Potato Pancakes

How does a Catholic girl know how to make Latkes?? I am a pure bred Lithuanian. Actually, my mother’s mother was Latvian so I guess I am ¾ Lithuanian and ¼ Latvian. My husband swooned me with pheasant and broccoli with hollandaise sauce and my mother swooned my father with potato pancakes and sour cream. I would have to say the national vegetable in Lithuania is the potato and that country makes a mean potato pancake. I can attest to that, I have had them.

My father really fell in love with my grandmother’s potato pancakes passed off as my mother’s. They were trying to impress the handsome Lithuanian who had just immigrated to Buenos Aires. It worked; they were married six months later, had two son’s in Argentina and my mother was pregnant with me when my father received his visa for the United States. My brother’s birth certificates say Buenos Aires and Mendoza, mine says LA.

As a family we had potato pancakes every Friday night. My mom was a true Argentine meat eater and did not like fish but was a good Catholic. She served them with sour cream and applesauce. Growing up, I always thought it was weird eating just potato pancakes for dinner but would give anything to have a plate of her cakes right now for a Friday meal!

She quickly learned to make potato pancakes from my grandmother who was an unbelievable cook. She has passed the tradition off to me. There are two keys to Lithuanian potato pancakes; grate the potato as finely as you can (in Lithuania, they grind the potato) and squeeze as much liquid out of the potato as you can. I have NEVER put onion in my potato pancake until one of my Lithuanian cousins recommended it. I completely rejected his suggestion but he calmly urged me, try one with grated onion and one without. Now, I ALWAYS make mine with onion, the savory balance it gives the cake is unmatchable. My mom said her secret is a bit of sugar. Not sure how important that is but I always do it.

It is our tradition to have potato pancakes and caviar for our Christmas Eve/Birthday celebration. My girlfriend brings the caviar and I make the cakes and blinis. What a treat!

Potato Pancakes

This recipe is forgiving. I have never measured and they have always turned out wonderful! Do not substitute a russet for a white potato, the starch content is different. You could use a Yukon gold and have done so with good results. Just don’t tell my mother.

Makes 16 potato pancakes

• 3 large white potatoes, peeled
• 1 onion, cut in half and peeled
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 egg yolk
• ¾ teaspoon sugar
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• Vegetable oil for frying

Grate the potatoes on the smallest grate of your grater. After you grate one potato, squeeze as much water out of the potato as you can and place into a bowl. Continue with the rest of the potatoes. Grate the onion on the largest grate of your grater. You will not be able to grate all of the onion because it will start to fall apart, do not worry, grate as much as you can. Squeeze as much of the juice out of the onion as you can and add to the potatoes. Mix the potatoes and onions together with your hands then add the flour, egg yolk, sugar and salt and mix until combined.

Heat a large heavy skillet over medium high heat until hot. Add vegetable oil until it covers the bottom of the pan and heat the oil until hot. I take the potato mixture with my hands and form a little pancake and place it in the pan. I actually press the potatoes in the pan so it is nice and thin so it will cook properly (yet I think I have asbestos fingers!). Fry the pancake until it is nice and brown, then turn over and cook again, until nice and brown. I like to salt the cooked side while it is in the pan, frying. You will need to cook the pancakes well since the potato is uncooked. I then place the pancakes on a cookie sheet with paper towels and place them in a 200 degree oven until the rest of them are cooked.

Serve with applesauce or sour cream. In the picture here, I served it with pepper steak with mustard sauce and Brussels sprouts with pancetta but my daughter asked where the apple sauce was!!