Rosti

Rösti, spelled as Röschti, is a Swiss dish made with grated and fried potatoes. It is considered by many to be the national dish of Switzerland, and has also gained popularity in other countries of the western world. This potato dish has a disc-like shape with an approximate diameter of 1 to 5 inches and a thickness of about 0.5inches.

History of Rosti

Traditionally, rosti was a dish commonly eaten for breakfast by farmers from the canton of Bern, but it is now a popular dish throughout Switzerland and also in many other countries.

Rosti Recipe Overview

Ingredients: Raw or boiled potatoes are the principal ingredient of the dish. There is a great difference in views among chefs about whether the potatoes used for the dish should be raw or boiled, and both variations exist. The type of potatoes used also varies from recipe to recipe, and the most common ones are a special kind of potatoes called Rösti potatoes. Butter, salt, pepper and optional ingredients like onions, bacon, cheese, fresh herbs or apples are commonly used. Oil or any other form of fat may also be used in place of butter.

Method of Preparation: For preparing rosti, butter is first heated in a pan, and thin wedges of onions are fried in it till they turn transparent. After this, coarsely grated potato and salt are added to this, and stirred in circular motion to give a rounded appearance to the grated potato. It is fried for some time and then compressed to form a round shaped cake, which is allowed to fry on medium heat till it gets a golden crust.

Some variants of rosti are also baked instead of being pan-fried. Additional ingredients like cheese and herbs can be added to it for additional flavor. Various regional or local variations using specific additional ingredients are known to exist.

Serving Rosti

Rösti, which was traditionally eaten for breakfast, is now a dish eaten as an accompaniment for breakfast along with other dishes like Fleischkäse or Cervelas.

Rosti Recipe Variations

• Bernese Roesti: This form of rösti has streaky bacon added to it.
• Valaisian Roesti: This variant is prepared by placing sliced tomato and raclette cheese on the cooked rosti, allowing the cheese to melt and then serving without flipping it over.
• Basilean Roesti: This version is made of half potatoes and half (sliced) onions.

Nutritional Information

Rosti is a rich source of instant energy, though it may not be a popular choice amongst those who wish to lose weight. A 100g serving size of homemade rosti has about 100 calories. When purchasing ready-to-eat rösti, one should check the nutritional labels for individual calorie content.