Halberstädter Würstchen with Potato Salad for Christmas Eve
Halberstädter Würstchen with potato salad is what many East German families eat on Christmas Eve: hot frankfurter-style sausages and a potato salad with mayonnaise, pickled gherkins and egg. Halberstadt in Saxony-Anhalt is considered the birthplace of the canned sausage. The salad is made in the afternoon so it can soak up the dressing.
- Servings
- 4
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 35 min
- Chill
- at least 2 hrs
Ingredients serves 4
Potato salad
To serve
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Method
You'll needlarge pot with lid, small saucepan, medium pot for the sausages, large bowl, small bowl, cutting board, sharp knife
Boil the potatoes
Scrub the potatoes well and put them in the large pot with their skins on. Barely cover with water, salt generously and cook, covered, over medium heat for 20–25 min. They are done when a knife slides in easily without the potato falling apart.
Hard-boil the eggs
Meanwhile, put the eggs in the small saucepan, cover with cold water and bring to a boil. Once the water is bubbling, cook for 10 more min, then rinse under cold water and let them cool.
Peel and cool
Drain the potatoes and let them steam off in the open pot for 5 min. Peel them while still warm and let them cool completely on a board for at least 1 hr. Cold potatoes do not crumble when you slice them; you can also cook them the day before.
Chop
Peel the onion and dice it very finely. Cut the gherkins into small cubes of about 0.5 cm; keep the jar with the brine at hand. Peel the eggs and chop them coarsely. Slice the potatoes 0.5 cm thick and put them in the large bowl with the onion, gherkins and egg.
Fold in the dressing
In the small bowl, stir the mayonnaise, pickle brine, mustard and sugar until smooth and season with salt and pepper. The dressing should run creamily off the spoon; if not, add another 1–2 tbsp of brine. Pour it over the potatoes and fold it in gently with a large spoon so the slices stay whole. Cover and let it sit in the fridge for at least 2 hrs.
Heat the sausages
Shortly before eating, bring plenty of water to a boil in the medium pot and pull it off the heat. Put in the sausages and let them steep for 8–10 min until hot all the way through. If the water is still bubbling, the skins split. Meanwhile, finely chop the parsley.
Serve
Season the salad once more with salt, pepper and a splash of pickle brine and sprinkle it with the parsley. Lay two sausages next to each portion and put mustard on the table.