257 - Switzerland’s ‘Röstigraben’, a Curious Culinary and Cultural Divide
Switzerland is predominantly German-speaking, but far from completely so. The alpine confederation is officially quadrilingual: German (64%), French (20%), Italian (7%) and Romansh (0.5%). As the latter two languages are very minoritary, linguistic tension does tend to be a binary thing, between Deutschschweiz – a word only a germanophone could pronounce – and la Romandie, signifying the Swiss French west of the country.
The Romands call the ‘other’ side la Suisse alémannique and the Schweizerdeutsche call the francophone part of their country Welschschweiz (the root word being a Germanic term for ‘stranger’, identical to the one in ‘Wales’ and ‘Wallonia’).
The language border dividing these two areas is known jestingly as the Röstigraben (in German) or the rideau de rösti (in French). A Graben is a ditch and a rideau is a curtain, so you get the idea of separation – but what a Rösti is and why it is significant, requires a bit more explanation.
This dish is made mainly by frying grated potatoes in a pan. It was formerly eaten as breakfast by farmers in the (German-speaking) Bern canton. The original conceit of the Röstigraben was that it constituted the western limit of the German Swiss culture, beyond which people spoke (and ate) differently.
The Rösti has gained popularity as a side dish all over Switzerland, but the language and cultural differences persist. The French Swiss voters have traditionally been less averse of the international community (including potential EU membership) and more prone to support a more active role for the federal government. Recently, voting trends in French and German Switzerland have tended to converge more.
The Röstigraben isn’t the only gastronomically defined cultural border in central Europe. The northern and southern halves of germany are separated by what is called the Weisswurstäquator – the white sausage equator, after a favourite dish in Bavaria that’s rarely eaten in the north.
Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a map of this particular equator around. The book cover used here (and found here) shows a picture of a very literal Röstigraben – a Switzerland-shaped Rösti broken in two exactly where the language border runs. That the ditch wasn’t too hard to cross, is apparent by the name of the author, Laurent Flütsch: his French forename and German surname suggest his parents had a quite intimate knowledge of the ‘other’…
Cool stuff:
More information here:
http://www.bahn-bus-ch.de/sprachen/graben.html
Questions: Are these linguistic borders “fixed” or are they slowly changing over time. Has the prospect of Switzerland eventually joining the EU helped one language at the expense of the other, or both languages. Why are German Swiss voting more like French Swiss?
Comment by Rob — March 17, 2008 @
Cool stuff:
More information here:
http://www.bahn-bus-ch.de/sprachen/graben.html
Scroll down for English:
http://www.bahn-bus-ch.de/sprachen/graben.html#english
Questions: Are these linguistic borders “fixed” or are they slowly changing over time. Has the prospect of Switzerland eventually joining the EU helped one language at the expense of the other, or both languages. Why are German Swiss voting more like French Swiss?
Comment by Rob — March 17, 2008 @
I didn’t realize there was a prospect of Switzerland joining the EU, but, even if there were, what of it? French, German and Italian are all working languages of the EU.
Comment by ben — March 17, 2008 @
There’s a crude drawing of “der Weißwurstäquator” here - which is surprisingly accurate.
Comment by Tez Burke — March 17, 2008 @
#2 — I read it as a nationalist issue, i.e., the German Swiss (and others) were more nationalist, or felt that the country was in a strong enough position to survive without EU ties. (Like Great Britain’s and Sweden’s current stances, I believe.)
Comment by El Santo — March 17, 2008 @
Ben:
Yes, French, German, Italian are working languages. However, which language (after English) will become the preferred third language of choice. Popularity in some languages are growing; other languages are dying out……..
Consider Belgium. Fascinating stuff!
http://cachef.ft.com/cms/s/0/f301f56a-984d-11dc-8ca7-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1
http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/2007/12/miss_belgium_doesnt_speak_dutch/
Comment by Rob — March 17, 2008 @
Swiss people tend to be very parochial in their politics, I believe. Very much community based. so they wouldnt be throwing in their lot with the EU in a hurry. After all, they havent long had women voting.
