Kartoffelpuffer

Kartoffelpuffer is grated potato bound with egg and a little flour, pan-fried until the edges turn lacy and dark. It's Germany's everyday potato pancake, sold from stands at Christmas markets and made at home just as often, and it never arrives at the table without something sweet or sour alongside it.

What it actually is

Potato is grated coarse, squeezed hard to remove excess liquid, and mixed with grated onion, egg and just enough flour to hold everything together without turning the batter heavy. Spoonfuls are flattened into the pan and pan-fried in a generous amount of fat until the surface turns deep golden brown and the thin edges crisp up into something almost lacy, well beyond what the thicker centre achieves.

Getting that contrast — crisp, browned edges against a softer, still-potato-tasting middle — is the entire skill of the dish; a pancake pressed too thick loses the lacy edge that makes it worth ordering.

How it's served

• Straight from the pan, hot, never held long before it loses its crispness.
• With apple sauce or sugar for a sweeter plate, or with sour cream and chives for a savoury one — rarely both at once.
• At Christmas markets and street stands, as much as at home.

Writing it on a menu

• Flag gluten and egg; both are standard binders in the batter.
• Say whether you serve it sweet (apple sauce) or savoury (sour cream) by default, since the two are genuinely different orders in a guest's mind.
• Note that it's best eaten immediately; a kartoffelpuffer held even briefly loses the crisp edge that defines it.
• Mention if the potato is grated fresh to order, since a pre-made batter sitting around tends to discolour and turn watery.