Chef Klaus
Münsterländer Pillekauken
Münsterland puts the potato into one thick pan cake, not a stack of little fritters: crisp edges, soft centre, bacon fat doing honest work.
Culinary Explorer
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Himmel und Erde
Created by
Rhenish heaven and earth is cheap winter sense: floury potatoes folded with tart apple, then covered with crisp-edged blood sausage and fried onions. Sweet meets sharp. Fat makes it a meal.
Side Dishes
German
Comfort Food
Weeknight
Make Ahead
20 min
Active Time
45 min cook•1 hr 5 min total
Yield4 servings
Himmel und Erde sits strongest in the Rhineland and Westphalia, where winter keeps its bargain with the cellar: potatoes from the ground, apples from the tree, onions from the sack, and blood sausage from the butcher, where rind, fat, and blood are not waste. In Cologne they call it Himmel un Ääd, heaven and earth, and they put Flönz, the local blood sausage, on top with fried onions. In Westphalia the apple may stay sharper and chunkier, and bacon sometimes joins the pan. Further north, some cooks keep the apple compote separate so the mash stays pale. Im Norden anders, im Süden anders.
The dish is not difficult. It is unforgiving about water. I cook the apples separately and dry the floury potatoes in the hot empty pot before I mash them, because apple brings enough moisture of its own and wet potatoes turn the whole thing slack. Fold the apple through the mash, don't beat it into paste. You want pale potato, soft apple, a little sweet, a little sharp.
The blood sausage decides the plate at the end. Dust the slices lightly with flour and fry them in a steady pan, not a furious one, because blood sausage is already cooked and soft; too much heat bursts it before the edge can brown. The onions take their time too, dark gold, not black. Weggeworfen wird nichts, even the onion fat goes over the mash.
This is Hausmannskost, honest home cooking, and it belongs on a Wednesday as much as a Sunday. Check the salt last, with the sausage on the plate, because the butcher has already salted for you. Schön ist, was schmeckt.
Himmel und Erde is recorded in the Rhineland and Westphalia from the 18th century, after potatoes had moved from field crop to daily food in the German lands; Frederick II's Prussian potato orders of 1756 helped push that change in the east and north, while western market gardens and household plots carried it into the pot. The name is literal kitchen poetry: Himmel is the apple from the tree, Erde is the potato from the ground. Cologne's version is tied to Flönz, the local blood sausage, and Kölsche Flönz has been protected in the European Union as a geographical indication since 2016.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
floury potatoes (mehligkochend)
Quantity
1kg
peeled and cut into large chunks
tart apples, such as Boskoop or Elstar
Quantity
600g
peeled, cored, and cut into chunks
apple vinegar or lemon juice
Quantity
2 tablespoons
sugar (optional)
Quantity
1 teaspoon
whole milk
Quantity
150ml
butter
Quantity
60g
fine salt
Quantity
to taste
freshly grated nutmeg
Quantity
to taste
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
to taste
onions
Quantity
2 large
thinly sliced
lard, clarified butter, or neutral oil
Quantity
3 tablespoons
blood sausage (Blutwurst or Kölsche Flönz)
Quantity
300g
sliced 1.5cm thick
rye flour or plain flour
Quantity
2 tablespoons
for dusting
flat-leaf parsley (optional)
Quantity
2 tablespoons
chopped
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| floury potatoes (mehligkochend)peeled and cut into large chunks | 1kg |
| tart apples, such as Boskoop or Elstarpeeled, cored, and cut into chunks | 600g |
| apple vinegar or lemon juice | 2 tablespoons |
| sugar (optional) | 1 teaspoon |
| whole milk | 150ml |
| butter | 60g |
| fine salt | to taste |
| freshly grated nutmeg | to taste |
| freshly ground black pepper | to taste |
| onionsthinly sliced | 2 large |
| lard, clarified butter, or neutral oil | 3 tablespoons |
| blood sausage (Blutwurst or Kölsche Flönz)sliced 1.5cm thick | 300g |
| rye flour or plain flourfor dusting | 2 tablespoons |
| flat-leaf parsley (optional)chopped | 2 tablespoons |
Equipment Needed
- •Large pot for potatoes
- •Small saucepan for apples
- •Potato masher or ricer
- •Heavy frying pan
- •Sharp knife
Instructions
- 1
Cook the apples
Put the apple chunks in a small saucepan with the apple vinegar or lemon juice, 2 tablespoons water, a pinch of salt, and the sugar only if the apples are fierce. Cover and cook over medium-low heat for 10 to 12 minutes, until some pieces collapse and some still hold their shape. The acid keeps the apple bright and sharp; too much water makes a thin compote that will loosen the mash before it ever reaches the plate.
