Patatnik

Patatnik

Place of origin	Bulgaria
Region or state	Rhodope Mountains
Main ingredients	Potatoes,onions,eggs,salt,spearmint

Patatnikorpatetnik(Bulgarian:пататник or патетник) is aBulgarianpotatodish characteristic of theRhodope Mountainsin the country's central south.Patatnik is made of grated potatoes,onions,saltand a type of very mild mint called Gyosum in Bulgarian, all mixed and cooked on a slow fire. Some restaurants addsirene(white cheese) or eggs, but this is not traditional; some people also usesavoryandpeppers.

The grated potatoes are squeezed out and mixed with the onions. Some of the doughy mixture that has formed is rolled into two sheets. One of the sheets is placed on the bottom of the dish and should be larger in diameter than it so as it comes out a fair bit. The remaining mixture is spiced with savory, poured on top of the first sheet, covered with the other sheet; the edges of both sheets should cover each other: in that respect, it resembles a "potatobanitsa".According to one of the preparation methods, the patatnik is turned over when the bottom is well cooked and slipped into the dish with the heated side. According to other recipes, no sheets are formed and instead the ingredients are mixed until they become homogeneous; these are then cooked in a deep dish on a slow fire. After 20 minutes the mixture is turned over and covered and then cooked further.

The dish is traditional for the entire Rhodopes and the nearby regions, fromBanskoinPirinthroughSmolyanandZlatogradto as far east asChernichevo.The name is derived from the local wordpatatoorpateto,"potato", with theBulgarianmasculine suffix–nik.The word is typical for theRup dialectsspoken in the Rhodopes. It is distinct from both standard Bulgariankartof(картоф) and thewestern Bulgariankompir(компир). InNedelino,the dish is known askashnitsa(кашница).

External links

• "Рецепти: Пататник"(in Bulgarian). Меню. June 2006.Retrieved2008-09-26.
• MariaBright (2005-01-25)."Potato Pie (Patatnik)".Recipezaar.Retrieved2008-09-26.