Let's make a Kugelis.

Mr. Irene and I decided to make a traditional Lithuanian dish, Kugelis, last night. It wasn't a special occasion; we just had a taste for it, and our potatoes were on the "old" side. (Lithuanian cooks insist old potatoes makes a better Kugelis because old potatoes have less liquid.)

We don't make Kugelis very often because it's something of a—to use an Italian phrase—"bomba calorica." A dish that serves six to eight people features five pounds of potatoes, two sticks of butter, one cup of cream, 12 ounces of bacon, five eggs, and an onion. And one eats Kugelis with a generous side of sour cream.
 

 Verona, Wisconsin, March 2014. Mr. Irene peeled and quartered the potatoes. We kept the potatoes in ice water until I was ready to grate them. 

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Verona, Wisconsin, March 2014. The potatoes must be grated using a fine blade; the correct texture is a pulp, not shreds. We use a Lithuanian potato-grating machine. 

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Verona, Wisconsin, March 2014. Quick grating keeps the potatoes from oxidizing. Lithuanians frown upon a "grey" Kugelis.

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Verona, Wisconsin, March 2014. The Kugelis is ready about three hours after we started making it.

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Verona, Wisconsin, March 2014. Rex says, "Hey! Bacon!!"