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| Potato Pancakes |
Potato pancakes are shallow-fried pancakes of grated or ground potato, flour and egg, often flavoured with grated onion or garlic and seasoning. Potato
pancakes may be topped with a variety of condiments, ranging from the savoury (such as sour cream or cottage cheese) to
the sweet (such as apple
sauce or sugar), or they may be served
without any garnish. Potato pancakes are sometimes made from mashed
potatoes to produce pancake-shaped croquettes.
Maybe
I am doing a disservice by posting potato pancakes under Germany, in my trip
“Around the World in 30 Days”, for they are associated with cuisines of many
European and Middle East.
Potato
pancakes are an old traditions in Austrian , Belarusian , Czech,
German , Hungarian , Iranian, Jewish , Yiddish, Hebrew, Latvian , Lithuanian , Luxembourg ,
Polish, Russian, Slovak ,
Ukrainian and any other
cuisines. It is the national dish of Belarus.
In Swiss cuisine, the Rösti differs as it never contains egg
or flour. It is a traditional favourite in southern Indiana during holiday festivities.
In
the North-East of England (particularly County Durham), there is a popular dish
known as tattie fish,
because the pancake resembles a deep fried piece of fish. The pancake consists
of flour, eggs, shredded potatoes and onions. You may add tomato or cheese to
the mix. A form of potato pancake known as boxty is a popular traditional dish in most
of Ireland. It is made in a similar
way but using more starch. The British also brought the potato pancake to
Zimbabwe, Africa when Zimbabwe was a colony of Britain. They are still eaten
today too.
The
Swedish version of unbound potato pancakes is called rårakor When prepared with a batter of wheat
flour, milk, egg, and shredded potatoes and fried like thin pancakes, they are called raggmunk, the word "ragg" means crispy and
"munk" derives from the Swedish "munkpanna", which is
literally translated as donutpan. Both
kinds are enjoyed with fried pork and lingonberry
jam.
In Germany,
potato pancakes are eaten either salty (as a side dish) or sweet with apple
sauce, blueberries, sugar and
cinnamon; they are a very common menu item during outdoor markets and festivals
in colder seasons.
