Rösti

Ingredients

Potatoes

• 1 kgwaxy potatoes, Bintje or Charlotte, boiled in their skins the day before and refrigerated
• 1 tspfine salt
• black pepper

To fry

• 60 gBratbutter, Swiss clarified frying butter, or 50 g ghee
• 20 gbutter, added at the end for flavour

To serve

• coarse salt
• a fried egg per person, optional
• apple sauce, in the Bernese manner, optional

Directions

1. Boil the potatoes whole in their skins the day before, 20 minutes, until a knife meets resistance at the centre. They must stay slightly underdone.
2. Cool them completely and refrigerate overnight. This is the step Swiss cooks never skip: cold, set potato grates into distinct strands, while warm potato smears into paste.
3. Peel the cold potatoes and grate them on the coarse holes of a rösti grater or box grater into long shreds. Do not rinse them; the surface starch is the glue.
4. Season the shreds with salt and pepper and toss lightly with your fingers, keeping them loose and airy.
5. Heat two thirds of the Bratbutter in a 24 cm heavy frying pan over medium heat until it shimmers.
6. Tip in the potato and spread it into an even layer without pressing hard, then let it cook undisturbed for 10 to 12 minutes. Shake the pan occasionally; when the cake slides as one piece, the base has set.
7. Press the top lightly with a spatula to shape a neat disc, dot the last butter around the rim so it runs underneath, and cook a further 3 minutes.
8. Slide the rösti onto a plate, cover with a second plate, invert, and slip it back into the pan with the rest of the fat.
9. Fry the second side 10 to 12 minutes until it is deep golden and crisp all over and the whole cake feels light when you shake it. The inside should be soft and steaming, the outside brittle.
10. Turn out onto a warm plate, sprinkle with coarse salt, cut into wedges and serve at once, with a fried egg on top if it is a main course.

Technique

• Rösti was a Bernese farmers’ breakfast and its name marks a border: the Röstigraben, the rösti ditch, is the Swiss shorthand for the line between the German- and French-speaking cantons.
• Raw grated potato (rohe Rösti) is a legitimate alternative, but it must be squeezed dry and cooked longer and lower, and it makes a denser, chewier cake.
• Do not compact the cake. Pressing hard drives out the air, and rösti should be crisp on the outside and loose inside, not a hash brown puck.

Substitutions

• No Bratbutter: ghee behaves identically. Ordinary butter alone will burn before the cake browns, so blend it with a neutral oil if that is all you have.
• No rösti grater: the coarse side of a box grater is close enough, but avoid a food processor disc, which cuts short stubby pieces that do not knit.

Variations

• Zürcher Rösti, enriched with a splash of cream as it fries, softer in the middle.
• Käserösti, layered with grated Gruyère or raclette cheese that melts through the middle.
• Apple rösti from the Bernese Oberland, with grated apple folded into the potato.

History

Originally a Bernese farmers’ breakfast of fried potato; the Röstigraben, the rösti ditch, now names the divide between German and French Switzerland.

Frequently asked questions

What is Rösti?

Rösti is a salad & side from Switzerland: golden fried cake of grated potatoes. Originally a Bernese farmers’ breakfast of fried potato; the Röstigraben, the rösti ditch, now names the divide between German and French Switzerland.

How long does Rösti take to make?

Rösti takes 20 min of preparation and 35 min plus overnight cooling of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Rösti?

Yes, within limits. No Bratbutter: ghee behaves identically. Ordinary butter alone will burn before the cake browns, so blend it with a neutral oil if that is all you have. No rösti grater: the coarse side of a box grater is close enough, but avoid a food processor disc, which cuts short stubby pieces that do not knit.

What is the most important thing to get right in Rösti?

Boil the potatoes whole in their skins the day before, 20 minutes, until a knife meets resistance at the centre. They must stay slightly underdone.