Bramborový Salát – Czech Potato Salad
The first Christmas with my in laws, his mother, served up this to-die-for Bramborový Salát also known as potato salad. This salad is not like most American potato salads. The Bramborový Salát is very rich in flavor and not over bearing with mustard.
Unlike my Italian side, that serves up spaghetti at Christmas, Czech’s make fried fish and potato salad. Specifically, a fried carp fish which is suppose to be different then the type of carp we have here in the states. This was such a different experience for me then the traditional homemade sauce and spaghetti.
I could not help myself! Just fell head over heels for this salad. I have been bugging my other half, V, to get me the recipe for a few years now. Finally, this fourth of July he asked his mother for it so we could share it with friends that came.
He did not realize how much work it takes to make it that he now swears he will never make it again. Luckily, I have the recipe and completely plan to make it every chance possible I get.
Do you have a specific potato salad you like? Special ingredients? Mustard or mayo?
It is awesome that he is Czech and I get the chance to learn to cook so many different dishes from his country. I hope to share so many more Czech recipes with you all over time. A few of the recipes are already up on the site but are older and the photos definitely need to be updated.
Though, the Bublanina turned out beautiful, in which, I was surprised as I thought I would completely fail at it. Egg whites are generally not my friend. I love my KitchenAid persimmon mixer for just that reason. It makes my life so easy!
Do you have a Christmas food tradition or are we the only weirdos like that? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!
Bramborový Salát – Czech Potato Salad
Ingredients
- 5 large potatoes regular brown russet potatoes
- 1 white onion
- 2 sticks of celery
- 2 carrots
- 3 hard boiled eggs
- 5 baby pickles
- 2 oz frozen peas
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 4 tablespoons or more of mayonnaise that’s up to your preference
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 5 pieces whole black pepper
- 3 pieces whole allspice
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ teaspoon thyme
Instructions
- Boil potatoes with the skin on. Boil eggs for about 10 minutes. When eggs are done add them too cool water and let sit 5 to 10 minutes. This will help make the peeling easier.
- Cook carrots and celery in salted water with whole black pepper; about five pieces. Also add 3 pieces of allspice whole, two bay leaves, and ½ teaspoon of thyme. Boil vegetables until done but still firm.
- Let the potatoes, eggs, and vegetables completely cool down. Peel potatoes and eggs. Dice in to small pieces the eggs, potatoes, carrots, and celery. Finely chop onion and pickles.
- Gently mix all ingredients including the peas together gradually adding in the salt, pepper, lemon juice, and Worcestershire sauce. Fold in mayonnaise. Refrigerate for a few hours but tastes best if made the night before.
Pin Bramborový Salát:
Can you please share me some of your recipe? I have a Czech husband and now we have 3 years old daughter.
I want to incorporate the Czech and Filipino tradition in our family here in Canada.
I will try to make this potato salad so I can perfect it before Christmas. Then I need to learn how to prep the Carp.
Any recipe from Czech cuisine is appreciated. Thanks!
A ton of Czech recipes will be coming to the blog through out the next few months. My husband’s mom fries the carpe in a bread crumb batter.
Can’t wait to see the knedliky recipe. I hope you try to cut it with string like my grandma used to, always seemed so different, yet so simply perfect. It’s been over 30 years since I’ve had some knedliky dishes my grandmother made- unfortunately, after this time, I’m sure I’m mixing up my taste bud memories, but I swear there was some dish that had a great dill sauce, the knedliky dumplings, and some sort of beef roast. Last I asked my mom on that memory, she said, yes, there’s a dill sauce that goes with the dumplings, and there’s the dumplings with the beef roast, but they don’t go together. <>
I think I’ll just have to take a trip to Praha again for a more culinary focused trip! I’ll be keeping a close eye on your blog for more great ideas.
My mother did give me a traditional Czech cookbook years ago for one of my birthdays. The problem is, I don’t know where to find good lard- and I’ve got to say, most of the recipes pretty much started off with “half a pound of lard and…”, “2 pounds of lard and…”. 🙂 Lard is making a comeback these days as actually being healthy compared to other alternatives in our American diets, so perhaps, we’ll see it in a non-homogenized form in supermarkets one day.
