Comment on Yesterday in Kroger (a supermarket for you non-Americans) I saw a bunch of cans of potato salad. Why would someone buy canned potato salad?

• MrJameGumb@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Where I live the stuff in the deli aisle is all mayo based potato salad regardless of what type it’s supposed to be. The stuff I had from the can has no mayo and is vinegar based and the potatoes are more firm. I have no idea which one would be considered more “authentic” as far as what “German potato salad” is supposed to be.

  As far as chemicals that may be in the canned stuff, I honestly didn’t check and I don’t eat potato salad enough for it to be a real concern to me personally.

  If it seems that reprehensible to you then maybe just don’t buy it? The fact that the store here keeps restocking it means someone must think it’s good enough to keep buying it lol

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  • Jobe@feddit.org ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Mayo vs vinegar is kind of an actual debate in germany. The civilised side and the vinegar people are mostly blissfully unaware of each other until they develop righteous hatred for the other salad as soon as they learn of it. I heard the vinegar version is eaten warm, which sounds even worse. I would say both are authentic, but vinegar potato salad is authentically horrible.
    Storebought potato salad will also at best get people talking behind your back in germany, no matter which kind.

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    • SolOrion@sh.itjust.works ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      The civilised side and the vinegar people

      I love how clearly this second sentence displays which of the two sides you are.

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    • De_Narm@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I’ve lived in both regions and both versions are strictly inferior to a potatoe salad based on mustard (+ oil and broth). The vinegar version uses a bit of mustard, but I’m speaking of mustard being the main ingredient. Naturally, I’m hated by both sides.

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      • Jobe@feddit.org ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        Naturally, I’m hated by both sides.
        As you should be. Though a bit of mustard is also good in the mayo version.

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    • MrJameGumb@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      This is the first I’ve heard of the Great German Potato Salad debate lol I will have to look into this further 🧐

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      • flauschtier@feddit.org ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        It’s a thing. Legend has it there are some humans who like both, but it may be propaganda from the potato-industry ;)

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    • ASDraptor@lemmy.autism.place ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      This sounds so much like Spanish potato omelette. There’s the civilised side and the side that add onions to the omelette. And you don’t want to bring the topic to any peaceful conversation.

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    • ComfortableRaspberry@feddit.de ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Because you use broth, fresh beef broth (or a hearty vegetable one) and vinegar just as a spice. The South is looking very critical at the rest of Germany with their weird abominations they call potato salad ರ⁠_⁠ರ

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  • BearOfaTime@lemm.ee ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Being canned it doesn’t require any “weird chemicals”. Op should learn basic chemistry-canning is a preservation process that requires no “weird chemicals”, unless salt is considered a “weird chemical”.

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    • SolOrion@sh.itjust.works ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I think he’s saying that if the potatoes are both firm and canned, it’s because of some crazy chemicals. Not just canned goods = chemicals.

      Why he thinks you can’t can firm potatoes without chemicals? I have no clue.

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  • FlyingSquid@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    The fact that the store here keeps restocking it means someone must think it’s good enough to keep buying it lol

    I agree. I just don’t know who that someone is when they can buy it fresh in the deli in the same store. But then some people obviously prefer Treet to Spam.

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    • MrJameGumb@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I guess people who don’t like mayo? Or maybe people who grew up eating that style of potato salad? Maybe just doomsday preppers who want to stock up their shelters?

      I live in the deep south and the deli aisles here sell like 3 or 4 different styles of fresh potato salad but all of them are like 50% mayo and sometimes I just want something different lol

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    • SolOrion@sh.itjust.works ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I, for one, am not a fan of “proper” potato salad because I dislike mayo.

      I’ve never had this stuff, but it sounds much more interesting to me.

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      • ChaosCoati@midwest.social ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        My grandma always makes both kinds for family gatherings (the mayo kind and the vinegar kind, vinegar being what she calls German potato salad). The way she makes it, the “sauce” part that coats the potatoes is bacon fat, vinegar and a little sugar.

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      • FlyingSquid@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        Fresh German potato salad doesn’t use mayo either. And it’s fresh.

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  • Blemgo@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Both are authentic, with the vinegar variant being the Bavarian/Swabian variant. Not sure where the mayo variant came from however.

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• BillDaCatt@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Fun fact: a small amount of vinegar in the cooking water helps to keep potatoes to keep from getting mushy.

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• shutz@lemmy.ca ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  You assume there’s lots of chemicals, but did you check? The process of canning food doesn’t necessarily require a lot of chemicals: a lot of canned food is cooked in the can, after it’s sealed, which kills most of the microbes that might spoil the food and make you sick. And because it’s sealed, no microbes can get in, either.

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  • FlyingSquid@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    It’s not about spoiling, it’s about potatoes getting mushy when they’re wet.

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