Wasn’t it me that waxed poetic not too long ago about my unusual aversion to potatoes?

Well maybe I just hadn’t had them tossed with bacon? Or sauced up with red wine vinegar and sprinkled with bits of raw red onion? Could this opposition be the result of all those no-carb naysayers getting into my head?

Well you just can’t fight City Hall as they say.  In this book alone there is a French Potato Salad with Bacon, an American Potato Salad with hard-boiled eggs, and a Scandinavian Potato Salad with sour cream and dill. Among those that didn’t make the cut are deli-style potato salad with its sugar-spiked mayonnaise dressing, Dutch Potato Salad with beef, and creamy Russian Potato Salad with boiled chicken.

That’s just a taste; the potato is a starchy blank slate upon which it seems nearly every country has adopted and put to use in a variety of ways that highlight the unique flavor profile and characteristic ingredients of each cuisine. If you don’t like them, you just haven’t tried them enough.

Largely accustomed to mayonnaise-based potato salads, this version was  a bit of a revelation for me with its vinegar dressing. It is more refreshing than filling, highlighting crunch instead of creaminess, and has a tart vinegary taste that would pair nicely with lighter fare.

The recipe below was slightly tweaked from the one in The Silver Palate.

French Potato Salad with Bacon
4 portions 

1 lb baby red potatoes
1/4 lb bacon
1/4 cup finely chopped shallots
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and fresh ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped red onion
fresh chopped parsley for garnish

1. Scrub potatoes under running water with a soft brush and drop into a medium sized sauce pot. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, but still firm, about 15-20 minutes.

2. Cook bacon, whether in a skillet or in the oven, and reserve bacon fat. If cooking in the oven, lay strips of bacon on a tin foil-lined baking sheet and bake at 400°F for about 15 minutes.

3. Sauté chopped shallots until tender but not at all browned, 5 minutes or so, in the reserved fat. The bacon fat will give the mixture a brownish color, but don’t panic: stick to the recommended time on a low heat and you won’t brown the shallots. Reserve shallots and fat.

4. When the potatoes are done, drain them and drop them into a mixing bowl.

5. Pour vinegar, olive oil, shallots and reserved bacon fat over the still-hot potatoes. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and gently toss. Add red onion and parsley and toss again. Cool to room temperature. Serve warm or cover and refrigerate to serve at room temperature later. Sprinkle reserved crisp bacon on top.