Talking about a ‘potato’ rösti in Switzerland is redundant (like ‘cheese’ fondue) as there’s only one type of true rösti and it’s made from potato. Swiss menus don’t generally offer much for vegetarians, but most have rösti with either a creamy mushroom sauce or fried egg (Spiegelei), both of which are filling and delicious. In Switzerland, rösti is usually made in a much larger portion, enough to feed 6 or more people, and the experienced rösti cook theatrically flips the half-cooked potato cake in the pan to turn it over rather than using my method of turning it onto a plate then sliding it back in. I’ve never tried the flipping, but I’m pretty sure mine would end up on the floor. Rösti made with raw potato is typical of Canton Bern, most other areas use boiled potato; either way the key to a deliciously crisp rösti is to extract as much moisture as possible, so if using boiled potatoes leave them uncovered in the fridge overnight before grating and if using raw ones, get someone to help you wring out the grated potato or do it in small batches. And ensure your pan is spotlessly clean before starting so the potato doesn’t stick. It’s hard to get Swiss wine in Australia, so I turn to Swiss-born winemaker Matthias Utzinger in Tasmania for a wine match. A glass of his riesling is a wonderful accompaniment to rösti, with or without spiegelei or mushroom sauce. It’s delicate and aromatic with a lovely citrusy zing to refresh the palate between bites of buttery rösti.
Serves 2 as a side dish
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Rösti and hash browns are both made from grated potato fried until crisp. Although hash browns likely started as a variation on roesti, today they differ in several important ways. Classic rösti is made as a single large cake, flipped halfway through cooking to crisp both sides, while hash browns are typically formed into individual patties and often deep-fried. Traditional Swiss rösti from Canton Bern is made with raw grated potato – most other cantons use pre-boiled potato – while hash browns can use either though were originally made from “hashed” (that is chopped up) leftover cooked potato (like bubble and squeak). Rösti is seasoned simply with salt, pepper and nutmeg — no onion, no egg, no filler as often appear in hash browns.
Potatoes that are not too floury and not too waxy, like Dutch cream potatoes, make the best roesti. Desirée is also a good option. Whichever potato variety you use, extracting as much moisture as possible before cooking is the key to a perfectly crisp result — if using boiled potatoes, leave them uncovered in the fridge overnight before grating; if using raw, wring out the grated potato thoroughly before cooking.
Rösti is best served straight from the pan, but you can get ahead by boiling and refrigerating the potatoes the night before — leaving them uncovered overnight actually improves the result by drying them out further. If using raw potato, grate and wring out the moisture in advance – the raw potato will discolour but that isn’t noticeable once it’s cooked and doesn’t affect the flavour.
In Switzerland rösti is traditionally a breakfast dish. Today it’s served as a side dish with almost anything — particularly saucy recipes like Zürcher geschnetzeltes or mushrooms in cream sauce (pilze in sahnesosse). Roesti also makes a satisfying vegetarian main course topped with a fried egg (spiegelei) or mushrooms in cream sauce.
