Whenever there was a barbecue, I remember both my mother and grandmother making their very 1950s-style potato salad in the ’80s. It usually consisted of potatoes, apples, cherry tomatoes and ham. My sister loved it. Whenever I saw it, I wanted to gag. There would be globs of Miracle Whip folded in, triggering the mayonnaise equivalent of uncanny valley for me.
I never touched the stuff, knowing from a very young age that Miracle Whip was pure evil. It completely turned me off to potato salad for years and years until way later when I discovered that their unfortunate recipe was just a variation on a theme. There are better ways to a good potato salad.
May 1 is France’s Labor Day holiday, so there was an occasion to picnic. I made a warm pesto potato salad:
