Community Corner
Betty Hartmann's Traditional Kartoffel Nudeln
Betty's Hungarian farming roots add rich flavor to a story that grows from Hungary to Germany to Chicago and Elmhurst.
Betty Hartmann’s Traditional Hungarian Kartoffel Nudeln (Potato Noodles)
- 6 baking potatoes, peeled and diced
- 1 pkg. cooked noodles (Betty used 16 oz pkg. of Klusk Noodles. I used 2 cups cooked quinoa instead)
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 2 tsp. paprika
- generous salt to taste
Peel and chop baking potatoes into 1/2-inch cubes. Finely chop a whole onion. Heat oil in large, nonstick pot with a lid on medium-high.
When oil is hot, pour potatoes and onions in together and stir to combine. Add paprika and salt generously.
Find out what's happening in Elmhurstwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Stir to combine spices and cook on medium high, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender (about 15-20 minutes).
While potatoes are cooking, boil package of short noodles. Drain and reserve.
Find out what's happening in Elmhurstwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
When potatoes are tender, add cooked noodles and stir to combine. Check salt and adjust if needed.
This is a hearty dish kids will love. I did not have the proper noodles at hand so I tossed cooked quinoa into mine. Quinoa is loaded with protein and my kids loved the combination.
This dish was cooked in Hungary to satisfy hungry farmers. Your hungry kids will love it!
Betty’s Journey
Betty was born into a farming family in Szar, Hungary. On Christmas Eve 1944, Russians occupied their farm and evacuated her town. Her family tried to save their ravaged farm throughout the next two years, but ethnic cleansing soon became a reality.
By 1946, Hungarians were displaced to Germany.
“Russians threw three-quarters of the town out! Germany was occupied by American troops by then,” Hartmann said.
The journey sounds painful, but Betty retells the story as a survivor.
“We were the last family to be transported,” she recalled, from her spotless, tranquil home in Elmhurst.
When she recalled the way her family was displaced, she grew still and locked her eyes onto mine.
“Do you know how we were shipped?” she asks, a gentle smile masking a tortured trip, “In cattle cars. We were shipped five families to one compartment.
"We lived in Bavaria, close to Munich.”
By 1952, Betty, four of her siblings and her parents were able to emigrate to the United States. When I ask Betty if she considers herself Hungarian or German, she takes a breath to explain.
“We were Hungarian citizens when we arrived in Germany but we spoke German there.”
But by the time they gained entry into the United States, “We had German passports,” she said, resigned. “I feel now German.”
Betty and her family moved from Colorado to Chicago. It was in Chicago, on Bissel Street, that Betty met her husband, John. Although all of her children were born in Chicago, the family moved and all their kids were raised in Palatine.
“My husband and I bought a farm in Harvard and planted loads of trees there,” she told me, as she cooked her traditional Hungarian farmer’s feast.
Betty moved to Elmhurst after her husband passed away to be closer to two of her children, Heidi and John, who live in Elmhurst.
“We still have the farm,” she said.
She lit up when she remembered the husband she adored. “John just loved all of the trees. We all still go there every year. All of our children and grandchildren help to work on the trees on our farm.”
It’s no wonder Betty’s family is never far from her when she cooks her traditional farmer’s dish, kartoffel nudeln (potato noodles). I’m sure the memories of that dish bring her back to her childhood roots in Hungary, and the arduous journey that brought her through Germany to us.
