Most potato salads are a beige apology. This one arrives with an argument: potatoes love vinegar, mayonnaise loves acidity, and there is a jar in your fridge holding both — plus crunch.

Keating & Co wizard pickles work double shifts here. The pickles get chopped through the salad for snap, and their brine gets splashed over the potatoes while they’re still warm, so the seasoning soaks all the way in instead of sitting on top. That one move is the difference between a side dish and the first bowl emptied at the barbecue.

What you need

1 kg chat potatoes, halved
Half a jar of wizard pickles, roughly chopped, plus 3 tbsp of the brine
200 g whole-egg mayonnaise
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 spring onions, finely sliced
A small handful of dill, chopped
2 eggs, hard-boiled and quartered (optional, but correct)

Method

Boil the potatoes in well-salted water for 12–15 minutes, until just tender. Drain well.
Spread them on a tray and splash 2 tablespoons of the pickle brine over while they’re hot. Let them drink it in as they cool to room temperature.
Whisk the mayonnaise, mustard and the remaining tablespoon of brine into a loose dressing.
Fold the potatoes, chopped pickles, spring onion and most of the dill through the dressing. Season with black pepper — the brine has the salt covered.
Top with the eggs and the last of the dill. Chill for 30 minutes if the barbecue can wait; it’s better for it.

A few notes from repeated testing. Waxy potatoes hold their shape and drink the brine best — save the floury ones for mash. Make it the morning of the barbecue rather than the night before, so the pickles keep their snap and the dill stays bright. And if the salad is travelling, carry a last spoonful of brine with you and freshen the bowl just before serving; it wakes the whole thing up again.

Heat-seekers can chop a few sweet pickled jalapeños in alongside the pickles. And since the barbecue is already lit, the rest of the Keating & Co shelf would like a word with your sausages.