Hash Browns

Hash browns, also spelled hashed browns, are a popular American and British breakfast food, consisting of finely chopped potatoes that have been fried until they are browned. According to Merriam Webster Dictionary, they are usually fried until they form a 'browned cake,' which makes more sense of American food author Maria Parloa recipe for them in her 1887 Kitchen Companion, where she describes the dish of "hashed and browned potatoes" as a fried mixture of cold boiled potatoes which is folded "like an omelet" before serving.

Originally, the full name of the dish was "hashed brown potatoes" (or "hashed browned potatoes"). The name was gradually shortened to 'hash brown potatoes' until the most common name had become simply 'hash browns' around 1970.

According to the dictionary, the term “hash” derives from the French word “hacher,” which means to chop, and therefore “hash brown potatoes” translates to “chopped and fried potatoes.” The Online Etymology Dictionary (https://www.etymonline.com/) has this listing: 1650s, "to hack, chop into small pieces," from French hacher "chop up" (14c.), from Old French hache "ax" (see hatchet). Hash browns (1926) is short for hashed browned potatoes (1886), with the -ed omitted, as in mash potatoes.

Hash browns first started appearing on breakfast menus in New York City in the 1890s and are now a staple breakfast food at diners in North America, where they are often fried on a large common cooktop or grill. In some parts of the United States, hash browns strictly refer to shredded or riced pan-fried potatoes, while diced and pan-fried potatoes are called country fried potatoes or home fries and are served as a side dish at other meals. Some recipes add diced or chopped onions.

If a dish of hash browned potatoes incorporates chopped meat, leftovers, or other vegetables it is more commonly referred to as Hash. Tater Tots, one of the first known commercially produced hash browns, were created by Ore-Ida Potato Products in 1953.

Variation: Potatoes O'Brien is a dish of pan-fried potatoes along with green and red bell peppers. The potatoes and the bell peppers are fried and are served hot.

Some historical recipes from http://www.theoldfoodie.com/

Brown Hashed Potatoes.
Chop cold boiled potatoes and season with salt and pepper. Put some clarified butter into the frying pan. Add the potatoes, cover, and cook slowly until the potatoes are nicely browned on the underside. Fold and turn out on a warm platter.
- from Minnesota Farmers' Institute Annual of 1835

Brown Creamed Hashed Potatoes.
Chop four cold boiled potatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Cook, together, one tablespoon of butter and a heaping teaspoonful of flour and add to it a cup of milk. Stir until it boils. Put some clarified butter, or fat, in a frying pan, add the potatoes, and pour over them the sauce. Set in the oven, on the floor, and let them bake until a brown crust is formed on the underside. Fold and turn out on a warm platter.
- from Minnesota Farmers' Institute Annual of 1835

Hashed Brown Potatoes.
Fry out fat salt pork cut in small cubes, remove scraps; there should be about one-third cup of fat. Add two cups cold boiled potatoes finely chopped, one-eighth teaspoon pepper, and salt if needed. Mix potatoes thoroughly with fat; cook three minutes, stirring constantly; let stand to brown underneath. Fold as an omelet and turn on hot platter.
- Boston Cooking School Cook Book (1896) by Fannie Farmer

Hashed Brown Potatoes.
One large boiled potato chopped fine; grease a pan with one tablespoonful of butter and press the potatoes into it with the palm of your hand. Dust with a little salt and sprinkle over the top one tablespoonful of finely chopped parsley. Place in the oven and when brown fold like an omelet and serve.
- The Complete Cook Book (Philadelphia, 1900), by Jennie Day Reese