The Swiss Farmers’ Association has broken the world record for the largest plate of rösti ever cooked. The giant frying operation, held in the Bundesplatz in Bern on Monday, was done to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the association’s existence.
The rösti was fried in a 13,7 square metre pan in the shape of the Swiss cross. Association president Markus Ritter announced that their attempt had broken the previous record - set in the city of Thun in 1994 - by three square metres.
Rösti is a traditional dish consisting of fried potato shavings, occasionally accompanied by fried egg and bacon or used as a side dish in other traditional foods like Bratwurst and Zürcher Geschnetzeltes. It originally comes from the German-speaking part of the country, which is why the border between the French and German-speaking areas of Switzerland is called the Röstigraben or rösti border.
However, in a statement given to 20 minuten, the association said that the potatoes used in the attempt came from all cantons of Switzerland in order to, in the words of the newspaper, “symbolically overcome the cultural and culinary differences” between Swiss languages and cultures.