Lokše

Lokše is a thin Slovak flatbread made from potatoes and flour, cooked on a hot pan and rolled with butter or a filling. It is a simple bread, and the potato in the dough makes it softer and more pliable than a plain flour flatbread. It is usually eaten warm, with butter as the basic topping.

What it really is

Boiled potatoes are mashed and worked with flour and salt into a soft, smooth dough. The dough is divided, rolled out very thin and cooked on a hot pan until golden spots show on both sides. The cooked sheet is then spread with butter or wrapped around a filling. Lokše is a rolled flatbread, not a fried potato cake. The flour holds the sheet together, and the potato keeps the inside moist and tender.

How it's served

• Warm, straight from the pan, with butter spread on while it is hot.
• Rolled up around a filling or folded over one, then cut into pieces.
• Sweet, with sugar, or savoury, with sheep's cheese (bryndza) or cottage cheese.

How to write it on the menu

• Name the main ingredient, potato, and say what the filling is, if there is one.
• Flag wheat from the flour and milk from the butter, and flag milk again for any cheese in a filling.
• State whether the butter is spread on top or only inside, and whether the lokše is sweet or savoury.
• If a filling contains meat or fish, name it, since guests will want to know before they order.