My memories of potato salad largely centre around small lumps of unevenly cooked spuds drowning in mayonnaise, creating an unbalanced, sloppy mess. It’s one of those dishes you’ll find at every summer weekend picnic or barbecue, with varying degrees of success.

There’s no denying that mayonnaise does have a place in potato salad dressing, but knowing how to use it as a foundation for flavour and texture is where the magic lies. Cook Kathryne Taylor, founder of Cookie and Kate, seemed to argue that mayo isn’t always needed, and that there’s another ingredient which can do the job while adding bucket-loads of flavour and creaminess.

Instead, Kathryne explained that all you need is some reserved potato water - the water where the potatoes are boiled - to create a creamy dressing. When potatoes are boiled, starch is released into the water.

This can help create a silky and smooth salad dressing. The potatoes will be able to absorb more of the salad dressing if you use the starchy water so you will still get a rich and creamy salad without the heaviness of mayonnaise.

Her recipe calls for a concoction of garlic, parsley, spring onions, lemon juice, olive and Dijon mustard. After being blitzed once, the reserved potato water is added to give it a lighter body.

This most certainly works. The water works to emulsify the dressing, helping to create its light texture, and prevent it from splitting.

The dressing tastes reminiscent of a salsa verde if you swapped a few of the herbs, added capers and sherry vinegar. Somehow it still manages to get that saliva-inducing tang, but is definitely crying out for a balancing ingredient.

I thought adding slightly more lemon juice would even out the heat of the Dijon mustard, but it didn’t quite work as I’d hoped. While Dijon mustard is a great condiment to add to the dressing, as it builds up the creaminess of the sauce, you’ve got to be prepared for the tears.

Mustard can be a divisive ingredient, and I certainly wouldn’t recommend eating a whole tablespoon in one mouthful. It’s how I imagine eating a stick of horseradish would be.

Once I’d gotten over the initial tears, the rest of the flavour ensued. In reality, bar the Dijon heat, it tastes like summer.

The dressing adds a certain je ne se quais to the boring picnic dish. However, if you’re not a fan of mustard, I’d go easy on the portion control.

For some sweetness, try some honey to make it more palatable. However, when it comes to creating a creaminess no-mayo base for a potato salad, it certainly ticks all the right boxes.

Potato Salad with no mayo

• 900g of small red potatoes
• Two cloves of garlic
• Three stalks of celery
• 20g of flat-leaf parsley
• 20g of spring onions
• 30ml of lemon juice
• 60ml of olive oil
• Two tablespoons of Dijon mustard
• One tablespoon of sea salt
• One teaspoon of black pepper

Method

To begin, prepare your ingredients. Roughly chop up the garlic cloves, celery, parsley and spring onion, then set aside. Wash the potatoes and slice them into thick rounds.

It is incredibly important to cut the potatoes before boiling them, as it helps them cook faster and stops them becoming mushy in the salad later.

Place the cut potatoes in a large pot and add one tablespoon of salt. Cover the potatoes in water and then set on a high heat until the water is boiling.

Once the water begins to boil, lower the heat to medium-low and cook for five minutes until the potatoes are tender.

Keep about 60 ml of the water in which the potatoes were boiled, then place the potatoes in a large mixing bowl.

Add the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, black pepper, Dijon mustard, 5g of the parsley and 5g of the green onions to a food processor. Blend until everything is chopped into small pieces.

Alternatively, you can mix everything together in a bowl with a whisk if you do not have a food processor.

Once everything is blended, pour the reserved cooking water into the olive oil mixture, and you will have a tasty salad dressing,

Pour the olive oil dressing on top of the potatoes and then mix until fully coated. Let the potatoes sit for 10 minutes so they can soak up some of the mixture.

Your mouthwatering potato salad is now ready to serve. It is best served within a few hours of being made, but will stay fresh in the fridge for three days.