Kugelis, Potato Pudding

Summer Food Festivals. Learn how to create your own ethnic food festival this month, potluck style. Once upon a time 50+ years ago, my family would trek from Northern Indiana into Chicago to Dan Ryan Park in the summer. That was before gangs and the health department intervened in wonderful ethnic celebrations. Families in the Chicago area would set up booths in the park to sell their favorite traditional dishes. People flocked to these celebrations of diversity. I couldn’t wait to sample the Russian piroshkies, deep-fried doughnuts filled with savory ground beef and onions. Delicious! Why not invite friends to a summer melting potluck gathering in your backyard or at your local park?

National Foods. Almost everybody’s family in the U.S. can ultimately be traced back to some other land of origin. What ethnic food is like a national treasure to your family? All the ladies in my husband’s Czechoslovakian family would say pierogies! These are delicate kraut, potato, cheese, or prune dumplings served in butter with browned onions. Fantastically savory! Ask guests to cook up their family’s special recipe just before arriving for the food fest, keeping the food hot or cold, as required. Supply heating trays, an oven, stove, refrigerator, or cooler to be sure food is kept at a safe temperature.

Regional Selections. If guests all come from a similar region, then the menu will hang together, e.g., Easter European, Asian, or Latin. But, if they don’t, then you will have a melting pot of dishes, for which there is a fancy term—culinary fusion. Some restaurants are actually based on fusing ethnic cuisines at a high price. The great thing about a potluck is sharing the cost of feeding a crowd. Sharing ethnic food makes good cost sense, because most beloved ethnic food is made from simple, inexpensive ingredients. These are often the peasant dishes that filled a family’s stomachs and warmed their hearts.

Kugelis. Such a dish very dear to my Lithuanian father, is potato pudding. We make it for birthdays. Preheat the oven to 350º. First, in a food processor, finally chop ½ large onion and whir in ½ c. matzo meal, ½ c. sour cream, 4 eggs, 2 t. salt, 1 t. baking powder, ¼ c. melted butter, and 4 crumbled slices of crisp bacon. Set this aside in a large bowl. Peel and quarter 7 large potatoes. Grate them in the processor. Remove and squeeze out liquid in towels. Return grated potatoes to processor to chop finely. Add potatoes to onion mixture. Mix well. Pour into a buttered 11/2 to 2 qt. casserole. Bake for 1 ½ hrs. Serve hot with sour cream. Slice and fry leftover kugelis in oil or butter as a side dish.

Experiment. There are probably as many recipes for kugelis as there are Lithuanian cooks! Hot milk can be substituted for sour cream in the mix. Some people use farina instead of matzo or bread crumbs or none of these. But, the trick is to work with the potatoes at the last minute quickly, so they don’t turn pink. Some squeeze the liquid from the potatoes, letting it sit awhile. They pour off the liquid and put the remaining white starch into the mixture. Vary amounts of ingredients to your liking. Enjoy with friends.