Question: Why did you want to research potato salad why not a excotic food like mangos ?

Rachel Edwards-Stuart answered on 12 Mar 2013:

The work I was doing on potato salad was all about testing old wives tales, or recipes and tips that get passed down through generations, to see if they are actually true. For example, chefs are always told to “sear a steak to seal the juices in”. Yet if you put the steak on a plate after searing it, the juices come straight out of it. So this chef trick is clearly wrong! The work I did with potato salad was testing whether or not it made a difference if you added the potatoes to the vinaigrette while the potatoes are still warm – recipe books always tell you to do this. I’m not sure there are any cooking tips about mangoes that need to be tested. Also, I think my French boss through it was appropriate that the English student worked on potatoes – they think we Brits eat them all the time!!