Kartoffelschmarrn

Kartoffelschmarrn belongs to Niederbayern and the Oberpfalz, where a cooked potato from yesterday is not a leftover, it's the start of supper. You set it beside sauerkraut, roast pork, sausages, or a fried egg, and nobody asks for a showpiece. This is Hausmannskost, honest home cooking, with a hot pan and the patience to leave the potatoes alone.

Im Norden anders, im Süden anders. In the north you'll see Bratkartoffeln in neat slices, often with bacon. In Swabia the potato may be pressed into dumplings. In the Bavarian east and over the Austrian line, the potato gets torn and scrambled through fat like a savoury cousin of Kaiserschmarrn. Some cooks add flour or egg. I don't here. The potato is enough if you treat it properly.

The technique is simple and decides the dish: cook floury potatoes in their skins, cool them completely, then tear them rough and fry them wide in Butterschmalz, clarified butter. Hot, wet potato breaks down into mash. Cold, dry potato has starch set firm enough to crisp on the outside while the inside stays soft. Leave it in the pan until the underside browns before you turn it. Stir too early and you've made paste.

Use yesterday's potatoes if you've got them. Weggeworfen wird nichts. Onion goes in after the first crust forms, because onion burns before potato browns. Salt at the end, because salt pulls moisture out and moisture is the enemy of a crisp edge. Erst verstehen, dann kochen.