Himmel un Ääd (German Heaven and Earth)
Mashed potatoes ("earth") with lemony apple compote with thyme ("heaven"), topped with fried slices of blood sausage and crisp floured onion rings.
Himmel und Erde is mashed potato with stewed apples, often served with sliced blood sausage, and Wikipedia says it is popular in the Rhineland, Westphalia and Lower Saxony, was historically found in Silesia, and has been known since the 18th century. In the Rhineland the name is written in dialect, Himmel un Ääd. The joke is in the name: potatoes were called Erdäpfel, "earth apples", so a dish of potatoes and tree apples brings earth and heaven together (Wikipedia). Cologne's city portal, as quoted in search results, says the Cologne version is defined by crisp fried blood sausage, called Flönz in the local dialect, and browned onions (the site did not answer our request). In the Dutch provinces of Gelderland and North Brabant a related mash is called hete bliksem, "hot lightning" (Wikipedia, citation needed).
Why it works the kitchen science
Sweet, sour and salty in one bite
Tart apples cooked with lemon cut the richness of the blood sausage and the buttered potatoes the same way applesauce works with pork.
Floured onions
A light coat of flour dries the onion rings so they fry crisp instead of steaming, adding crunch to a soft plate.
Step by step
- Step 1
Put the apples, lemon juice, sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover, lower the heat and simmer about 20 minutes, until soft and starting to fall apart. Stir in the thyme leaves.
- Step 2
At the same time, cover the potatoes with cold salted water, bring to a boil, cover and cook about 20 minutes, until tender.
- Step 3
Toss the onion rings with the flour. Melt the 2 tbsp butter in a large skillet over medium heat and fry the onions, stirring often, 10 to 12 minutes, until golden brown and crisp. Salt them and keep them warm on paper towels.
- Step 4
Heat the oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and fry the blood sausage slices about 30 seconds per side, just until crisp at the edges. (Or bake them on a parchment-lined sheet in a 400°F oven for 12 to 15 minutes.) Drain on paper towels.
- Step 5
Warm the milk. Drain the potatoes, add the milk and the 1 tbsp butter and mash with a hand masher. Season with salt and nutmeg.
- Step 6
Serve the mash with a big spoonful of apples beside it or folded through, the blood sausage on top and the onions piled over everything.
Himmel un Ääd (German Heaven and Earth)
Serves 4 · about 4 plates · 1 hr total
Heaven (apples)
- 2 1/4 lb (1 kg) tart apples such as Jonagold or Braeburn, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 3 tbsp lemon juice (1 lemon)
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 cup water
- Leaves from 4 sprigs fresh thyme
Earth (potatoes)
- 2 1/4 lb (1 kg) floury potatoes (russets), peeled and quartered
- Salt
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 tbsp butter
- Pinch of grated nutmeg
Topping
- 10 1/2 oz firm blood sausage in natural casing, sliced 1/4 inch thick
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 4 medium onions, sliced into thin rings
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp butter
Method
- Put the apples, lemon juice, sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover, lower the heat and simmer about 20 minutes, until soft and starting to fall apart. Stir in the thyme leaves.
- At the same time, cover the potatoes with cold salted water, bring to a boil, cover and cook about 20 minutes, until tender.
- Toss the onion rings with the flour. Melt the 2 tbsp butter in a large skillet over medium heat and fry the onions, stirring often, 10 to 12 minutes, until golden brown and crisp. Salt them and keep them warm on paper towels.
- Heat the oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and fry the blood sausage slices about 30 seconds per side, just until crisp at the edges. (Or bake them on a parchment-lined sheet in a 400°F oven for 12 to 15 minutes.) Drain on paper towels.
- Warm the milk. Drain the potatoes, add the milk and the 1 tbsp butter and mash with a hand masher. Season with salt and nutmeg.
- Serve the mash with a big spoonful of apples beside it or folded through, the blood sausage on top and the onions piled over everything.
Adapted from LECKER (German food magazine), "Himmel und Erde". LECKER gives 1 kg apples, juice of 1 lemon, 150 g sugar, about 1/4 liter water, 1 kg floury potatoes, 4 thyme sprigs, 300 g firm blood sausage, 1 tbsp oil, 4 onions, 2 tbsp flour, 3 tbsp butter, 250 ml milk and nutmeg, with no serving count. We cut the sugar to 1/3 cup (about 65 g) so the apples stay tart and savory, and call it 4 servings (inFranken's similar recipe for 1 kg potatoes and 1 kg apples serves 4:). LECKER's 20 minute apple and potato times and its oven option are kept; the onion frying time is ours. LECKER. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (4)
Tips
- Blood sausage falls apart easily; buy a firm, sliceable one and fry it briefly (LECKER; inFranken advises asking your butcher).
- No blood sausage? A fried bratwurst or smoked sausage is a common swap outside the Rhineland (inFranken).
- Keep the potatoes a little coarse, mashed by hand; a food processor turns them gluey.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Stampf, not purée. Disputed: Cologne's city portal (quoted in search results) insists on coarse mashed potatoes, "never purée"; LECKER and other German recipes mash or rice them smooth, and the same portal's restaurant recipe pipes a purée.
- Apples folded in or served on the side. Disputed: inFranken stirs the apples into the potatoes; LECKER makes it optional. Both are common.
- Known since the 18th century. Disputed wording: Wikipedia says so, citing a 2000 travel guide; we found no primary source.
- "Heaven, earth and hell" when blood sausage is added. Folklore: repeated in search results and blogs, not in a reputable source we could read.
- Cologne's blood sausage is called Flönz. Documented as dialect per Cologne's city portal (search summary); we could not open the page.
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