Mountains, money, railways and cuckoo clocks.
Comment by lordhutton — March 17, 2008 @
Cuckoo clocks are German not Swiss - Orson Wells has a lot to answer for.
Comment by Kat — March 17, 2008 @
In French it’s actually “la barrière des Rösti”, the Rösti barrier, not curtain.
To 1. and 2., it’s actually the reverse happening, the Swiss French tend to vote more like the Swiss German, based on the same kind of populism you’ll see in other European countries: fear of insecurity of course caused by the foreign immigrants tends to bring people together on a certain amount of subjects.
#5, it’s a bit more complex. There’s the historical myth of standing alone against European powers going back to the 13th century, which is a big part of the bedrock on which the current politics are being based. Then a notion borne in no small part by being a well-off country that joining the EU would only be a step back, and that’s basically what sold the rejection of the European Economical Area (hope that’s the right back translation) in 1992, which killed off any serious prospects of joining the EU. And last but not least, the political culture of popular democracy (the Swiss vote 4 times per year, on subjects ranging from joining the UN to general smoking prohibition) gives those citizen who participate in it an unique sense of involvement in the country’s affairs, something they’d necessarily lose to a significant degree in joining the EU.
Imagine the French referendum rejecting the European constitution, but on pretty much every subject that matters. The fact that France accepted the revised constitution without another referendum for instance would be quite impossible to duplicate in Switzerland.
In short, a somewhat misplaced sense of being due more than what proportional representation would warrant, nourished by a belief that we were better off alone for 7 centuries, yet at the same time tempered by the realization that nobody else takes such claims very seriously are the core reasons why joining the EU is off the political agenda for the time being.
Comment by Gwaendar — March 17, 2008 @
Mmmm… hash browns.
Comment by jgr4 — March 17, 2008 @
Mmmm… latkes.
Comment by Huntington — March 18, 2008 @
Then there’s the Gefilte Fish Line — the line between two Eastern European recipes for gefilte fish. It’s discussed sometimes on the Usenet group soc.genealogy.jewish; knowing which recipe your ancestors used can be useful in tracking them down.
Comment by Dan Goodman — March 18, 2008 @
There’s also Ladin which is on the other side of the Alps. Interesting how these pockets of language survive the centuries of dominant cultures.
Comment by Onkel Bob — March 18, 2008 @
Switzerland is not a “Confederation”.
The country is a Federation since 1847 (The concept Helvetic Confederation is only historical)
Comment by Curioso — March 18, 2008 @
Thanks for that post, Strange Maps, and it’s good to see a Swiss chiming in (#9). Anyone who sees Switzerland joining the EU as a logical and inevitable consequence of its geographical and economic relationships with Europe has clearly never asked the Swiss.
I lived in Switzerland (Bern) for quite a few years and the linguistic divide is very strongly defined, but complex in detail. It runs between villages, and in the cantons of Bern and Fribourg there are many isolated French- and German-speaking enclaves which are isolated within the domain of the other language.
Whilst it’s impossible to underestimate the difference that linguistics makes to culture (and also mindset) it’s easy to over-emphasize the practical consequences. Close to the linguistic frontier, most people speak both languages extremely well, often to the point of being bilingual. Intermarriage between different linguistic groups also makes bilingualism (and trilingualism) a fact in many families, right across the country.
Your reference to Italian as a minority language in Switzerland is a little off the mark. In pure numeric terms this is true, but the linguistic divide which runs across the watershed of the Alps is even more pronounced.
This means that in canton Ticino (the area encompassing Bellinzona, Lugano, Lucano and Ascona) the population is almost entirely Italian-speaking, and the culture, cuisine, the mindset and the weather are adapted accordingly.
