FOOD NEWS
15 Eastern European Potato Dishes You Should Try At Least Once
BY AUDREY HICKEY
Pierogi
Pierogies are Poland's most famous food export. The earliest recipe featured a filling made out of chopped veal kidneys, tallow, greens, and nutmeg.
Potatoes didn't become a key ingredient in pierogis until at least the 18th century and quickly became a favorite filling, along with quark cheese and onions.
Kartofelnye Zrazy
Popular in Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, and Belarus, this dish incorporates potatoes to create small cakes filled with meat and vegetables.
The patties are made of mashed potato, flour, and egg and are filled with meat or veggies before being rolled in breading and fried until golden brown.
Coravi Gulash
Ćoravi gulaš is Croatia's version of goulash. Instead of including the traditional ingredient of beef, this version is decidedly vegetarian.
It swaps the beef for potatoes and includes onions, carrots, and peas simmered in a tomato broth seasoned with paprika, parsley, bay leaves, and garlic.
Draniki
Draniki is Belarus' take on potato pancakes. They're made by combining grated local bulba potatoes with egg, onion, and cornstarch.
The potatoes are mashed and mixed with egg, salt, pepper, paprika, sweet onion, and garlic before being fried and served with homemade sausages or a pork stew called machanka.
Potato Babka
In Belarus and northeastern Poland, you'll find the potato babka, a crispy potato casserole that combines grated potatoes and onions with salt pork or bacon.
This mixture is combined with egg, flour, sour cream, salt, and pepper before baking. The dish is often served with a dollop of sour cream, scallions, and bacon bits.