Potato Salad No. 1

Recipe No. 434 from the U.S. Army’s WWII cookbook — Salads. Quantities are exactly as printed, for 100 servings; a scaled-down 8-serving version is in the notes.

Ingredients

• Potatoes, cooked, sliced* — 25 pounds
• Salt — 6 ounces (¼ No. 56 dipper)
• Pepper — ¼ ounce (1 mess kit spoon)
• Oil, salad — ¾ pint (½ mess kit cup)
• Vinegar — ½ pint (⅓ mess kit cup)
• Celery, diced — 10 pounds (10 No. 56 dippers)
• Onions, chopped — ¾ pound (¾ No. 56 dipper)

Eggs, hard-cooked, chopped — 36 eggs

• Mayonnaise or salad dressing — 1 quart (1 No. 56 dipper)
• Lettuce — 6 heads

Directions

1. Spread layer of potatoes in bottom of shallow baking pans.
2. Mix salt, pepper, vinegar, and salad oil together; sprinkle a small amount over potatoes in baking pans. Continue filling pans with alternate layers of potatoes and oil mixture. Allow to stand 1 hour.
3. Combine celery, onions, eggs, and mayonnaise or salad dressing (recipes Nos. 459 to 484). Add to potatoes; mix well.
4. Serve on lettuce.

Notes

SCALED TO 8 SERVINGS (the original is ÷12.5): Potatoes, cooked, sliced — 2 lb Salt — ½ oz Pepper — a pinch Oil, salad — 2 tbsp Vinegar — 1¼ tbsp Celery, diced — 12¾ oz Onions, chopped — 1 oz Eggs, hard-cooked, chopped — 3 eggs Mayonnaise or salad dressing — 5 tbsp Lettuce — ½ heads

Cook potatoes in skins; peel and slice while warm.

— TM 10-412, Army Recipes (War Department, 15 August 1944), recipe No. 434, Salads. Army measures: 1 No. 56 dipper = 1 qt; 1 No. 55 dipper = 1¾ qt; 1 mess kit cup = 1½ pints.