Mom's Potato Salad and the Passover Picnic
How Mom's recipe became a Passover staple
When my kids were young, I had to face it every year: Since we don’t eat any chametz (defined as anything leavened, i.e. bread, cookies, crackers, pasta, etc.) for the eight days of Passover, excursions over Passover break were a challenge.
The usual purveyors of sustenance along the way were off limits. There was no lunching at the Corner Bakery while visiting Chicago’s Field Museum, no picking up snacks at concession stands. Even stopping at Starbucks became an exercise in resisting the temptations of the pastry vitrine.
Instead, over Passover, a successful outing meant taking our own food along.
It also meant rethinking that enterprise: No sandwiches, no power bars.
Once, when I asked my kids what they wanted to do over Passover, my daughter blurted out, “We have to do our traditional picnic!”
“Our traditional picnic?” I wasn’t aware we had one.
“We have to go out to Indiana and have a picnic with potato salad, beef patties, and hazelnut cake!”
Aha! Sure enough, in years past, my solution to the Passover doldrums and the temptations found at regular attractions was to take the kids outside, either on a hike in the Indiana Dunes, or later to “Indiana,” after we had bought our country property there. During their childhood we had no house there yet. It was just a place to hang out, roam the woods, sit by the pond, and have a camp fire. To feed everyone during Passover, I would schlep along the cooler with the above-listed makings of lunch.
This habit of mine apparently morphed into a “tradition,” thanks to the one time we invited more observant friends along on a Chol Hamoed (intermittent days of Passover) outing.
“How are you going to feed everybody?” my husband worried.
“I’ll bring everything along, don’t worry,” I countered.
I did bring everything along (see list below), except I forgot one thing! We were all situated comfortably on picnic blankets (Passover in the Midwest will usually yield at least one warmer, dry spring day), when I discovered I’d forgotten the paper plates.
“Let’s use matzo for plates!” one of our friends suggested.
Thankfully, I did bring along two boxes of matzo, and given its stiffness, it turned out matzo can be used as a plate. Our crowd of ten ended up piling potato and fruit salad on the bread of affliction, while skewering beef patties on forks, laughing all along.
We still laugh about it when we see our friends. It became a memorable meal precisely because it ended up being makeshift, in spite of all my preparations. It was, in fact, true to the spirit of Passover: Eating out in the open, making do on the go.
My potato salad and beef patties are my mom’s recipes, and the only food I fix pretty much exactly like she did.
The above picture has her sitting on our terrace (because why would you work in the kitchen when it’s nice outside?) with all the accoutrements of making potato salad. There’s classic large yellow Pyrex bowl in which she always assembled and served potato salad. A bowl of hard-boiled eggs and a jar of pickles are at the ready while she minces onions with a mezzaluna knife (I’d forgotten she owned one!)
My only change to her recipes is that, for Passover, I substitute her customary oat meal in the beef patties with matzo meal.
Passover Picnic
Potato Salad
Here’s how to make it for a crowd:
2 yellow, thin-skinned, medium-sized potatoes per person
1 hard-boiled egg per person, peeled
At least one big yellow onion, chopped into tiny bits
At least six kosher dill pickles, chopped into tiny bits
(if you use more than ten potatoes, add more onion and pickle)
A big bunch of curly parsley, chopped
Pareve, kosher-for-Passover mayonnaise to taste (have a full jar at the ready)
Salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste
Planning for this salad means boiling the potatoes (you can leave the skins on if they are thin) and eggs in advance and letting them cool off completely.
Putting the actual salad together is rather quick: Dice the potatoes and eggs and mix them in a big bowl with the onion and pickle bits. Add dollops of mayonnaise until the salad pieces start sticking together (don’t add too much or it will get soggy). Mix in the parsley and then add salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste.
The salad can be eaten right away but is better when it has sat for a while. It’s even better if you manage to make it the day before and keep it in the fridge. On a warm day, be sure to keep the salad in a cooler, it can spoil quickly due to the mayonnaise.
Kosher-for-Passover Beef Patties
Family pack of ground beef (about 4 pounds)
One big yellow onion, finely chopped
Four cloves of garlic, finely chopped
3 eggs, beaten
½ cup parsley, finely chopped
½ cup matzo meal
Freshly ground pepper to taste
Knead all ingredients into a loose batter. With wet hands, form patties, about 3-4 inches in diameter and fry them in a non-stick pan until done. They keep well in the fridge and can be warmed up or eaten cold.
Fruit salad
Mix bits of whatever seasonal fruit you have together. Squirt in some lemon juice so fruit doesn’t brown.
Add some honey or maple syrup for taste and some chopped walnuts for bite.
Hazelnut Torte
This is my grandmother’s famed recipe that happens to be kosher for Passover. It’s easily made, and it transports and keeps well. Recipe here.
Packing list
In addition to food, don’t forget:
Plates (!)
Cups
Knives, forks, spoons
Utensils for serving food
Beverages
Mustard, mayonnaise, ketchup (all kosher for Passover)
Napkins
Paper towel
Blankets or chairs
Most importantly: Have fun! Eating outside is, in my opinion, one of the simple joys of life.
An earlier version of this post was published in Kveller.