Why it works: Swiss cheese and butter work together. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 413 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Rosti
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the potatoes
Put unpeeled potatoes in a pan of salted water and bring to a boil.
Simmer for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are just cooked.
Drain and, when cool, peel off the skins.
Grate into a bowl and add the cheese.
Add the bacon and shape
Fry the bacon strips in one third of the butter for 3 to 4 minutes or until cooked.
Drain and add to the potatoes.
Season well.
Turn the mixture onto a piece of foil and shape into a circle the size of the skillet.
To freeze: cover with foil and label. Freeze.
Cook and serve
To thaw: melt the remaining butter in the skillet.
Add the potato cake and cook gently for 15 minutes on each side.
Turn out by placing a serving dish upside down on the skillet and reversing the two.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Potato | 1 medium (173g) baked | 161 |
| Swiss Cheese | 1 oz (28g) | 108 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Bacon | 1 slice cooked (8g) | 43 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Swiss cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together413 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Potato + swiss cheesetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together61 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).
-
Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Potatoes
- Form the bulk of the cake, giving starchy body that holds together when grated and cooked.
- Butter
- Adds fat for frying, giving a rich flavour and a golden, crisp crust.
- Swiss cheese
- Melts into the potato shreds, binding the cake and adding savoury flavour.
- Bacon
- Fatty strips release flavour and fat into the potatoes and crisp during frying.
The step that matters
Cook the potatoes until just done. Overcooked potatoes turn mushy and release too much starch, while undercooked ones stay hard and won't grate well. Cooling and peeling after draining keeps the shreds intact so the cake holds together when fried.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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