Potato pancakes or Kartoffelpfannkuchen is a traditional dish of potatoes indeed hailing from nay regions of Europe. You can find the same and variants of Kartoffelpfannkuchen in – Germany, the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, the Bukovina, Luxembourg, Poland, the Ukraine, Belarus, Austria and Bulgaria.
Among the few ingredients used in this simple recipe are peeled and raw potatoes. They along with eggs and flour are mixed in the form of dough and then salt and nutmeg, if at all are added and then they are baked or shallow fried in the form of a hot fat cake.
The regions and their traditions
Kartoffelpfannkuchen is a part of a dedicated traditional following. The popularity surges during times of festivities and celebrations. Their associations are not limited to Europe along, in-fact you can find many variants of the same across the Middle East.
In Britain and Ireland for instance, the pancakes here consist of flour, eggs, shredded potatoes and onions. A few variations also carry tomatoes or cheese when they get mixed. The same recipe also holds popularity in Africa, in a land which was once a part of the English colonial empire – Zimbabwe. This is a great example as to how colonialism took regional European food to great distances.
The Swedish folks have a variant called the rarakor which is made out of the unbound potatoes. In Poland, their version of the potato pancake is called placki ziemniaczane. These versions are then topped with meat sauce, pork crisps or goulash, also sour cream, apple sauce or mushroom sauce and cottage or sheep’s cheese along with domestic versions of fruit syrups. Placki ziemniaczane used to be a staple during the 17th century among the Polish monasteries. Furthermore, in the 19th century, when there were times of economic difficulty potato pancakes would then replace the bread that was not there for the thousands of peasants.
Among the Jewish communities, latkes are what translate as potato pancakes. It was the Ashkenazi Jews who prepared them during their traditional festival of Hanukkah. This tradition has been going on since the 1800’s but in-fact its point of origins lay in during the Middle Ages.
In one of the Iranian provinces of Gilān, a dish by the name of potato kuku is a favourite among the locals. It is made by shredding potatoes, onion, saffron, and sometimes by also adding to the mixture chives of garlic and cinnamon.
Recipe
There are many regional variations of the following recipe. They have been mostly created with the addition of oatmeal, onions, bacon, fat quark, buttermilk, garlic, marjoram, parsley, smoked salmon or other known.
You can also go on serving the potato pancakes along with certain kinds of sweet and savoury ingredients. Applesauce and sugar generally are the more popular kinds of supplements that they are served along. Furthermore, in Bergisch Land, in Münsterland and Rhineland you will find that people use buttered brown bread placed along with beef, apple butter, jams and many other things. Sauerkraut is another popular side dish from the Bavarian region. Soups of green beans are also popular in certain regions of Saarland and the northern Rhineland-Palatinate and Hessen.
Ingredients:
- Potaotes: 2 ½ cups – grated
- Water: 3 cups
- Lemon juice: 1 teaspoon
- Potatoes: 1 large – boiled and mashed
- Egg: 1 beaten
- Milk: 2 tablespoons
- Vegetable oil as and when needed
Procedure:
First begin by taking a medium sized bowl and mix enough water and a bit of lemon juice so that when you grate the potatoes, they can submerge within the water. Then, by using a strainer or a cheese cloth drain the liquid from the potatoes. Moreover, make sure that they are drained well enough.
Then in another bowl of similar measurements add milk, salt, egg and salt along with the cooked and raw portions of the potatoes. You will have to beat this mixture and form a batter like consistency.
Next, it is time to take a frying pan and add some 3 T oil to it. When the oil heats up you can carefully make pancakes out of the batter. With respect to the following batter volume, you should be able to make close to 3 to 4 pancakes. While frying keep in mind that the pancakes remain firm on the bottom side. Then turn them carefully and try to achieve a nice golden brown crust on the other side.
In the meantime take a serving plate and attach paper towels on to them. Then put the pancakes on them and one at a time remove the excess quantity of oil from each of them.
Then take the pancakes and serve them while they are warm. You can use your favourite toppings or just serve it plain and simple.