On the Web: A Potato Salad by Alexandre Dumas

Who knew that the creator of The Three Musketeers had a tasty potato salad recipe up his sleeve?

Last weekend, a potato salad recipe attributed to writer Alexandre Dumas made the rounds of Twitter. The timing was perfect for our friends in the northern latitudes who are now in the thick of summer. Picnics and potato salad just go hand-in-hand. Just in time too for the 4th of July weekend.

It turns out, the creator of The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers was a gourmet and expert cook who, apparently, wanted his last work to be a cookbook.  Sadly, he never gets to see his Great Dictionary of Cuisine published. Though copies of his cookbook-cum-encyclopedia can still be bought today, his potato salad recipe was immortalized in The New James Beard Cookbook in 1981.

If you like your potato salad swimming in mayonnaise then this recipe isn't for you. This one is quite a simple dish—olive oil, white wine, and vinegar with a sprinkling of herbs. It also allows you to enjoy the texture of a good waxy potato. Have it as a side, the next time you have some grilled or barbecued meats. Me? I'd eat a bowlful straight up.


Potato salad image by Jack Letourneau via Flickr Creative Commons
Alexandre Dumas image from Paukrus via Flickr Creative Commons

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