I had a Jewish friend years ago that made potato latkes - shredded potatoes, onion, egg and a little flour, then pan friend until crispy. Delicious!! She served them with sour cream, applesauce and crisp bacon (she was obviously not kosher :-))

lindac: I only know how I make potato cakes which is leftover mashed potatoes (no egg) floured and pan fried, applesauce on the side. Was just wondering if others add seasonings of any kind or do something different. Tks for your comments which are always welcome.

We sisters cannot seem to make the exact same potato cakes the way our mother did. We think she just made thick patties of left over mashed potatoes, fried in butter. They were so yummy for lunch. But I cannot seem to keep them as well formed as she did. Must try an egg to see if that helps.

Linda -- mine are the same -- leftover mashed potatoes for next morning's breakfast. But, alas, no applesauce! And then there are the ones that are more like hash browns -- raw shredded potato with or without onion and fried until crisp on each side. I've had the latter but have never made them.

I can honestly say I have never met a potato cake I didn't like.

I always add finely minced onion and plenty of black pepper to cold mashed potatoes, roll them in flour and fry.

Leftover mashed potatoes plus egg and coated w/ crushed corn flakes and fried. Loved these so much when I was a kid that I wouldn't eat any mashed potatoes just to make sure there would be leftover mashed for potato cakes.

I also make potato pancakes w/ shredded baked potato stirred into Hungry Jack Buttermilk Complete pancake mix (along w/ the requisite water.) Some people add onion or finely diced green onion and top w/ applesauce. I prefer mine plain w/ a little maple syrup.

I'm a big fan of well-prepared hash browns but can't even put onion in them anymore since working for a Jewish boss. He gave us a "Christmas present" a few times by cooking latkes, potatoes, very potent onions (smell-wise - NOT taste-wise) and probably a little flour fried in probably a couple inches of oil and my desk was nearest the hotplate and open frypan until they were grease-soaked mounds of potato and my desk was the nearest of all to this. The rest of the day the whole place, including myself, my clothes and my hair smelled like a low-class fast food joint. Actually you could smell it for days afterward. Well everyone but the boss. I maintain he was punishing us. Floor, ceiling, walls, tables... all covered in grease. So disgusting. And he was so proud. And the secretaries were all left to clean up his mess. After a few years the secretaries rebelled and said they'd walk out if he did it again.

I love the smell of potatoes, bacon and onion cooking but get that greasy smell in there and I gag to this day and this was at least 35 years ago. He didn't like it when I said that latkes must be the Jewish name for bad hash browns. He had fair warning, I had told him before "Don't ask my opinion when you don't want it."

I'm gagging now just thinking about that smell. It's coming back to haunt me.

ROTFL! Cynic, I had a boss like that once. Totally inept at non-desk-work, but figured he could do anything. Cooking with grease requires and extractor hood! And a fire extinguisher and proper kitchen. I'm not surprised you're still traumatized. I made hundreds of latkes last year, and even with a gonzo hood and proper kitchen, it made a big, smelly, greasy mess. With the hood and elbow grease, the kitchen cleaned up fine, though, and no one's desk, paperwork, hair, clothes or other appurtenances (well, other than my apron) were affected.

Andrew Zimmern's Killer Potato Latkes are as good as advertised. They're also a combo between mashed and shredded potatoes (2 kinds of potatoes), and a bother to make if you're starting from scratch rather than leftovers, but they're worth it. Made in a proper kitchen with a good vent hood and paper on the induction under the frying pan so one can throw away much of the spatter. :)

My Mom made the left-over mashed potato ones and my MIL made the German ones, I like both. And neither of them were greasy. I've made both but they were never as good as what they made. Never had applesauce with either of them, though.

Leftover mashed potatoes, an egg, diced green onions and a little garlic powder. I like them with just butter on top. Hubby likes them with gravy or ketchup. Might make some today, if there are enough mashed potatoes leftover from the turkey dinner yesterday.

A bunch of years ago I was at a barbecue contest in Central Florida and one of the cook teams made a potato pie. It was similar to a Shepard's Pie, but it was made with mashed potatoes and pulled pork in a regular pie crust complete with a lattice top.

My mother made potato cakes with grated raw potatoes - grated on the box grater. She would add flour (not a lot) and salt to the grated potatoes, and then fry them by the large spoonful in shortening. We loved it when she made them, but they were a lot of work.

Cynic, we Jews call potato latkes, "The gift that keeps on giving." :)

Yum, I love latkes. I'm not so crazy about potato cakes, although I'll eat them, I've never met a potato that I wouldn't eat, LOL.

Cynic, I also had a boss that would cook for us, but he was an amazing cook. He'd make creme brulee and shrimp and grits, meat pies and multi-layer cakes and handmade pasta dishes, all amazing. Unfortunately he was also a sexist, self-absorbed, self-important a$$ and no one could stand him otherwise. (sigh) I guess you can't have everything, and we sure ate well!

Annie

My family ate a lot of potato pancakes on Friday's during Lent if we were out of fish that we caught ourselves. Raw potatoes finely grated by hand with some finely grated onion, and an egg, salt and a small amount of flour. Fry in heavy pan with oil until very crisp before turning over. Always served with applesauce and preferably home made applesauce as we grew our own apples.

Later when in high school and taking a cooking class I was puzzled when the instructor showed the class how to make potato pancakes as most of the students were perplexed why anyone would make pancakes out of potatoes and why would they be served with applesauce and not pancake syrup?

To this day I still make potato pancakes and yes I still grow apples (harvested 18 bushel) so we have a lot of applesauce.

I absolutely ignore any restaurant in my area offering potato pancakes as they are not the kind I grew up with. They make them with very coarse shreds of potatoes and end up tasting like hashbrowns. Many do not seem to put any onion in them either.