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German Fried Potatoes
With the aid of a round cutter (Emporte piece) one inch in diameter, cut four good-sized, sound, raw, peeled potatoes. Then take the potatoes and cut them into slices as thin as a fifty-cent piece. Wash well and drain; then plunge into boiling fat for eight minutes. Lift them out, drain and immediately place in a frying pan with half ounce clarified butter and gently fry on the range until they have obtained a nice golden colour, which will take about six minutes. Drain them well, sprinkle half teaspoon salt over, dress on a hot dish with a folded napkin and serve.
A two-stage potato: blanched in deep fat, then finished in butter. The method is sound, but the original leaves out the one number that decides the result.
- Emporte-pièceSimply a round cutter, here one inch across. You are coring cylinders from the raw potato so that every slice is the same diameter; an apple corer or a one-inch metal cutter does the same job. Large, even-shaped potatoes waste the least.
- "As thin as a fifty-cent piece"A US half dollar is a little over 2 mm thick, so roughly 1/12 inch. A mandoline on a thin setting is the practical tool; hand-cut slices will vary and cook unevenly.
- Fat temperatureThe book gives none. Eight minutes reads as a blanching rather than a browning time, which suggests a moderate fat rather than a fierce one, though any figure is a guess. Too hot and the slices colour before the interiors soften, leaving the second stage nothing to do.
- Dry them properlyWashing the cut slices removes surface starch and stops them sticking, but any water carried into hot fat will spit violently and steam the potatoes rather than fry them. Spin or blot them thoroughly dry first.
- Clarified butterHalf an ounce is a tablespoon. Clarified butter is specified because the milk solids in whole butter scorch at the temperature needed for browning; ghee works identically, and a spoonful of neutral oil with a knob of butter is a common substitute.
- The second fryingSix minutes in a pan is only accurate if the slices go in hot and in a single layer. Crowd the pan and they steam; work in batches and keep the finished ones warm in a low oven.
- ServingThe folded napkin on the dish both absorbed fat and served as presentation, a common nineteenth-century treatment for fried dishes. The recipe salts after draining, which is the usual practice, on the reasoning that early salting draws moisture.
- YieldFour large potatoes reduced to one-inch cylinders lose a good deal in trimming, so expect a modest quantity -- a side dish for a few people rather than a large platter.
The name is a little misleading to modern ears: these are not the sliced-and-panned Bratkartoffeln of a German household kitchen but a restaurant potato in the French manner, which is why the recipe reaches for an emporte-piutand and finishes on a napkin.