Ingredients
Fritters
- 1 kgfloury potatoes, peeled
- 2onions, finely grated
- 3shallots, very finely chopped
- 30 gflat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
- 2eggs, beaten
- 60 gplain flour
- 2 tspfine salt
- ½ tspblack pepper
- ¼ tspgrated nutmeg
To fry
- 1 litresunflower or rapeseed oil, for deep frying
To serve
- 300 mlapple sauce, unsweetened
- Sour cream, optional
Directions
- Grate the potatoes coarsely, straight into a bowl of cold water, then drain and squeeze them very hard in a clean tea towel until no more liquid comes out.
- Let the squeezed liquid stand 5 minutes, pour off the water and scrape the white starch from the bottom back into the potato. This is what binds the fritter.
- Combine the potato with the grated onion, shallots, parsley, eggs, flour, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Mix thoroughly with your hands; the mixture should just hold together in a loose, ragged patty.
- Heat the oil in a deep heavy pan to 170°C (350°F). Test with a shred of potato: it should rise and sizzle steadily within 3 seconds without browning instantly.
- Take a heaped tablespoon of mixture, flatten it between wet palms into an irregular disc about 10 cm across and 1 cm thick, with ragged edges. Those loose strands are what crisp up.
- Slide 3 or 4 into the oil at a time. Do not crowd the pan or the temperature drops and the fritters soak up oil.
- Fry 4–5 minutes, turning once, until deep golden brown, crisp at every edge and firm in the middle. The bubbling should slow noticeably when the moisture has cooked out.
- Lift onto a wire rack, never onto paper, and salt immediately while the surface is still hot enough to take it.
- Serve straight away, blisteringly hot, with cold apple sauce on the side, the way they are handed over at the Schueberfouer and every Christmas market in Luxembourg.
Technique
- The contrast is the dish: scalding, crisp, savoury fritter against cold, sharp apple sauce. Sweet apple sauce with cinnamon is wrong here; it should be tart.
- Squeezing out the water and returning the settled starch is what separates a crisp Gromperekichelchen from a soggy pancake.
- Shallots as well as onion is the Luxembourgish detail. They give a sweeter, finer allium note against the coarse grated onion.
- These will not hold. Ten minutes on a rack in a low oven is the limit before the crust goes leathery.
Substitutions
- No shallots: use an extra onion plus a finely sliced spring onion for freshness.
- The eggs can be omitted if you increase the reserved potato starch, giving a lacier, more brittle fritter.
- Shallow-frying in 1 cm of oil works, but the edges will be less lacy than deep frying.
Variations
- The Schueberfouer funfair version, made extra large and thin so the whole disc is crisp.
- A herb-heavy version with chives and marjoram alongside the parsley.
- Served with a garlic and herb quark instead of apple sauce.
History
Spiced potato fritters fried at markets and above all at the Schueberfouer, the Luxembourg City fair founded by John the Blind in 1340.
Frequently asked questions
What is Gromperekichelcher?
Gromperekichelcher is a street food from Luxembourg: crispy shredded-potato fritters with onion and parsley; funfair essential. Spiced potato fritters fried at markets and above all at the Schueberfouer, the Luxembourg City fair founded by John the Blind in 1340.
How long does Gromperekichelcher take to make?
Gromperekichelcher takes 25 min of preparation and 25 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings, about 12 fritters. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Gromperekichelcher?
Yes, within limits. No shallots: use an extra onion plus a finely sliced spring onion for freshness. The eggs can be omitted if you increase the reserved potato starch, giving a lacier, more brittle fritter. Shallow-frying in 1 cm of oil works, but the edges will be less lacy than deep frying.
What is the most important thing to get right in Gromperekichelcher?
Slide 3 or 4 into the oil at a time. Do not crowd the pan or the temperature drops and the fritters soak up oil.
