CULTURAL FRITTATA | The humble nostalgia of gnocchi.

Aleksandra is telling me about when, as a kid, she used to cook kopytka with her family, and my memory brings me back to my grandma. She used to wake up early to make the potato gnocchi dough and, when I got up, she would start cutting them and quickly sliding them on a fork, showing me how to form ridges in the soft dough. For Aleksandra’s family, the preparation of the Polish gnocchi was an all-day party. A great quantity of pillowy dumplings was cooked and eaten in company. Aleksandra recalls her longing while waiting for the boiled potatoes to cool down and how she used to stretch her tiny fingers to secretly snag one.

The potato is one of the most popular ingredients in Poland: plain, boiled, or seasoned with salt and butter, or as the protagonist of several recipes. An example? The considerable number of dumpling variations: kopytka, the most similar to Italian potato gnocchi; kluski śląskie, with a rubbery consistency obtained from a mixture of cooked or raw potatoes and potato starch; and pierogi leniwe, where cheese is king; and kartacze and pyzy, both filled with meat and cheese.

The word kopytka — literally “small hoof” — probably refers to the squared shape of this dumpling. The recipe is exactly the same as Italian gnocchi — made of flour, boiled potatoes, salt, and sometimes eggs — differing in the sauces that come with it. The Polish gnocchi can be both fried and boiled and are served alongside savoury condiments: pancetta, cheese, and mushroom gravy. They can also be sweet: butter, cinnamon, mild cheese, and icing sugar. The origin of this dish is complicated, but it surely started after the widespread adoption of potatoes at the end of the 1600s. It is said that the first to bring this ingredient to Poland was King Jan III Sobieski, sending it to his wife during the Battle of Vienna in 1683. Paweł Wienczarek, gardener of Wilanów Palace, is credited with making potatoes popular when he started growing them in the royal residence.

Kopytka’s history is essentially intertwined with the history of potatoes, even though similar dishes (made with a flour, water, and egg dough) existed before their spread. Surprisingly, kopytka and Italian gnocchi can be found for the first time in cookbooks from the same period, around 1700. During this time, cooks in both Italy and Poland began experimenting with potato-based recipes, trying to enhance the flavour of this nourishing and cheap ingredient. Because of its origin as a low-income dish, kopytka became one of the foundational dishes of Polish cuisine. During the second post-war period — when restaurants became state-owned and turned into canteens and Bar mleczny (“milk bars”) — this dish was served at affordable prices with soups, meatballs, and breaded cutlets. Nowadays, as Aleksandra’s story shows, kopytka are a nostalgic comfort food that, one soft cloud after another, brings back memories of home.

Kopytka Recipe

Ingredients

• 900g of potatoes (a variety rich in starch!)
• 1 egg
• 190g of plain flour
• 1 tsp of salt

1. Peel the potatoes and place them in a pot, covering them with cold water.
2. Bring the water to a boil and let the potatoes cook until they are soft enough to be pierced with a fork (10-20 minutes, depending on the size of the potatoes).
3. When the potatoes are ready, drain the water and put them back in the pot to cook for about a minute to dry them well.
4. Mash the hot potatoes until you obtain a lump-free dough and let it cool.
5. When the dough is cool, add the egg and flour and work until you get a homogeneous dough. Be careful to not overwork it!
6. At this point, divide the dough into four parts and roll each piece into cylinders 4-5 cm thick. Begin to cut the gnocchi to your preferred size.
   Immerse the gnocchi in boiling water, cooking them a few at a time. Count 2-3 minutes from when they rise to the surface, then scoop them out with a slotted spoon or colander.
7. Add your favourite sauce to the gnocchi. Below is the recipe for a typical Polish sauce!

Creamy Mushroom Sauce Recipe

Ingredients

• Olive oil
• 285g of mushrooms
• 1 shallot
• 4 cloves of garlic
• Fresh or dried thyme
• 2 tbsp of flour
• 1 glass of white wine
• 120ml of liquid cream
• 2 tbsp of granular broth (or one bouillon cube)
• 1 tbsp of Dijon mustard
• ½ tbsp of lemon juice
• Salt and pepper
• Fresh parsley

1. Sauté the finely chopped shallot and garlic. When they are coloured, add the thyme. Then add the flour and mix everything, being careful not to burn it.
2. Add the mushrooms and deglaze with white wine until the alcohol evaporates.
3. Add the cream, powdered broth, mustard, lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste, and cook until the mixture thickens.
4. Serve the gnocchi with the sauce on top and a sprinkle of fresh parsley!

This article is translated by the author from the Italian version of Cultural Frittata in RatPark Magazine.