Opinion – Recipes from Marcão: Rösti is the authentic version of the Swiss potato served in Brazilian bars

Switzerland, with its mountains, cows, cheeses, watches, chocolates and banks, had the worst of misfortunes in the 2022 World Cup: it fell in the same group as Brazil. Which, in reality, doesn’t make much difference, given that the rich European country has never had a remarkable performance in world cups.

When we talk about Swiss food, the first thing that comes to mind is fondue – cheese, meat or chocolate. I’m not going to give you a recipe like this on the eve of summer, so let’s stick with the second thing that comes to mind: the Swiss potato, which was very popular in Brazilian bars a few years ago.

Yes, the Swiss potato exists in Switzerland: its name is rösti, a typical specialty of the canton (department) of Bern, the capital of the country. Just don’t expect to find chicken rösti with catupiry there.

In its simplest form, rösti is a kind of pancake made with grated potato, salt, pepper and butter. You can boost it with other elements, like bacon, onions and cheese, but I preferred to stick to the basics.

The short list of ingredients in no way means that rösti is an easy recipe. It is a preparation that requires some technique, a lot of patience and a good dose of care.

Grating potatoes is a laborious, monotonous and therefore dangerous task. You can get distracted and hurt your fingers badly on the grater. Try to keep your concentration, please.

When frying pancakes, it is essential that you work on a very low heat, so that the inside of the rösti is cooked while the outside is golden, but not burnt.

Some recipes recommend pre-cooking the potatoes, which adds an extra layer of complexity to the job. I preferred to deal with the raw potato.

In its simplest version, the rösti is usually served as an accompaniment. It goes great with fried egg, bacon and tomato salad, for example.

I served my rösti with zürcher geschnetzeltes, a typical Zurich dish consisting of meat baits (veal is common there, here I used pork) with cream and mushrooms. Yes, it’s something very similar to the stroganoff that accompanies the Swiss potato in brasucas bars.

Rosti potato

Yield: 1 to 2 servings

Difficulty: medium-high

INGREDIENTS

3 potatoes

1 teaspoon of salt

Black pepper to taste

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, approximately

PREPARATION

1. Peel the potatoes and grate them (grater in the thick holes) over a sieve. Season with salt and pepper and mix well. Let the liquid drain for half an hour.
2. Heat a griddle or skillet over very low heat (very low). Melt ¼ of the butter. Squeeze and discard the liquid from the potatoes. Shape the pancake with a spatula.
3. Place another lump of butter on top of the pancake. When it melts, carefully turn the rösti. It should lose some of its shape on this first turn, but don’t worry: mold the pancake again, squeezing the disc with the spatula. The process becomes easier as the potato cooks.
4. Place another piece of butter on the rösti and repeat the processes until both sides of the pancake are perfectly golden. This can take about half an hour. Use more butter if necessary, and don’t give in to the temptation to turn up the heat.