My firm contention, then, is that the triangular extension in the SE corner of your Rösti map of Switzerland should really be cooked in pasta, just as surely as the western portion would be better sliced from Tarte Vaudoise (leek and ham and Gruyère pie).
Mach’s guet, zäme, une bonne journée, e buongiorno a tutti…
Comment by Roads — March 18, 2008 @
I read a long time ago about the geography of food in Europe. The article spoke of the “Region of Lard” and the “Region of Oil”. I think there are even traditional French terms for them, since the dividing line (the taste-shed?) runs through France, roughly east-west.
Comment by lichanos — March 18, 2008 @
culinary divides are much more common than people realize. we have two major food divides in Texas. The Chile Verde line. which runs from Van Horn, in west Texas, up to Carlsbad, in New Mexico. east of that line finding “Santa Fe” style Chile Verde dishes is very hard. west of that line finding a good chicken fried steak can be very difficult. In Van Horn you can get both. In east Texas there is a Boudin line. Boudin is a cajun sausage. close to the border with Lousiana it can be found, go west of Orange/ Beaumont/ Port Author and supplies become very inconsistient. a bit more west and there is an entirely different type of sausage
Comment by Andy G. Grubbs — March 18, 2008 @
I can think of at least 2 culinary divides in France :
beurre salé / beurre doux = salt butter / non salt butter.
Salt butter is popular in Brittany and Normandy.
cuisine à l’huile / cuisine au beurre = oil cooking (in the South) butter cooking (in the North).
I am lucky enough to enjoy these 2 divides everyday at home, in our kitchen !
Comment by Proton — March 19, 2008 @
Much of the Swiss resistance to the EU is much more along financial lines (rather than a tradition of neutrality).
Having the European Central Bank in Frankfurt having a say over Swiss banking practices would be insufferable for the Swiss (particularly the German-speaking Swiss where most of the banks are based). You only have to look at the current scandals in Lichtenstein. The Swiss banking system has long thrived on money laundering and holding the money of the infrequentable (eg. apartheid South Africa). Joining the EU would spell an end to these anything-goes banking practices, destroying the Swiss advantage in this field.
Comment by Jtp — March 20, 2008 @
Let me get this straight. The Swiss are having a ‘clash of cultures’ over what is essentially hashbrowns?
That, indeed, is Strange.
Comment by Lucario — March 20, 2008 @
@9: It’s usual name in ENglish is “European Economic Area”, although “Economical Area” would be understood to mean nearly exactly the same thing. English is the ultimate strange map.
Comment by Lurker — March 21, 2008 @
I believe there is a somewhat similar culinary division in Italy between the polenta of the north and the pasta of the south. Not to mention the deep division between New England and New York on the fundamental moral question of whether there is tomato in clam chowder.
Comment by walt slocombe — March 23, 2008 @
Great blog - I love maps!
IMHO the importance of the Röstigraben is exagerated - there is a much stronger difference between rural and urban areas. Interestingly, in the Italian speaking, SE part of Switzerland, where Polenta (corn mush) is preferred over Rösti, scepticism against the EU is among the highest in Switzerland.
@19: Without a doubt there is also a financial implication, but the main reason clearly remains the right of self-determination. By the way: In few (if any) of the current member countries the population ever had a chance to vote on joining the EU.
Also, the “anything-goes banking practices” are history - the Swiss Money Laundering Law, successfully in operation since 1998, is among the toughest in Europe.
Comment by andy — March 26, 2008 @
I looking up the recipe in another browser window right now. Likely lots of onions mixed in.
Comment by cyclepromo — April 9, 2008 @
I always thought the biggest, most well-known cultural divide line was the protestant/catholic, dark/white bread, oil/butter cooking, non-salt/salt butter, wine production, teen pregnancy line through France and Germany (UK excluded). Doesn’t that all follow the same line?
I think there was some candy in there as well but I can’t remember what it was…
Comment by Morten — May 8, 2008 @