[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] food - - "fooshia"

[hgillespie at rogers.com]

I remember my Dad loved Fuscher and my Mom would make it from time to time.  Seems to me there was both fried bacon and onions in it and we didn't have it with gravy. 

There is a website by a Gerhard Wolter - who has kin in Edmonton - but it is unfortunately in German - all about Fuscher /Kartoffelfuscher. There is a bit of history and a vague recipe(translated below). The gravy or sauce is also in the story but it's not quite a recipe - see also below.

The Comments below the story from other lovers of Fuscher note variations on the "recipe" - and several mention Wolhynia as their roots.

Enjoy!

http://kartoffelfuscher.ka.funpic.de/ 

REZEPT/RECIPE - the originl German is on the website 

There is no exact recipe to make Fuscher as it depends on the potatoes, whether they are mealy or waxy.

On average, the measurements are one third flour to two thirds potatoes. (traditionally they would have been done with rye flour)

Add the flour immediately after draining the boiled potatoes and mix with a large spoon so that the hot potatoes heat and literally cook the flour.
If the pot is not large enough to permit the addition of all the flour at one time, then the remainder can be added while mashing the potatoes. Mash the potatoes and flour mixture thoroughly so that it becomes one large mass and no lumps remain. 

*******

GRAVY/SOSSE
Bauchspeck or pork belly bacon cut in small chunks (preferably organic) and fried slowly in a pan over a low flame/heat til crispy - pork rinds.  In years gone by sour cream was slowly added to the rendered fat in the pan until it forms a type of gravy, but today the suggested addition is heavy cream and then adding some lemon juice until just the right flavour is achieved and slowly cooked until a gravy forms. For those who don't like pork rinds in the gravy, they can be removed.

The author of the article described in detail the procedure of eating Fuscher which he declared a delicacy! - taking slices from the pan or bowl, carefully pouring the gravy over the slices (with or without the pork rinds) before eating.

Helen

--- On Sun, 4/12/09, Leo Gitzel <lgitzel at telusplanet.net> wrote:

> From: Leo Gitzel <lgitzel at telusplanet.net>
> Subject: Re: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] food - - "fooshia"
> To: ger-poland-volhynia at eclipse.sggee.org
> Received: Sunday, April 12, 2009, 4:52 PM
> My mother made a dish that we called
> 'kliesel'  (my spelling) that sounds 
> similar to what you describe. On searching with Google I
> came accross a 
> Russian website in which there was a recipe for
> Klizel.  The translated 
> version is a bit difficult to follow but it seems to be
> what you're looking 
> for.
> Leo
> M
> http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ru&u=http://kuking.net/my/viewtopic.php%3Ft%3D9416%26postdays%3D0%26postorder%3Dasc%26start%3D1410%26sid%3Df2b720240ab4b3e24e8af8ee5c415f7b&ei=WRPiSZihDJqutAOSj_W6CQ&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=6&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3DKliesel%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4SUNA_enCA287CA288%26sa%3DN%26start%3D20
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Judy H" <jhfamtree at yahoo.com>
> To: <ger-poland-volhynia at eclipse.sggee.org>
> Sent: Saturday, April 11, 2009 7:01 PM
> Subject: Re: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] food - - "fooshia"
> 
> 
> >
> > My aunt was just asking me to see if I could track
> down a recipe for this 
> > dish, and I've been through multiple Polish cookbooks
> without any success.
> >
> > I'd also appreciate hearing how this dish is made.
> >
> > Thanks for triggering this memory, Rose-Marie!
> > Judy Herling
> > Researching Family History for:
> > KINTOP, WITZKE, HERLING, BILOF, SEIDLITZ
> > Germany / Poland
> >
> >
> >
> > Now, on an entirely different line - I have another
> question. There is a
> > dish my grandmother made in the times when the
> depression was severe, and 
> > it
> > was hard to feed a hungry family even here in Canada
> on the prairies. It 
> > was
> > called "fooshia" - and I don't know how to spell it.
> The
> > "oo" is pronounced as in "foot". It was potatoes
> mashed with flour, and 
> > cooked somehow
> > so the flour was no longer raw. Bacon was cubed and
> fried, and the bacon 
> > bits
> > and
> > fat were both put into cream. (Are we gagging yet?)
> The potato mixture was
> > served with the cream sauce. She continued to make it
> occasionally, even
> > when times were much better. I had it as a child; but
> the last time I ate
> > it, it sat in my stomach for several days, I swear!
> Not that I will ever
> > make this dish, but is anyone familiar with it (it
> seems to be a dish
> > brought from the Old Country), and can tell me/us just
> how it was made? I 
> > am
> > actually wanting to make a cookbooklet of recipes that
> my grandmother was
> > noted for, and certainly this one qualifies. None of
> my kin seem to know
> > just how it was made.
> >
> > Thank-you in advance!
> >
> > Rose-Marie
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Ger-Poland-Volhynia Mailing List hosted by
> > Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe http://www.sggee.org
> > Mailing list info at http://www.sggee.org/listserv
> 
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