I was honored to try out a Brazilian party pickle in my “I Made 5 Pickled Foods from 5 Countries” series called batatinha em conserva, or pickled potato. From start to finish, this process was lots of fun. Made from baby potatoes, vinegar, olive oil, onions, red pepper flakes, and your choice of parsley or cilantro, these delicious potatoes were easy to pickle and packed with enough flavor for any large gathering in need of an outstanding appetizer! 

 This batatinha em conserva recipe comes from Anajulia from Sao Paul, Brazil. She shares with us that, in Portuguese, every word ending in -inha or -inho means “small,” meaning that the word “batatinha” in the title of this dish called for the smallest potatoes you can find. This is key, as this dish is supposed to be an appetizer, not a large side for a meal. In addition, using small wooden skewers if part of the experience of eating batatinha em conserva, so try to find them and avoid forks if you can! 

 At every huge family party, Anajulia’s grandmother would prepare this pickled potato dish for everyone. This dish brings back beautiful memories of good times with her family at barbeques and other gatherings with lots of dancing and music, and it also holds a sort of nostalgia for Anajulia, as it makes her miss being a child surrounded by all her family members. What a wonderfully bittersweet connotation. 

 I’ve never had a pickled potato or potatoes out of a can, so this dish was two firsts for me because I opted to use canned potatoes to make batatinha em conserva! It plated beautifully and tasted amazing; it’s comparable to potato salad but better, as it seems to possess that extra oomph that a more mild potato salad is often missing. Each bite was super tangy and vinegary, with the spice from the chili coming through beautifully. To put it simply, this dish is a party in your mouth. 

 Anajulia recommends you eat batatinha em conserva by themselves or pair them with white rice and grilled meat. This dish is extremely simple, accessible, and cheap to make, and it lasts for up to two weeks in the fridge! I highly recommend making this as an appetizer when you’re having people over, as it tastes different from other potato dishes but is still low-risk, as who doesn’t enjoy a salty, vinegary, flavorful potato?