Lokše

Easy·30 min active + 10 min resting

Slovak potato pancakes — mashed potato mixed with flour and salt into a thin dough, rolled out, and dry-fried on a hot pan. Traditionally served with goose or duck at Martinmas, but also as everyday accompaniment.

Lokše are the Slovak flatbread of the autumn goose feast. Saint Martin is the patron saint of all Slovakia, and his feast on the eleventh of November falls in goose-fattening season; from September into November the goose feasts of southwestern Slovakia run one after another, a local harvest-end Thanksgiving — a golden roast goose with goose liver and a stack of lokše to soak up the rendered fat and juices. The village of Slovenský Grob near Bratislava is famous for these feasts and for its lokše, often rolled around seared goose liver. The flatbread began as humble peasant fare from a time when potatoes were cheap and food was scarce, only later reaching festive and restaurant tables. Its name appears in several Slovak and Czech variant forms and belongs to an old family of folk names for griddle flatbreads; the dish is also eaten in the South Moravian region of the Czech Republic. Soft and pliable, the lokše are also an everyday accompaniment and used to thicken soups.

Pick up a warm lokš — pale tan with brown speckles, slightly oily from goose fat, faintly steamy. Bite: dense and slightly chewy, the potato's earthy starchiness, the flour's neutral background, goose fat's rich savor coating. Tear pieces to wrap around bites of roast goose with red cabbage. With a glass of young Slovak wine on Martinmas, this is autumn Slovakia.

Mashed potato + flour creates pliable dough. Dry-frying creates the browned surface. Goose-fat brushing is the traditional finish.

Variations

With added eggs (richer). With herbs in the dough. Filled with poppy seeds and sugar (sweet version). With duck fat. With added cracklings. Modern restaurant version with truffle butter.

On the Palate

Where Lokše sits in the Slovak flavor cloud

Ingredients

Serves 4

600 gPotato

250 gFlour

for brushing (or goose fat)Butter

1 tsp + to tasteSalt

How it's made

7 steps · 30 min active + 10 min waiting

1
27 min
Boil 600 g potatoes whole 25 min until tender. Peel; mash.
2
12 min
Mix mashed potato with 250 g flour + 1 tsp salt to a soft pliable dough. Rest 10 min.
Watch out
Mash the potato while still hot and lump-free — cold or gluey potato makes a stiff dough that tears when you roll it thin.
3
4 min
Divide into 8 portions; roll each into a thin 20-cm round.
4
3 min
Heat a heavy dry pan over medium-high.
5
6 min
Cook each lokš 1-2 min per side until lightly browned with brown spots.
Watch out
Dry pan, no oil — cook each round until brown freckles bloom across the surface; too pale and it stays doughy, too dark and it turns brittle.
6
2 min
Stack on a plate; brush each with melted goose fat (or butter) and salt.
7
1 min
Serve warm alongside roast goose, duck, or pork.