Pommes Anna facts for kids
 |
|
| Alternative names | Anna potatoes |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | France |
| Main ingredients | Potatoes, butter |
Pommes Anna, also known as Anna potatoes, is a classic French dish. It's made from thin slices of potatoes that are layered and cooked with lots of melted butter.
To make Pommes Anna, you need firm potatoes and butter. First, the potatoes are peeled and sliced very thinly. These slices are seasoned with salt and pepper. Then, they are carefully layered into a special pan. A generous amount of clarified butter (which is butter with the milk solids removed) is poured over the layers. The potatoes are then baked or fried until they form a solid, round cake.
During cooking, the potato cake is flipped every ten minutes. This helps make sure the outside becomes golden and crispy. When it's done, the dish is taken out of the pan. It forms a cake about 15 to 20 centimeters (6 to 8 inches) wide and about 5 centimeters (2 inches) high. It's usually cut into wedges and served hot. This tasty potato dish often goes well with roasted meats.
A special copper pan is used to cook this dish. It's called la cocotte à pommes Anna. This pan is still made in France today. It has two halves that fit together. This design makes it easy to flip the entire potato cake during cooking.
The Story Behind Pommes Anna
This famous potato dish was created a long time ago in France. Most people believe it was invented during the time of Napoléon III. He was the Emperor of France from 1852 to 1870.
The chef who created it was Adolphe Dugléré. He was a very talented chef who learned from another famous chef, Marie-Antoine Carême. Dugléré was the head chef at a top restaurant in Paris called the Café Anglais. This restaurant was very popular in the 1800s.
It's said that Chef Dugléré named the dish after a famous lady of that time. There's a bit of a friendly debate about which specific person it was named after. Some think it was the actress Anna Judic, whose real name was Anna Damiens. Others believe it was named after Anna Deslions, another well-known figure of the period. No matter who it was named for, Pommes Anna remains a delicious and classic French dish!
