When potatoes start in hot water, the outside will rapidly
overcook before the center has even got the chill off it.
Make a salad with these, and you’ll have crunchy nuggets
of uncooked potato swimming in a sea of gluey mash. No
thanks. If you start the potatoes in cold water, the potatoes
heat up evenly right along with the water, so that by the time
they are perfectly cooked in the center, the edges have just
barely startied to break apart—which is not a bad thing. I
like a little bit of broken-up potato to thicken and flavor the
dressing. This, by the way, is the best method any time you
boil potatoes.
Of course, even with a cold start, one problem remains:
potatoes require constant vigilance—they can go from
undercooked to overcooked in an instant. Get distracted for
just a minute (say, to chase after your puppy who’s just
peed on your backpack, then hidden your notebook under
the couch), and you’ve got gluey potatoes on your hands.
There is a way to solve this problem, which we’ll get back
to, but first . . .
’Tis the Season
Using russet potatoes is key for this style of potato salad.
Not only do they absorb dressing more easily, but their
starches actually help to bind the salad better. To prove that
they do absorb seasoning better, I boiled russet and red
potatoes, cut them into cubes, and tossed them with a
dressing tinted with a bit of green food coloring. You can
see for yourself which absorbed it better: