I was attracted by the name. Kartoffelpuffer. I may not have known exactly what they were to begin with, but reports of people willing to queue for them were bound to get my attention.

It turns out that there was no great mystery to it. As far as I could discern, these German potato pancakes were simply a seasoned mixture of grated raw potato, grated onion and egg, fried in a generous amount of oil. A reaffirmation of the irresistible draw of fried potato goodness.

Reading recipes for kartoffelpuffer, they did, on paper at least, seem almost indistinguishable from Jewish latkes, those potato pancakes often slathered with apple sauce and sour cream and traditionally eaten during Hannukah.

Latkes

Kartoffelpuffer? Latke? I suspect either name will do

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