How was I to know that I've been making the Swiss National Dish for most of my life? I see all this nonsense about "rosti" on the news here, on cooking show discussions, at the supermarket. Loads of anxiety from the women on the cooking shows about their abilities to cook this mysterious "rosti".
Being curious, I finally checked it out at the supermarket. (I know, I should have goggled it, and I finally did today) What do I find but that it's just a big old potato pancake like I first learned to make by watching my Great Grandmother many, many years ago as a small child. Instead of making the pancakes in small 3-5 inch diameter cakes, the Swiss make a large pan-filling thick cake. Big deal, that's exactly what my Great Grandma used to make to plop on the table when there were a houseful of my Great Granpa Izzie's friends. They'd cut it in wedges and eat it along with glassfuls of Balentine's Ale.
So what is the big deal about that? It's a nice simple peasant dish. Warming and filling and tasty. But for god's sake, a national dish? That you get all aggravated over? Wow.
Anyway it's storming here; massive downpour and high gusting winds and cold. Quite a change from the bright blue sunny skies and almost hot weather yesterday. At times the rain came in almost horizontal waves. Severe enough that I had to close the windows even though we are surrounded by covered terraces.
I'm not going out in this awful weather. Tomorrow will do for a trip to the supermarket to buy tomatoes for the sweet and sour stuffed cabbage I planned for Wednesday's supper.
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