Potatoes and Desperately Danish

Do you think of the Irish famine or Germany when it comes to potatoes?

Continuing on discussing vernacular language and strange idioms, Google threw this up at me today:

I am Danish and might sometimes be a surt løg (a sour onion) read: a grumpy, critical person, although never as self-confessed as my blogger friend M-R, who is known to gå agurk, (go cucumbers) read: go bananas), more often than not, of late, at unsympathetic, collaboratively compromised Realtors or Landlords/Ladies who might træde i spinaten (step in the spinach) read: to say or do something stupid.

See how often kartoffel (potato) features in their slang idioms!

• Follow one’s own potato
• a lucky potato
• a hot potato

and who would have imagined carrots could be akin to snobs! (To play the King Carrot!)

Danes and Potatoes

Potatoes make me think of Denmark. Danes have this thing for potatoes but the likeness of characteristics or emotions to vegetables is something unique perhaps?

For a cold potato salad with some artichoke hearts added, try this Recipe for Danish Potato Salad or KartoffelSalat

Although I don’t always have Coppa on hand, River Cottage’s Paul West’s Potato Gratin recipe is currently my preferred way to cook a warm potato accompaniment. Reproduced below.

It is simply delicious, and I am sure the Irish and the Germans would approve.

Photo by Ray Piedra on Pexels.com

Desiree Potatoes, Coppa and Rosemary Gratin

Paul West

Ingredients:

• 150ml milk
• 350ml cream
• 4 sprigs rosemary, roughly chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• ½ onion, studded with 3 cloves
• 600g ruby lou potatoes
• 1 brown onion, peeled and thinly sliced
• 200g Coppa, thinly sliced
• 20g parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 bunch oregano leaves, roughly chopped

Method:

Use two 800ml casserole dishes or one 1500ml casserole dish.·    

Preheat oven to 180C.

In a small saucepan, gently simmer the milk, cream, rosemary, garlic, bay leaves and onion with cloves for 15 minutes.

Grease the bottom of the casserole dishes with butter.

Slice the potatoes thinly with their skins on and arrange a single layer of potatoes over the bottom of the dish.  Alternate with a layer of onions. Continue with each layer in both of the casserole dishes until you have used up all of the potato and onion, or until you have 1 cm left at the top of the dish.

Strain the milk mixture and season.  Pour over the potatoes and cover with foil. Bake for 1 hour, covered.

When the potatoes have cooked through, remove the gratin from the oven and take off the foil.

Lay the coppa slices on top of the gratin. Sprinkle the grated parmesan and oregano leaves over the top and place back into the oven, uncovered for 10 minutes or until the coppa is crisp.

Remove from the oven and allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving.