I spent this summer working at a restaurant, and despite all the hard work, it does come with some benefits, mainly if you work in the kitchen. Even though I was familiar with most of the recipes, it still opened my mind to others that I’ve never heard off. One of those recipes was german fries. I thought this was just some fancy name and the potatoes had nothing german about them, but after a little digging online, I was surprised to see that in fact there was a reason.

This recipe is originally from Germany, and it’s called Bratkartoffeln which simply translates to fried potatoes. And once this new recipe step outside the border, it gained the name of the country of origin. The same way french fries were named in America. So basically, this Greman way of frying potatoes is using raw or pre-cooked potatoes, slice them in chunks, and fry them in butter until they get a crispy brown outside. I still struggle to make my potatoes crispy, but they taste lovely nevertheless. I guess I have to keep trying. *insert drooling emoji here*

Although this recipe isn’t all about the potatoes for me. While trying to recreate the recipe, I came across a flavour combination that I wasn’t expecting to enjoy so much: onion and cumin. I rarely use this spice when I cook because it has a strong flavour and can ruin a dish if you use too much. Really, it makes the dish taste awful. So unless I’m following a recipe that uses this spice, it stays stored in the cupboard. Now, I have a reason to pick it up, clean the dust off the bottle – to be clear, there isn’t actual dust, I’m just being dramatic – and cook with it.

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Ingredients:

500gm of Potatoes (red or white)
1 Onion
100gm of Bacon (ideally slab or any other thick-cut)
50gm of Butter
1 tablespoon of Cumin
Olive oil
Salt & Pepper
Fresh Parsley

Preparation:

Step 1. Clean your potatoes under running cold water to remove any dirt and little eyes that the potato might have. Then add them to a pan and cover them with water, season with salt, and cook them until they are soft but not cooked all the way through. Make sure not to overcook them, while still yummy the potatoes won’t hold together the shape and make a sad-looking dish.

Step 2. While the potatoes are cooking, peel and slice the onion, and cut the bacon into small cubes. Set them aside.

Step 3. Drain the potatoes and let them cool down a little. There is no need to burn your fingers! Once you can hold them, quarter them lengthwise and cut in medium size cubes. Set aside.

Step 4. In a large frying pan, heat up the butter with a drizzle of olive oil over medium-low heat. The oil will prevent the butter from burning. When the butter starts bubbling, add the sliced onion. Let it soften and then add the bacon and the cumin. Stir well until combined and let it cook for about five minutes stirring occasionally.

Step 5. Add the potatoes and mix them into the onion and bacon. Then spread them out to fry evenly, and don’t stir them! Since the heat isn’t too high to avoid burning the onion, the potatoes need to be left alone for a few minutes to get golden.

Step 6. Keep occasionally stirring around the potatoes until every side is golden. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Step 7. Once crispy and golden, turn off the heat. Finely chop the parsley and add it to the pan, combining it with the potatoes. And it’s ready to eat. But be careful because the potatoes are hot!

German fries are a success in my house. I never saw a plate got emptied so quickly. I’ve also tried the flavour combination of the onion and the cumin with brown button mushrooms. Even though the mushroom still kept their flavour without any taste of the cumin, it still was pleasant to eat it with the onion. But that’s a recipe I need to explore longer before I can have it finalized.