Ingredients for the haddock potato salad
Serves 6. Preparation time: 20 minutes. Cooking time: 20 minutes.
- 1 kg potatoes
- 2 carrots
- 6 small red pearl onions
- 250 g haddock
- 150 ml cider vinegar
- 100 ml white wine
- 300 ml rapeseed (canola) oil
- 60 g fresh salted sea lettuce (laitue de mer)
- Fleur de sel
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
Steps — from warm potatoes to plating
- Cook the whole potatoes for about 20 minutes, until a knife slides in easily. While still hot, peel them, cut into wedges and immediately moisten with the white wine. Cover with cling film so they cool slightly while absorbing the wine—this is when they take on the most flavor.
- Meanwhile, slice the carrots into thin 2 mm rounds. Blanch them for a few seconds in simmering salted water, then refresh in a bowl of ice water to set the color and keep them crisp.
- Finely chop the small red onions. Remove the skin from the haddock and slice it into thin strips.
- Make a bright vinaigrette by whisking together the rapeseed oil, cider vinegar, salt and pepper. Toss the warm, wine-scented potatoes with the vinaigrette, add the carrots and some rinsed, finely chopped sea lettuce, then taste and adjust seasoning.
- Arrange the salad on a large platter. Lay the haddock and onions on top, scatter the remaining sea lettuce and finish with a pinch of fleur de sel.
Why drizzle warm potatoes with white wine
Timing is important right after they come out of the water. A potato that is still warm remains porous and absorbs the white wine throughout, so the flavor reaches the center. A cold potato would only hold the wine on the surface. Covering them briefly with cling film as they cool helps retain that infused taste and keeps the texture tender.
The carrots are blanched just long enough to soften slightly, then shocked in ice water to lock in bright color and crunch, creating a contrast with the soft potatoes. The sea lettuce brings a briny note that complements the smoked haddock. That interplay of warm and cool, land and sea, makes this salad far more interesting than a mayonnaise-based version.