Boskoop is the old choice when you can find it. It cooks down with tartness and body, while a bland dessert apple turns sweet and flat. - 2
Boil the potatoes
Put the potatoes in a large pot of cold salted water, bring them to a steady simmer, and cook until a knife goes through without resistance, about 18 to 22 minutes. Start them cold so the pieces cook evenly from edge to centre; drop big chunks into boiling water and the outside breaks before the middle is done.
- 3
Dry and mash
Drain the potatoes well, then return them to the empty pot over low heat for 1 to 2 minutes, shaking the pot until the surfaces look dry and chalky. This is the step that decides the dish. Dry potato can take butter, milk, and apple; wet potato turns slack and gluey. Warm the milk with the butter, mash the potatoes, then work in the warm milk mixture with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
- 4
Fold in apple
Fold the apple compote through the mash with a spoon, leaving small apple pieces visible. Don't whip it. Beaten potato releases starch and turns pasty, while folded potato stays soft enough to carry the apple. Taste now, but hold back on heavy salting until the sausage is fried.
- 5
Fry the onions
Heat 2 tablespoons of the lard or clarified butter in a heavy frying pan and cook the onions over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring often, until they are deep gold and sweet at the edges. Salt them near the end so they brown instead of sweating into a pale heap. Lift them out and keep the fat in the pan.
- 6
Brown the sausage
Pat the blood sausage slices dry, dust them lightly with flour, and fry them in the onion fat with the remaining tablespoon of fat, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Keep the pan moderate. Blutwurst is already cooked and tender, so the flour gives it a crust before the middle softens; a hard pan bursts it and leaves you with crumbs.
If the sausage is very soft, chill it well before slicing. Cold sausage cuts cleanly and holds together long enough to brown. - 7
Serve the plate
Spoon the potato-apple mash onto warm plates, lay the fried blood sausage on top, and finish with the onions and a little of their fat. Scatter parsley only if you use it at home, not because the plate needs dressing up. Taste the whole forkful before adding more salt. Würzen, Fett, Salz zum Schluss.
Chef Tips
- •Use floury potatoes, the kind that fall apart when boiled. Waxy potatoes fight the masher and give you a tight, shiny paste, which is not Himmel und Erde.
- •Nicht aus dem Glas. Jarred applesauce is usually too sweet and too smooth; this dish needs tart apple pieces so the potato still has structure.
- •Buy blood sausage from a butcher if you can, and ask whether it is firm enough for frying. A slicing Blutwurst or Kölsche Flönz holds the pan better than a spreadable one.
- •Keep the blood sausage refrigerated until you fry it and follow the butcher's date. It is a cooked sausage, but it is not shelf-stable once cut.
- •Without the sausage, the mash is a side for roast pork, goose, or smoked meat. With the sausage and onions, it is supper. That is the whole trick.
- •Leftover mash makes good fried cakes the next day. Shape it cold, dust with flour, and brown it slowly in butter. Weggeworfen wird nichts.
Advance Preparation
- •The apple compote can be cooked up to 2 days ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator. Bring it back to room temperature before folding it into the mash so it doesn't chill the potatoes.
- •The onions can be fried 1 day ahead and rewarmed in a pan. Do not cover them while hot, or the trapped moisture softens the browned edges.
- •The potato-apple mash can be made a few hours ahead and reheated gently with a splash of milk. Fry the blood sausage just before serving, because its crust is short-lived and should be eaten from the pan.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 560g)
Calories
675 calories
Total Fat
31 g
Saturated Fat
14 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
14 g
Cholesterol
80 mg
Sodium
1220 mg
Total Carbohydrates
84 g
Dietary Fiber
10 g
Sugars
25 g
Protein
19 g
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