The Humble Potato Salad
New research into the nation’s dining habits, has found a staggering 45 percent of Brits voted the potato salad King of all salads, beating off stiff competition from more modern options such as Caesar, Niçoise, Greek and Beetroot and Goats Cheese.
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With five composting sites across the Midlands and the East of England, Material Change have been recycling organic waste for over 16 years, turning it into a valuable nutrient rich Soil Improver containing phosphate, potash, magnesium, manganese, small amounts of Nitrogen and trace elements. They ensure that the compost has gone through the correct quality procedure meaning their Soil Improver is certified PAS:100, ensuring safe handling for you and your garden. You can have their landscaper’s grade of 0-12mm soil improver delivered in bulk bags or larger quantities of loose loads. You can also come to Material Change’s Creeting St Mary site in Suffolk to collect their compost by the metre cube or 50L bags.
British-style potato salad is widely believed to have originated in Germany from where it spread widely throughout Europe and later to European colonies. Ingredients often include mayonnaise or a mayonnaise-like substitute (such as yogurt or sour cream), herbs and spring onions or celery. But the nation’s love affair with the spud can be dated back to the 16th century, when Spanish explorers discovered the potato in South America and brought the vegetable back to their homeland - from there the potato was introduced to Europe by farmers and merchants. Second in the list of ten top salads, was a good old-fashioned coleslaw, with 43 percent of Brits claiming the grated carrot and onion salad, mixed with mayo, was the single best dish to serve during the summer months. Pasta salad came third in the list (39 percent), with a plain green salad with French dressing coming in fourth place (32 percent) and the American born Caesar salad making up the top five with 25 percent of Brits choosing it as their favourite. The research, commissioned by recipe box Gousto in conjunction with the launch of their new Alfresco dining range, found other salads to make the top ten include beetroot and goats cheese salad, bean salad and Cobb salad. Overall, 60 percent of those polled claimed they are stuck in a summer cooking rut, wheeling out the same tired old dishes again and again. The survey also revealed that strawberries and cream is the most loved summer pudding (44 percent), followed by trifle (23 percent), pavlova (16 percent), summer pudding (11 percent) and grilled peaches (7 percent) And when it comes to what we love to drink in the sunshine, an ice-cold lager was the clear winner with 24 percent of the vote, followed by Aperol Spritz (11 percent) and in third place, Pimms (9 percent) Food Director Rachel Chatterton from recipe box company Gousto who commissioned the survey said, “This research shows that we are a nation that love fresh summer salads but we’re struggling to find inspiration to try new twists on our old favourites, which is why Gousto has launched its new outdoor dining range.These recipes will help families to spend less time in the kitchen this summer and more time enjoying the outdoors together.”
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Top Ten Best Loved Salads as voted by Britons
1. Potato salad – 45 percent
6. Greek salad – 22 percent
2. Coleslaw – 43 percent
7. Beetroot and goats cheese salad – 11 percent
3. Pasta salad – 39 percent
8. Mixed bean salad – 10 percent
4. Green salad with French dressing – 32 percent
9. Cobb salad – 8 percent
5. Caesar salad – 25 percent
10. Niçoise salad – 7 percent 25