook for three to four minutes, until mustard has puffed up and most of the liquid has been absorbed, then take off the heat.
To serve, spoon the potato mix on to a platter, scatter clumps of the mustard seeds on top, followed by the sliced pickled cucumbers and, finally, a pile of crisp onions.