Kartoffelpuffer

Grated raw potato pancakes mixed with egg and onion, fried in oil until golden and crispy, and served with applesauce or sour cream -- Kartoffelpuffer are the essential street food of Christmas markets across Germany, where the smell of them frying is as emblematic of the season as mulled wine. Known as Reibekuchen in the Rhineland and Reiberdatschi in Bavaria, this dish demonstrates how the German potato culture developed independently in each of the country's 16 states.