Potato salad and its beginnings.

Potato salad has had its unusual beginings. The Spaniards discovered it in South America in the 16th century and brought it to their homeland. From there, it spread throughout Europe, becoming popular among its inhabitants. Germany was, most likely, the first to create the potato salad. From there, it made its way to America.

Americans found a way to eat this wonder with style. Adding mayonnaise, it gave it a different but better taste. During WWII, this delicious dish made its way to the island of Guam. It underwent another evolution when it was served cold. Now, we have a variety of Potato Salads and you can have your pick. You can have it European style, where it is nice and warm or like in Guam, cold and with mayonnaise.

Personally, I like anything that has potatoes. My favorite is a cold potato salad. For me, there is nothing like before a barbecue having a potato salad with some vegetables and lots of mayonnaise. I, also, enjoy it with my lunch. Sandwiches are associated with lunch and I do enjoy them, but once in a while, I like to try something different. Potato salad and soup are what I like to eat to add a little variety.

The good thing about this salad is that you can transform it into anything you like. For example, in Europe, it is served warm, has some olive oil and herbs. Some may include an egg or red pimientos to give it a spicy flavor. Others may include red potatoes. There are thousands of ways in which to make potato salad and the best thing, you can get creative.

My wife is one who likes to get creative. I am convinced that she was born to cook. She can cook anything and make it taste good. In fact, many times, she has cooked some foods that I really did not care about, such as liver. She can prepare it to look like a steak and with the spices that she puts in, it can taste good and you would never know it is liver.

Recently, she outdid herself,again, creating a new type of potato salad. She included many items and, of course, I lent a hand to her efforts. This, really, gave this dish a flavor that I haven't had in all my years as a food connoisseur. As always, she is not one to come up with a name, so I decided to help her. Without further ado, Here is Terry's King Fish Potato Salad....

1. Proceed to cut the ham into small pieces.
2. Cut the onions, tomatoes and peppers into small pieces.
3. Fry the fishcakes and cut them into small pieces.
4. Cook and peel the potatoes.
5. Add salt to taste.
6. Add the Mayonnaise to the mix
7. Mix all ingredients in a bowl.

As I ponder over the potato salad, I find that it has a great history. One thing that encourages me is that the potato has some health benefits. It is good for your bowels and can lower high blood pressure. From time to time, I like to dabble in history and,recently, I read an interesting article about the potato and what happened in Ireland. Years ago, there was the great potato famine in Ireland. I read how the poor people were, heavily, dependent on the potato crop. There was a disease called the potato blight which caused the great famine, resulting in the deaths of millions of people.

It is a fact that this famine caused a great number of Irish people to go to America, resulting in large Irish neighborhoods and settlements. These were difficult times for Ireland and being how I like the potato so much, I cannot imagine myself in this situation. That is why I thank the Good Lord for the potato. It has been a blessing and joy to me. Long live the potato salad.

So, those are my closing thoughts. I hope that you enjoy my wife's recipe. As always, feel free to share it with your friends and family. God bless you and bon apetite.