Palatschinke

Palatschinke(pluralpalatschinken) is a thincrêpe-like variety ofpancakeofGreco-Romanorigin.Thedessertis common in theBalkans,CentralandEastern Europe.
The dish is ofGreco-Romanorigin.In 350 BCE, theancient GreekpoetsArchestratosandAntiphanesfirst mentionedplakous.Cato the Elder's short workDe agri cultura("On Farming") from about 160 BC includes an elaborate recipe forplacenta.Palatschinke still bears the same name of its Greek and Roman ancestors.
The origin of the name comes from theLatinwordplacenta, which in turn is derived from theGreekwordplakousfor thin or layered flat breads.The name of the dish has followed a track of borrowing across several languages of Central and Southeastern Europe; the dish originates from the Roman era of Central Europe and theAustrian-GermantermPalatschinke, theCzechpalačinka, theSlovakpalacinka, and theCroatian-Serbpalačinkaare deemed to have been borrowed fromHungarianpalacsinta, that in turn fromRomanianplăcintă(a cake, a pie), the Romanian word can be traced back to the Latinplacenta, meaning "pie, cake".
Palačinkais also the name in mostWestandSouth Slaviclanguages (Slovakpalacinka,Bosnian,Bulgarian, Czech,Croatian,Montenegrin,Macedonian,Serbianpalačinka,палачинка,Slovenianpalačinka). InPolish, the equivalent is called analeśnik, inUkrainianналисник(nalysnyk) orмлинець(mlynec), inRussianналистник(nalistnik) orблинчик(blinchik), in Romanianclătită.
Central European palatschinken (palačinke) are thin pancakes similar to the Frenchcrêpe. The main difference between the French and Central European version of the dish is that the mixture for palatschinken can be used straight away unlike that of crepes which is suggested to be left at rest for several hours. Palatschinken are made by creating a batter fromeggs,wheat flour,milk, and salt and frying it in a pan with butter or oil. Unlike thicker types of pancakes, palatschinken are usually served with different types of fillings and eaten for lunch or dinner.
Palatschinken are traditionally rolled withapricot,strawberry,orplumjam, and sprinkled withconfectioner's sugar. A variety of fruit sauces (likeapple sauce), or thickfruit butterscalledlekvar(plum,prune,raspberry,cherryorsour cherryjam), lemon juice and sugar,chocolate sauce, hazelnut-chocolate cream, almonds, dried or fresh fruits, sweet cottage orquarkcheese andraisins,cocoa powder,poppy seed, are common modern ingredients.Rakott palacsintaare layered pancakes with sweet cottage cheese and raisins, jam and walnut layers between the pancakes, baked in the oven, comparable to the Frenchmille crêpes.
A well-knownHungarianversion of palatschinke is theGundel pancake(Gundel palacsinta), made with ground walnuts, raisin, candied orange peel, cinnamon, and rum filling, served flambéed in dark chocolate sauce made with egg yolks, heavy cream, andcocoa.
Rakott palacsintais a traditionalHungariancrêpe cake, commonly made from up to 30 tiers of palacsinta.It can also be made with crêpes that are filled with cottage cheese, jam and/or poppyseeds, rolled up and layered in a casserole dish and covered with custard and baked.
Palatschinken may also be eaten unsweetened as a main course, such as theHungarianmeat-filledHortobágyi palacsinta. They may also be eaten plain, filled with cheeses, or vegetables such as mushroom,spinachorsauerkraut, topped with sour cream, or cut into thin strips, calledFlädleinGermany’s andSwitzerland'sAlemannicdialects andFrittateninAustria.Flädle/Frittatenare used inFrittatensoup – pancake strips served in clear broth.