Moroccan Potato Salad with Chermoula

Ingredients

• 800 g waxy potatoes, Charlotte, Ratte, or similar — whole, unpeeled
• For the chermoula
• 20 g fresh coriander (Coriandrum sativum), leaves and fine stems, finely chopped
• 25 g flat-leaf parsley (Petroselinum crispum), leaves and fine stems, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic (Allium sativum), finely grated or crushed to a paste
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• ½ tsp Aleppo Pul-Biber
• 80 ml extra-virgin olive oil (Olea europaea), generous measure — tip toward oil over acid for potato
• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 60 g cured olives (Olea europaea), pitted
• 1 preserved lemon, rind only, pith removed, thinly sliced

Method

1. 1
   Place the whole, unpeeled potatoes in a pot of cold, well-salted water, starting them in cold rather than boiling water so the heat travels to the centre gradually and the flesh cooks evenly without the outside turning to mush before the core is done. Bring to a boil and cook until completely tender throughout — a skewer meets no resistance at the centre. Drain immediately.
2. 2
   While the potatoes boil, combine the chopped coriander, parsley, garlic, cumin, sweet paprika, and Aleppo Pul-Biber in a bowl. Pour in the olive oil and lemon juice and stir to a cohesive, slightly thick emulsion, working the mixture until the garlic no longer sits apart from the oil and the herbs release their colour into it. The chermoula should coat a spoon but remain pourable.
3. 3
   Peel the potatoes while they are still hot enough to require brief handling, because the skin slips cleanly from warm flesh and any delay means it bonds back and tears the surface. Cut into thick rounds, approximately 1.5 cm. This is where the dish lives or dies: the rounds must go into the dressing immediately while the starch cells are fully open and warm, because a cold potato dressed at this stage will merely be coated, not penetrated.
4. 4
   Pour the chermoula over the warm potato rounds and turn gently to coat every cut surface, using a wide spoon rather than tongs so the rounds are not broken before they have absorbed the dressing and firmed slightly. The potato will absorb a visible quantity of oil and the rounds will take on the colour of the spice — an even, brick-gold blush with flecks of green herb throughout.
5. 5
   Scatter the pitted olives and the thinly sliced preserved-lemon rind over the dressed potato, then turn once more, lightly, so the rind is distributed without breaking the rounds. Set aside, uncovered, at room temperature for 20–30 minutes, because covering the salad traps steam and dilutes the concentrated chermoula back to a watery pool on the plate. The salad is ready when the herb perfume has deepened and the surface of the potatoes appears fully saturated rather than glistening — smell confirms the spice has bloomed into the starch.