Potato Pancakes (No. 1)

A four-ingredient latke in all but name, printed with almost no guidance. The ingredient list appears garbled: "1 egg" heads the list and "2 eggs" trails after the instructions, most likely a typesetting slip carried over from a neighbouring recipe. Two eggs bind six potatoes far better than one.

• The hinge: wring the potatoes dryGrated raw potato sheds a startling amount of water, and wet batter steams rather than browns. Squeeze the gratings hard in a towel and mix in the egg and flour immediately, or the potato will grey.
• Which potatoesSix medium potatoes come to roughly 2 lb. Use a starchy variety such as russet; waxy salad potatoes hold too much moisture and stay dense.
• Five Roses flourA hard-wheat Canadian all-purpose flour milled by Lake of the Woods, which published this book to sell it. Any modern all-purpose flour substitutes directly, and one tablespoon is a minimum — add a second if the mixture still slumps.
• "Fry the same as ordinary pancake"Not in a dry pan. These need about 1/4 inch of hot fat — the book's period would have used lard or bacon drippings — held at roughly 350F, with the cakes dropped in thin spoonfuls and turned once.
• TimeThree to four minutes a side. Raw potato needs long enough to cook through, so keep the cakes no thicker than 1/4 inch or the centres stay chalky while the outside darkens.
• Yield and servingAbout twelve to fourteen 3-inch cakes, serving four. "Fine with fried ham" places these at breakfast or supper; sour cream and applesauce are the more familiar accompaniments today.
• Holding themDrain on paper and keep in a single layer in a 200F oven. Stacked pancakes soften each other within minutes.