A Pickert is a flat, fried or baked potato dish

Dish (food)

A dish in gastronomy is a specific food preparation, a "distinct article or variety of food", with cooking finished, and ready to eat, or be served.A "dish" may be served on dishware, or may be eaten out of hand; but breads are generally not called "dishes"....

 from Westphalia

Westphalia

Westphalia is a region in Germany, centred on the cities of Arnsberg, Bielefeld, Dortmund, Minden and Münster.Westphalia is roughly the region between the rivers Rhine and Weser, located north and south of the Ruhr River. No exact definition of borders can be given, because the name "Westphalia"...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. It can be considered a kind of flattened dumpling

Dumpling

Dumplings are cooked balls of dough. They are based on flour, potatoes or bread, and may include meat, fish, vegetables, or sweets. They may be cooked by boiling, steaming, simmering, frying, or baking. They may have a filling, or there may be other ingredients mixed into the dough. Dumplings may...

 or very nourishing pancake

Pancake

A pancake is a thin, flat, round cake prepared from a batter, and cooked on a hot griddle or frying pan. Most pancakes are quick breads; some use a yeast-raised or fermented batter. Most pancakes are cooked one side on a griddle and flipped partway through to cook the other side...

. It comes as a round Pfannenpickert the size of a pan, a rectangular Kastenpickert or palm-sized regular Pickert. The name is derived from Low German

Low German

Low German or Low Saxon is an Ingvaeonic West Germanic language spoken mainly in northern Germany and the eastern part of the Netherlands...

 picken, pecken ("to stick something onto something else").

The principal ingredients are grated potatoes, flour, milk, eggs, and (usually) raisins, with a little yeast, salt and sugar, and oil for the baking. Three big potatoes produce 10-15 palm-sized pickerts, enough for 4-5 people. If one is not very hungry, a single Pfannenpickert may well make a satisfying meal.

Pickerts are a specialty of the district of Lippe

Lippe

Lippe is a Kreis in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Herford, Minden-Lübbecke, Höxter, Paderborn, Gütersloh, and district-free Bielefeld, which forms the region Ostwestfalen-Lippe....

, where they developed from a traditional meal for the poorer people. In former times, Pickert was eaten as breakfast or lunch by poor farmers, being a cheap and very nourishing dish, as would be required of food for a day's work in the fields. They are now served spread with sugar beet syrup, butter or (plum) jam, or even leberwurst.

A related dish, Lappenpickert, is found in the regions west of Lippe, towards Münster

Münster

Münster is an independent city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also capital of the local government region Münsterland...

 and the Ruhr Area

Ruhr Area

The Ruhr, by German-speaking geographers and historians more accurately called Ruhr district or Ruhr region , is an urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With 4435 km² and a population of some 5.2 million , it is the largest urban agglomeration in Germany...

. It does not usually contain raisins and yeast, but may have a dash of sweet cream added. Lappenpickert is usually baked in rather thin pancakes on a griddle

Griddle

A griddle is a cooking device consisting of a broad flat surface that can be heated using a variety of means, and is used in both residential and commercial applications for a variety of cooking operations. Most commonly, the griddle consists of a flat metal plate, but in the non-industrialized...

 greased with a side of lard

Lard

Lard is pig fat in both its rendered and unrendered forms. Lard was commonly used in many cuisines as a cooking fat or shortening, or as a spread similar to butter. Its use in contemporary cuisine has diminished because of health concerns posed by its saturated-fat content and its often negative...

, and eaten with the same spreads as Pickerts from Lippe, or with smoked fish or cold cut

Cold cut

Cold cuts are cheeses or precooked or cured meat, often sausages or meat loaves, that are sliced and usually served cold on sandwiches or on party trays. They can be bought pre-sliced in vacuum packs at a supermarket or grocery store, or they can be purchased at a delicatessen or deli counter,...

s.