Let's Talk Classic German Cooking

Eugenia Gonzalez de Henn and Bavarian Potato Salad

Oct 02, 2024

When you write a cookbook (or two) about German cooking, almost everyone you meet will have an opinion about their favorite German recipes. In the run-up to publication of Classic German Cooking, I thought it’d be fun to talk to friends and acquaintances in Berlin and beyond about their favorite German recipes, and maybe even get a bonus recipe here or there, if someone’s generous enough to share. If you’re a passionate cookbook reader like me, you know that the stories around food are often at least as interesting, if not more, than the food itself. This week I’m featuring Eugenia Gonzalez de Henn and her husband’s Bavarian potato salad.

My friend Eugenia is a contributing editor to Vogue Mexico and Latin America and YOLO Journal. She lives in Kreuzberg with her husband Maix and their two daughters. When I first walked into their apartment with its poured concrete floors, floor-to-ceiling windows and serene open-plan layout, and a big bowl of fresh limes that Eugenia had just scored at a market in the center of the marble-topped table, I felt completely transported away from Kreuzberg’s gritty grayness to a sunnier, more tropical clime.

Over a decade ago, Eugenia was living in New York when she was invited to a wedding in Mexico. At that wedding, she ended up meeting Maix, the man she would go on to marry. But before they got married, Maix and Eugenia dated long-distance for a while, since he was living in China at the time. It was on one of his visits to New York that a humble bowl of Bavarian potato salad made such an impression on her that she decided to marry him. I love this story so much. Bavarian potato salad has never known such glamour!

Eugenia: Right out of college I started working for Robert Burke at Bergdorf Goodman. Aside from becoming my boss, he became my family. He is even the godfather of my second daughter. In the summers, when he would rent a house in East Hampton, he would tell me - you have a room, you can come whenever you want. He's an amazing cook. Like amazing, generous, the best. Dinner parties, brunches, so much fun.

This one weekend, we were in East Hampton for the funeral of a friend of ours. And weirdly, it was the same weekend that Maix was coming to visit from China. We also had another friend visiting, the very, very chic Ariel de Ravenel from Paris. Ariel did PR for Yves Saint Laurent in the 70s and has worked in fashion her whole life. She is witty, stylish, thin as a rail, smokes like crazy and of course, doesn't eat a lick of butter. And French, French, French. So Maix and Ariel were like, what are we gonna do? Because the rest of us had to go and essentially cry our eyes out.

So Maix just said, okay, Ariel, we’re going to the butcher, we’re going to order some veal, you’re coming with me and we’re cooking for these guys. I’m going to make my Schnitzel and potato salad. And off they went. It was, weirdly, the best meal, because obviously we had been coming off of this tragedy. But we were all together in this place where we're never all together, in East Hampton in August with a French friend, with this German guy that I was dating who came from China, who’s making us the best Schnitzel and potato salad. So it was just like, I don't know, a weird combination of events. That meal brought us all together and filled our hearts.

Luisa: That sounds so beautiful.

Eugenia: It was so nice, and everybody remembers it. It's just one of those days that you will never forget, because it was just bizarre. And the fact that the non-butter eating Ariel devoured a huge Schnitzel!

Luisa: Yeah, and I could see how Schnitzel and potato salad, well, it's very comforting food, because it's so straightforward, right? There's not a lot of bells and whistles, but it's cozy and comforting.

Eugenia: It's the best, I have to say.

Luisa: And having someone cook for you when you're sad or when you're having a sad moment is so special.

Eugenia: Totally.

Luisa: That's so sweet.

Eugenia; Yeah, it was very sweet. It was very, very sweet.

Luisa: Were you like, this is it?

Eugenia: This is the dude. This is my dude. Make potato salad for me anytime you want. To this day, when we travel, we always have to carry Semmelbrösel from Germany to wherever we go. So he can make his Schnitzel and potato salad.

Luisa: Are you serious?

Eugenia: Yeah! If he doesn't have the German breadcrumbs, he won't make it.

Luisa: That's amazing. How did he do it in Long Island?

Eugenia: He carried them over from China!

Luisa: No way.

Eugenia: I swear to God.

Luisa: So he was planning it.

Eugenia: Sometimes he'll call my mom and my mom will say, like, okay, when you come to Juarez, will you make the Schnitzel and potato salad? And he'll say, do you still have some breadcrumbs, because sometimes we’ll leave boxes there. So he says to her, do you still have some or do I have to take them with me, and she's like, bring it over. Bring the breadcrumbs over.

I just love this story so much. There is nothing like the deep comfort of traditional German (and Austrian!) food.

The only cookbook on Eugenia’s kitchen counter every day is the one on the left, Mexico: The Cookbook. But Maix’s potato salad recipe comes from the Bayerisches Kochbuch, the one on the right, a classic that has been in print for over 90 years!

I’m happy to say that Classic German Cooking (which will hopefully soon be on Eugenia’s countertop and in Juarez at her mother’s house, too!) has great recipes for Bavarian potato salad, Swabian potato salad and northern German potato salad.

And!

If you pre-order Classic German Cooking, as a thank-you gift from me, you’ll receive five bonus recipes, including one for a wonderful potato-cucumber salad dressed with sour cream. For more on that pre-order incentive, click here. (That link leads to a form that will only be visible for US-based readers. Everyone else, please forward me your order confirmation email or take a photo of your receipt and email it to me and I’ll send you the bonus recipes myself: luisa.weiss@gmail.com.)

Maix’s Bayerischer Kartoffelsalat
Bavarian Potato Salad
Serves 6 to 8
Note: Like in all traditional German cookbooks, the quantities are not precise - the cookbook authors always assumed their readers had plenty of culinary knowledge already. And the implication is that you’re supposed to tweak the recipe to your taste. So keep that in mind when reading the recipe below and taste as you go. Eugenia’s husband Maix puts pickles in his potato salad.

1-2 kgs waxy potatoes
Thinly sliced onions
4 to 6 Tbsp white or apple cider vinegar
125 to 250 ml hot vegetable or beef broth
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Sugar, optional
2 to 3 Tbsp vegetable oil
Fresh herbs, like chives or parsley, minced, optional
Fresh cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced, optional
Pickles, thinly sliced, optional
Minced fried bacon, optional

Place the potatoes in a large pot with cold water to cover by about an inch and place over high heat. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat, cover and simmer until the potatoes are tender, 20 to 25 minutes, depending on the size of the potatoes. Drain and let cool briefly before peeling the potatoes. Slice them thinly (about 1/8-inch) and place in a large mixing bowl. Add the sliced onions.
In a separate bowl, mix the vinegar and hot broth, then pour this over the sliced potatoes. Season with salt, pepper and a bit of sugar to taste. Mix well and set aside.
Just before serving, mix in the oil and fresh herbs or bacon or cucumber or pickles, if using. Taste and adjust the seasoning, if necessary. Serve while still lukewarm, if possible.