If you ever think you don’t know of any more things to do with a potato and you’ve never tried them, maybe it’s time to turn your hand to rustling up a batch of potato pancakes.

As with many dishes, there are is a mass of potato pancake recipes and not only do they vary by country, region and town but they differ from family to family and between ethnic groups.

Generally, potato pancakes are roundish discs of grated potato, normally shallow fried. They are extremely popular in Germanic and Slav countries but you’ll find potato pancake recipes in Indian and Korean cooking. They have a special place in Jewish cuisine where they are known as latkes (Yiddish).  The cuisine of Poland bears a huge Jewish legacy and there’s a large portfolio of dishes that include Polish potato pancakes.

Potato pancakes are the national dish of Belarus but they are also extremely popular in Germany where they might be known as Reibekuchen or kartoffelpuffer. German potato pancakes have salty and sweet versions, the latter often being served with apple sauce and cinnamon. They are a popular street food in winter.

Variations include mashed potato pancakes such as the Boxty of Ireland and the dry potato Rosti of Switzerland which uses grated potato but ignores the binding ingredients common in other potato pancake recipes. With the growing variety of vegetables cooks now have to choose from, diversions from the basic potato are common, such as sweet potato pancakes.

Here’s 2 fabulous potato pancake recipes:

Mashed potato pancakes

4 cups of mashed potatoes
¼ cup of all purpose flour
1 egg
½ cup of chopped onions

Oil for frying

• Put all the ingredients in a large bowl
• Mix until well combined
• Portion and shape into 8 pancakes
• Heat the oil in a pan
• Cook on one side for between 5 and 6 minutes
• Flip and repeat.

Classic potato pancake recipe

This will be recognised as the traditional latkes recipe

1 medium onion, peeled

3-3 ½  large potatoes, peeled

2 large eggs

2 tablespoons flour

6 tablespoons oil

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

(Applesauce and/or sour cream, for serving)

• Preheat oven to 200°F and put in 2 non-stick heavyweight baking sheets
• Grate the onion and potatoes coarsely and place in a colander in sink to drain (food processor with grating disc can be used)
• Lightly beat eggs in a large mixing bowl
• Add flour and whisk together
• Empty the potatoes and onions onto a clean dish towel and press gently to remove remaining liquid
• Add vegetables to egg/flour mix
• Season to taste
• Mix gently until well combined
• Heat 1 tablespoon oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a heavy bottomed skillet
• Drop enough mixture into the pan to make a pancake of about 3 inches across when flattened
• Repeat until there are 4 pancakes frying
• Fry until golden brown on first side then flip and fry on the other (usually 4-5 minutes each side)
• Transfer to paper towel and sprinkle with freshly ground salt and pepper
• Move to the baking sheets in the oven to keep warm until you finish making all the pancakes
• Between each batch of 4, wipe the pan with paper towels and reheat with 1 tablespoon each of oil and buyer
• When all pancakes made, remove from the oven and serve the pancakes hot