Fofrovanec is one of those wonderful simple dishes from the humble region of Krkonoše mountains.
I first tried this recipe thanks to Krkonošská kuchařka, a cookbook by Jiří Marhold. I like traditional recipes from the area of Krkonoše mountains a lot, they make me remember all those people who managed to cook with very little and come up with delicious dishes.
If you’d like to try more from the Czech mountain cuisine, I have a recipe for Potato Bread from Krkonoše or Czech Bread Soup.
If I should describe what Fofrovanec is I would say that it’s like the potato pancakes Bramboráky with one extra ingredient and baked instead of fried. It’s a simple dish that you can make fast and you can make lots of it.
Fofrovanec Recipe
Ingredients
I put all ingredients baj voko, as my grandmother used to say, or “as much as seems ok”. This would be the approximate amounts of ingredients:
- 750 g/26 oz of potatoes
- 1 egg
- 1 medium onion
- 3 tbsp of fine or half-coarse flour (see Czech flour guide)
- 1 clove of garlic, crushed
- 1/2 tbsp of crushed caraway seeds
- 1 tbsp of marjoram
- piece of bacon, fatback or smoked meat
- salt to taste
- butter or lard for greasing the baking pan
How to make Fofrovanec
Dice the meat/fatback and fry it on a pan. If you use smoked meat without fatty parts, fry it on some butter or lard. Dice onion and add it to the meat.
Peel potatoes and grate them finely. Add garlic, spices, salt, flour, fried onion and meat and mix well. Grease the baking pan, pour the mixture in and bake on 180°C/356°F and bake until the top is golden.
You can serve fofrovanec hot or cold and even as a side dish (in Czech restaurants, you’ll sometimes see bramboráky as a side dish to, for example, goulash. And fofrovanec is great with the same dishes.
