Meanwhile, grate some cheese, about 200gms. Authentically Gruyere orApenzeller, mixed with Emmentaler, but any strong hard cheese will do.Season with plenty of black pepper and nutmeg, English dry mustard (my ownaddition) and Knorr Aromat powder, what the Swiss call "streuwurze," if youcan get it. You shouldn't need extra salt, there should be enough in thecheese, pasta and potatoes.
Drain the pasta and spuds, mix together and layer them with the cheese mixin a buttered, wide, flat dish. (I use a roasting dish made of heat-proofglass) Chop four medium onions, about 400 grams, not too finely, and frythem over a medium heat till they start to caramelise. (About 10 minutes.)
Spread these over the dish, pour over a pot of cream (as thick and as muchas you like.) Season with more black pepper and freshly grated nutmeg.Bake for half an hour in a moderate oven. ( In my case that's 200 C)
Serve with lots of unsweetened stewed apple handed separately.
The cream, pasta and nutmeg show the Italian influence, the cheese and friedonions are distinctively Swiss, whilst the combination of potato and stewedapple is typical of Germany.
This is a vegetarian dish by default rather than design. I have tried itwith fried diced *speck* (smoked streaky bacon) sprinkled over the onion.It's a nice variation but unnecessary.
Accompany with cider (best!), beer, tea or water but NOT wine. (Doesn't work!)
Story/Description:
I'm not a school or a teacher but a host-father. My partner & I have hostedmany nationalities over the past twelve years and picked up many recipesthereby. At the moment I'm in the process of making kim' chee, a Koreanpickled cabbage dish. That's not why I write, however. I want to share a Swiss-German dish thatis very easy, combines elements of Switzerland, Italy and Germany, yet is,as far as I can make out, virtually unknown outside a small area.This is "alpler-rosti," spelt with umlauts over the A and O. (Translatesroughly as "Alpine-person's potato pancake.) It was introduced to us in late1984 by a Swiss chef called Vroni, from Thun in Canton Bern, and was ourfirst experience of truly ethnic Swiss cuisine. I do this about once a month in the winter and it's always well-received.Incidentally, any left-overs taste *better* heated up the following day.