Thank you and I plan to add a few more in the coming weeks. Svickova is one. I will find out about the dill sauce. As for lard, look in the baking section at Walmart there is a small tub you can buy or you can buy in bulk on Amazon. The tub at Walmart is roughly $6 and is called Amour. Hope that helps!
Hello!
I grew up with many Czech dishes that my mother and grandmother made.
One of the all time favorites was always the potato salad!
I do want to add, that I don’t believe it was dill pickles- I believe they always used gherkins, but not the dill kind.
Also, if I’m not mistaken, vinegar, if not used heavily in Czech dishes, was used heavily by my mother and grandmother.
You’ve got many more ingredients than I remember being in our home’s classic go-to potato salad, but here are some slight differences.
I believe our recipe went something like this, but I don’t know the exact amounts:
Mayonnaise
Hard boiled eggs
Potatoes
A small can of mixed carrots and peas (I see you’re using frozen peas and fresh carrots, but the canned carrots and peas make a simpler faster recipe in our home)
gherkin pickles
Pepper (and salt) to taste, although salt most likely won’t be needed (read on.)
The biggest key I remember that sets this apart from so many other recipes, is adding a bit of the pickle juice from the jar. I grew up believing, perhaps incorrectly, that this was a czech influence due to the vinegar/sour taste. Since we use the pickle juice, I don’t think any extra salt was ever needed. I’ve got a strong sensitivity to salt, typically think too many things are made with too much salt, but this never turns out that way.
Now, I don’t know the name of it, but this potato salad recipe always makes me also think of our favorite holiday open-faced sandwich appetizers.
French bread, cut on the bias for a nice long piece.
Coat the bread with some mayonnaise.
Add a slice each of:
pepperoni
hard boiled egg
sharp cheddar cheese
gherkin pickle
Add a dollop of the Czech potato salad
And finally, and this turns people off when they hear about this one- but, either anchovy, or sardine.
I’ve had so many people say, yuck! Sardine? Anchovy? I don’t like those. But after coercing them into trying it, I can’t get the tray of sandwiches away from them.
My brother, nephew, and I all try to get to my mom’s place early on Christmas eve, because we know if we don’t, whoever’s gotten there first will have mostly finished off the sandwiches.
I’m thinking of trying to make some traditional fermented half-sour pickles (instead of vinegar) and make it with them someday, just to see what that ends up like.
I hope you try and enjoy!
Sorry, I missed that you mentioned that the Bramboroby Salat is set apart from American potato salad because it isn’t over bearing with mustrad. There isn’t a lot of mustard in my mother’s recipe, but the Gulden’s Brown mustard adds a lot of flavor!
I’m wondering if that was used to fill in for all the other ingredients you’ve listed. With how long it takes to make the sandwiches, as well as the rest of Christmas dinner, I’m thinking short cuts that didn’t take away from taste were used.
Hi Steve,
I appreciate the recipe however, this recipe comes from my mother in law that grew up in Czech. She has made these recipes all of her life. This is the way she makes the recipe. Including all the other Czech recipes I have here on the blog. I try to keep it authentic. As we know all recipes can be made different in different kitchens 🙂
Of course, Jenne- I certainly wasn’t trying to say that your recipe was incorrect, just giving an alternative. 🙂
And thank you for posting your mother in law’s version- I do plan on trying it, since whenever I ask my mother for the specifics of her version, she just says “oh, some of this and some of that- I don’t really measure”.
Děkuji!
She really didn’t either but I asked her to try for this one. I make the other Czech recipes here with her then recreate them at home and mark down measurements. I am working on a knedliky recipe from my husband this weekend.
Darn it- where’s the edit button. I see you have a different recipe for Chlebíčky. Yup, I remember that’s what it’s called for. And thank you!
sweet pickles or dill pickles? Thanks, sounds good 🙂
We use dill pickles.