Patatnik is a Bulgarian potato dish characteristic of the Rhodope Mountains in the country's central south and the nearby regions. The name is derived from the local word patato or pateto. The word is typical for the Rup dialects spoken in the Rhodopes. Patatnik is made of grated potatoes, onions, salt and a type of very mild mint called Gyosum in Bulgarian, all mixed and cooked on a slow fire. Some restaurants add sirene (white cheese) or eggs to contemporise it, while some people also use spice and peppers. The grated potatoes are squeezed out and mixed with the onions. Some of the doughy mixture that has formed is rolled into two sheets. One of them is placed on the bottom of the dish and should be larger in diameter than it so as it comes out a fair bit. The remaining mixture is spiced and poured on top of the first sheet then covered with the other sheet; the edges of both sheets should cover each other: in that respect, it resembles a ‘potato banitsa’, another traditional Bulgarian dish.