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Potatoes with Apples |
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Himmel und Erde (Germany)
from Elisabeth Luard's European Peasant Cookery, published by Grub Street
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Heaven on Earth, plain cooked potatoes with apples and crisp fried bacon, is one of those sweet-and-sour dishes which combine fruit and vegetables with salt-cured pork characteristic of the robust farmhouse cooking of northern Europe. Holland, Belgium, Alsace, Czechoslovakia, Poland and Scandinavia all have similar dishes all of a very ancient date. When German and Dutch immigrants settled in Pennsylvania, the recipes were adapted to New World ingredients - even the bacon acquired a New World flavour when a touch of sweetness was added to the cure, a taste acquired, perhaps, from the residents of the continent who already used maple syrup rather than salt to dress their meat. Peculiarly American combinations such as waffles with maple syrup and bacon, even the peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich, belong to the same tradition.
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Serves 4 as a main dish
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Preparation and cooking time - 40 minutes
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Ingredients
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1.5 kg/ 3lb potatoes
1 kg/ 2lb apples
Salt
250g / 8 oz spek (streaky bacon)
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Method
You will need a large saucepan and a small frying pan.
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If the potatoes are new and small, you merely need to wash them. If they are old, peel closely and quarter them. Put them to boil in plenty of salted water. Peel and cut the apples in chunks the size of the potato pieces. Add them to the potatoes after 10 minutes. Finish cooking both together. By the time the potatoes are cooked the apples will be soft but still hold their shape. Drain thoroughly.
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Meanwhile, dice the spek small and fry in its own fat (you may need a little butter) till crisp and golden. Remove and reserve.
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Turn the drained potatoes and apples gently in the pan drippings. Pile into a hot dish and scatter with the crisp bacon. Serve immediately.
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Suggestions
Serve with all-meat sausages (bratwurst would be most appropriate) fried with the bacon. Serve all together.
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Instead of turning the apples and potatoes in the bacon pan, use the drippings to fry a handful of breadcrumbs to add extra crispness to the topping. A handful of finely chopped parsley could be included.
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