The secret to this salad is timing. Potatoes must be dressed while they are warm, almost too hot to handle. Cold potatoes sit in their vinaigrette like strangers. Warm potatoes absorb it completely, becoming something richer than either ingredient alone.

Find waxy potatoes at the farmers' market. Fingerlings with their thin skins and buttery flesh are ideal. New potatoes, freshly dug and still wearing traces of soil, work beautifully. Ask your farmer what they would use. They know their crop. They will tell you which variety holds its shape and which turns to mush.

The vinaigrette is simple. Good Dijon, white wine vinegar, olive oil. Nothing more. The capers bring brininess. The herbs bring life. And the crispy shallots on top, golden and shattering, bring texture that makes every bite interesting. This is a salad for a long table, a potluck, a picnic where people linger. It gets better as it sits, though it rarely lasts that long.