A Type of German Potato Pancake: Pickert

"Pickert," a German word that is spelled the same in both the singular and in the plural,* is used for a potato pancake type dish made with yeast. The dish is common in the Westphalia region (German: Westfalen), and a well known part of the cuisine of the city of Lippe within that region. There are slight variations in some recipes, or in the shapes and accompaniments for the Pickert. Generally, they are served with at least one of the following: apple sauce, plum jam, butter, various fruit compotes, sugar beet syrup, or, especially in the city of Lippe, liverwurst. Yes, liverwurst!** Please be sure to try the liverwurst topped Pickert, they are delicious. 

Ingredients:

3 cups grated potatoes (no big pieces, or it will not cook properly)
3 cups flour
4 eggs
2 cups milk (about 1/4 cup just heated to lukewarm only)
1 packet dried yeast
1 cup raisins
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
vegetable oil, canola oil or regular olive oil for frying

Dissolve the yeast in the 1/4 cup barely lukewarm milk, set it aside for a few minutes. In a bowl, add the other ingredients, except the oil, and then stir in the milk/yeast mixture. Mix well until a thick batter forms. "If" you need a little more flour to tighten the batter, mix the flour in a little at a time until you reach a batter that is thick, but still able to be poured. Cover the bowl with a clean towel and let the dough sit for about an hour. Heat some oil in a skillet over medium heat (cast iron is good for this, but certainly not mandatory). Put enough dough into the heated oil for each pancake to be "about" 3 inches in diameter, but the pancakes do not need to be perfectly shaped into rounds; in fact, they are traditionally somewhat irregular in shape, often more oblong. Fry the pancakes until golden brown on both sides. Drain the Pickert on paper towels.

* For those learning German, the singular form is masculine; thus, "der Pickert."

** For homemade liverwurst/Leberwurst: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2016/01/homemade-liverwurst.html

I had these with some plum jam and liverwurst.

WORD HISTORY:
Earn-This word goes back to Indo European "osen," which meant, "harvest time, late summer." This gave Old Germanic "asni," with the same meaning, but also, by extension, "harvest work, work in the fields to bring in the yield." ^ This produced the Old Germanic verb "asnon/aznon," which meant, "to work in the fields, to work at harvesting." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "earnian," with the meaning, "to work toward, to strive toward, to be rewarded for work." This then became "earnen/ernen," before settling on "earn." There seems to have been a variant pronunciation within some of the West Germanic dialects long ago (English is West Germanic), which replaced the "s" with "r," but it was not always, nor among all of the dialects. German has "ernten" (to harvest, to bring in the yield of the fields), Low German Saxon has "oornen" (harvest). Long ago, English had "ern" and Old High German had the close form "arn," both of which meant "harvest" (noun).    

^ The Germanic form gave Old English "esne," which meant, "worker or servant who was hired or who  owed part of the harvest from use of land (by agreement)." Low German had "asne," which transferred the meaning from "worker" to the income for the worker, as it meant "wages, income," so you see the move by this close relative of English toward what would evolve into the modern English meaning.

Homemade Liverwurst

A lot of people do not seem to like liver, but liver sausage in various forms has been quite popular in many cultures and cuisines. Of course, by liver, I don't just mean beef or calves liver, but liver from other animals too, most often pigs, chickens, ducks and geese, but certainly from other animals too. There are different names for liver sausage from the various cultures, most commonly: "Leberwurst" in German, pâté in French, and chopped liver in Jewish cuisine. In English interestingly, the most common word is "liverwurst," a compound using the English word "liver," and the German word "Wurst," which means sausage, although "liver" is the close relative of German "Leber." * By the way, this has nothing to do with German "Leberkäse," also, at times, spelled without the ending "e," except for much of the preparation.** So I'm going to do a series of four articles on liverwurst of different types. Of course, liverwurst can often be soft and spreadable, or it can be a bit firmer, and sliced, or sometimes it's something of both. Some liverwurst is in some kind of casing, be it from an animal or artificially made. Some liverwurst is boiled for the cooking process, some is baked, often called a terrine. Some liverwurst is actually smoked, while some has a smoky flavor from the addition of smoked bacon, or smoked flavoring, and other liverwurst has no such aroma or flavor. Many Americans are likely most familiar with the term "Braunschweiger" for liverwurst. "Brauschweig" is the name of a German city located in the state of Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony), many times rendered as "Brunswick" in English. "To my knowledge" (a dangerous thing), there is no liver sausage made in that city using the name "Braunschweiger." The name seems to have been applied in the United States for liver sausage produced here. One more thing, liverwurst, of whatever type, is high in cholesterol and fat, so you should take that into consideration and eat it in moderation. Now let's get cooking so we can gorge ourselves .... Just joking, nutritionists.  I've seen lots of recipes for liverwurst, but this is something of my own, although many recipes are similar, and I don't use casings, but rather I bake it in a dish.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb calves liver
1 lb pork liver
1 medium onion
1 tablespoon of salt
1 teaspoon of pepper
1 lb pork sausage
1/4 lb smoked bacon
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 tablespoon ground marjoram
1 teaspoon ground thyme
1 teaspoon mace
small amount of butter or oil
1 teaspoon liquid smoke (optional)

In a skillet, add a pat of butter or a small amount of oil, like canola. Add the onions and cook over relatively low heat, just until the onion is softened. In food processor or grinder, add one half of each type of liver and pulse or grind until finely chopped. Add this to the onion in a mixing bowl. Take the remaining liver and pulse it or grind it, but leave it with a more coarse texture, then add it to the mixing bowl. Chop the bacon into small pieces and add it to the mixture, along with the sausage and all of the other ingredients. If you want more smoke flavor, use the liquid smoke. Mix all of the ingredients well by hand and put the mixture into a baking dish, with a lid. You may choose to grease the baking dish first, but I do not. If your dish does not have a lid, use foil to cover the dish. Get an ovenproof pan large enough to hold the baking dish and add about an inch of water to the pan, then place the baking dish into the middle of the pan. The water will naturally rise up the side of the dish, so be careful. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees. Put the pan with the dish into the oven, mid level rack. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees. Do not over bake. Remember, while this may look something on the order of meatloaf, it is not supposed to be crispy on any part of it, so definitely check the temperature at the 45 minute mark. The finished product should be easy to slice, but more delicate than meatloaf. (Note: While I haven't done this, I would say the mixture can be stuffed into casings and then boiled as the cooking process.)

* For the history of the words "liver/Leber," see my article:  http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2010/11/german-question-part-fifty-nine.html

And for the word history for "Wurst," see my article: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2010/09/german-question-part-forty.html

** "Leberkäse," which means "liver cheese," has no liver and no cheese in its ingredients. Hey, don't complain to me about the name, tell the Germans! It is popular in many parts of the southern German language area, including Austria, Bavaria and Switzerland.

WORD HISTORY:
Crane-This noun goes back to Indo European "gereh/gerohn," which meant "to shriek, to cry out in a rasping voice." This gave Old Germanic "krano," which meant the name for one of the wading birds with a screeching cry. This then gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "cran," with the same meaning. It was quite some time before the word added the ending "e" to signify that the "a" had a long sound. The bird's long neck and general build gave rise to the use of the name for the mechanical device used for lifting. The verb form came from the noun circa 1800.