Jansson's Temptation

Ingredients
My mother was Swedish and this is how she used to make this delight.

1 large onion
500 g floury potatoes
125 g can anchovy fillets
about 200 ml cream
pinch of white pepper
butter

Instuctions
Slice the onion thinly and sauté in butter until soft and translucent do not let them brown. Set aside.

Peel the potatoes and cut them julienne strips. Plunge the potatoes into cold water to remove the starch and stop them from sticking. You may plunge the potato strips briefly into cold water to remove some of the starch if you like. This prevents the potato pieces from sticking together too much while the dish is cooking. Drain the strips thoroughly.

Drain the anchovy fillets, reserving the canning liquid.

Layer the potato strips, anchovies and onion slices in a buttered, shallow casserole dish, starting and ending with a potato layer.

Take half of the cream and mix in it 2 tablespoons of the reserved anchovy liquid and some freshly ground white pepper. Pour the mixture over the ingredients in the casserole dish then dot with pats of butter.

Bake at 200 °C for about 30 minutes.

Take the dish out and pour over the rest of the cream. Then bake for a further 15 to 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven when it has nicely browned on top and the consistency is creamy, not watery.

Serve with fresh, sliced cucumber or gherkins or fresh, mixed salad.