i was talking to my mom about the ratios. she asked, "well, how much are you making?" i answered, "3 or 4 potatoes. 6 max." she came back with "i've never made so little!" but i must have done it right, because there wasn't enough room in the 'bowl' i was using to stir it. i was also stirring it with a rice paddle. i'm taking that trick back with me. it's amazing.
the ingredients were a little difficult to find. you can pretty much find vegetables and potatoes anywhere, though celery is ridiculously expensive. but mustard and dill pickles were going to be tough.
i had a heck of a time finding the pickles. in the end, i didn't even find them. i was at the end of my rope (even visited a colombian import store*) and asked a friend who was going out for her own ingrediants to keep an eye out. she found them all right. they aren't quite the same, but they're still good.
*funny tangent time: i talked with the owner (or at least a worker) of the import store for a bit. my friends had, for some reason, thought the shop was brazillian. the person i spoke with was colombian. he, too, spoke japanese, spanish, and english. but for some reason, when i revealed that i spoke spanish too, all of my spanish hid in the dark corners of brain. i guess it was because i was in "japanese mode." he asked if i spoke spanish, in spanish, and i answered "chyotto," japanese for "un pocitto," or "a little." the opposite always happens when i try to speak in japanese; for example: "necicito los meganes de sol," "i need my sunglasses," replacing "gafas" with the japanese word for "glasses," "megane." (btw, these two words are not interchangeable in ANY other context.) i think i should go back there some time and prove that i'm not a total moron. but it occured to me on the way back to the school that i've forgotten the past tense in spanish. i should fix that.
i found the mustard on top of a shelf wrapped in a cord hanging from the ceiling.
getting the sour cream was fun, too. it's a good story. i had no less than three japanese people searching the store* for this "sawaa kuriimu." one of them actually thought it was a face cream. turns out it was right next to the whipping cream that i had not only looked at but picked up and read... twice. one of the people helping me look had done the same. there were two containers about half the size of a yogurt cup (you can see it in the pictures below) with the labels facing inward. no wonder i didn't recognize it. when i finally went to use it, it had the consistancy of creame cheese. i had to warm it up by putting a bowl of hot water under the bowl containing it. all is well now though.
*(well, really, just the refrigerator section)
the mayo is also a little sweeter here, but i happened not to use much. it's not exactly the same, but it's still delicious. we'll see how it does tomorrow at the party.
so, for your eyes, unfortunately not for your mouths, the next generation of Polish potato salad, or perhaps the first generation of Japanese Polish potato salad.
Very Good young Padawan!!! You have learned well.
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