Borders/Grenzen
am 18.03.2008 von Transblawg
Weißwurstäquator, from the mysterious Kamelopedia (albeit misplacing Franconia vis-à-vis the WW):
Within Germany, the dividing line is the River Danube, which puts me north of the equator. Wikipedia has a map showing the Danube, but the Weißwurst is not eaten everywhere south of the Danube, of course, only, at most, in the German bit (and there, ideally only before the cuckoo clock strikes midday).
Meanwhile, Strange Maps has a graphic image of the Swiss Röstigraben, and much information. Here is a more detailed map.
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.
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» Weißwurstäquator - Wikipedia
» Hauptseite - Kamelopedia
» k’alebøl: bubbles & troubles from the land of the fretting nun
» 257 - Switzerland’s ‘Röstigraben’, a Curious Culinary and Cultural Divide « Strange Maps
» Bahn + Bus CH | Röstigraben - Roesti ditch - Le fossé de Roesti
» j. - This is no fish tale: Gefilte tastes tell story of ancestry
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