For those who don’t know Eastern-Westphalia, I will explain it to you: It is a region of North-Rine Westphalia, the most populous state (and the fourth largest) in Germany. The best known landmark of Eastern-Westphalia is probably the “Hermanns Denkmal”, a gigantic statue of “Hermann the Etruscan”, who is proudly overlooking his battlefield where he won the war against the Roman legions.
We grew up in a village between Paderborn and Bielefeld and although our eating culture was influenced by our mother’s bohemian background, we also knew the true promises of the local cuisine: Wurstebrei, Grünkohl, Pannekauken just to name a few…
I was quite excited when I watched a cooking-show the other day and they had a “Eastern Westphalian Week”! One of the candidates prepared “Lippischer Pickert” and I was surprised that I have never heard of it before. But I wanted to try it! Lippischer Pickert used to be a dish for the poor; the preparation as well as the ingredients are simple. It is a pastrie which is somehow a mix of a waffle, (potato)-pancake and fritters. It can be enjoyed with a compote, sugar and cinnamon, or with “Leberwurst” (liver sausage). Yes, you’ve read correctly! LEBERWURST! That is the original topping for a “Lippischer Pickert”. Since I’ve decided quite spontaneously to prepare it, I took the good old Powidl, you know from other recipes. It was delicious!
Ingredients
Serves 6
- 5 eggs
- 500g flower
- 500g peeled, raw potatoes
- 40g yeast
- 250 ml milk, soy milk or water
- salt
- sugar
- raisins
- oil
For the topping according to your personal preference: sugar powder, fruit compote or cinnamon-sugar or for the original version liver sausage.
Recipe for Lippischer Pickert
- Mix the yeast with the milk/ water and warm up slightly so the yeast can ferment
- Finely grate the raw potatoes
- Mix the potatoes with all other ingredients until you have a creamy dough
- Cover with a clean cloth and let rest for about an hour so the dough can ferment
- Stir the dough and add as many raisins as you like
- Heat up an iron pan with some oil or if you have with some lard
- Take a small portion with two spoons and spread in a hot iron pan. Repeat this for as many Pickerts you manage to place in the pan. The pickerts don’t need to be of a perfect shape.
- Fry them slowly at medium temperature and turn when brown/ golden.
Add your favourite topping and enjoy while still hot!
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