Rachel Roddy's Recipe for Rosel or Northern Italian Potato Pancakes | A kitchen in Rome

In the photo are two men – one around 60, the other around 30 – a young woman and a child around six years old all sitting on carved chairs at a table. Behind them is a window with thin green curtains framing a clear view of a mountain. Three carved spoons hang on the wall, along with a similar painting in view. Both men are wearing jackets over plaid shirts; the woman is wearing a pink twin-set with a matching headband under her bouffant; and the child is in what appears to be overalls.

On the table are glasses of water and wine, bread in a basket and two trays. One is covered in slices of salami, cheese and a pile of beans, and on the other is a small mountain of tortei di patate or potato fritters the size of a fried egg. The child has one in his hand and smiles. In fact, everyone is smiling. The photo is on page 67 of a 1971 magazine, Benvenuti a Trento (Welcome to Trento).

< p class=" dcr-18sg7f2">According to the Confraternita della Torta e del Tortel de Patate, the Brotherhood of Patties and Potato Fritters (which has its headquarters in Trentino, a region at the top of Italy, where the city of Trento is located), three things matter when making a large torta or several small tortei. First, the type of potato; they suggest the kennebec, an all-purpose white potato developed in Maine in the 1940s. Second, the grater, which should have large holes. And third, the pan, which should be copper.

I was out before I was in. I don't have kennebec potatoes or a copper pan. I do, however, have a box grater with big holes, the kind of holes that produce definite bursts of carrot and apple for coleslaw, cucumber for yogurt, and apple that then browns miserably in yogurt . So I grated, squeezed, added salt and started shaping the donuts. It was clear almost immediately that the grates in my hand weren't going to turn into those flat, chunky patties that made the child smile. But I squeezed as best I could and fried them anyway. While frying, the potatoes escaped my shaping and turned into crispy sea urchins. Which were good to eat, but not good enough for a platter.

The Trentino/Alto Adige tourist site I Love Val di Non mentions the Brotherhood, as well as a Nonna Maria, “a trusted cook who has never disappointed anyone; family, guests or friends, Italians and foreigners, who sat at his table”. I feel more comfortable with Nonna Maria than with the Brotherhood, although they are probably on the same marketing board. However, the large holes in his grater are completely different from mine. His produce a coarse porridge, the consistency I associate with horseradish. Although she says she squeezes out the excess water, she is still quite wet, so she also adds flour: two tablespoons of flour to a kilo of potatoes are her proportions. She uses a tablespoon to lift the thick, dough-like mixture into a nonstick skillet in which she has heated just a little oil. She uses the same spoon to stir the top and flatten the mixture a bit. I find they need a little help with a spatula; they should flip easily so you can fry the other side as well. They look like rösti crossed with a big golden pancake. It is advantageous to pat them briefly, on a tea towel, before placing them on a serving plate and sprinkling them with salt.

Another photo, on the wall of a restaurant called Maso Finisterre in Trento, calls them tortello di patate, and each is served on its own little wooden board, with Trentino salami, their own cheese, cappucci (which I assume is pickled cabbage) and beans. Meanwhile, at one of the tables in this same restaurant sits a Sicilian, an Englishwoman and a child who is holding a potato fritter and frowning. No one can bother to negotiate. The man and the woman share the rest of the fritters, then they smile.

Potato fritters (tortei di patate)

Prep 10 minsCook 15 minsMakes about 16

3 large all-purpose white potatoes (about 1kg)2 tablespoons plain flourSalt and pepperOlive oil, for fryingSalami, cheese and pickles, to serve

< p class="dcr-18sg7f2">Peel the potatoes and grate them over the large holes of a box grater, ideally one that creates a coarse mush, rather only defined bursts. Press it...