Ribel
Toasted Cornmeal
If Liechensteiners can lay claim to one dish, that dish is ribel. This toasted cornmeal mush is considered Liechestein's national dish. Maize arrived Liechtenstein in the late 17th century, and quickly became its main agricultural product. It provided a dependable food source of food for the poor, and most families used to grow their own.
As with its Italian and American cousins, polenta and grits, ribel abandoned the kitchens of the poor in the 1970s as it was embraced by Liechtensteiners of all social classes. Today, it's mostly eaten out of nostalgia or nationalism.
Cornmeal mush tastes like cornmeal mush - which is not necessarily bad. Liechtensteiners improve upon it by toasting it, and then serve it with a variety of toppings, from apple sauce to berry or cherry compotes, to their famous sour cheese.
The recipe I followed wasn't too exact about how to toast it, so I had to follow the "trial and error" method. I served it with Mott's apple sauce, as it was the easiest alternative and Mott gets the best reviews as far as commercial apple sauce goes.
All in all, this wasn't bad. It was a very heavy breakfast and I think the recipe below should serve four not-too-hungry people. By itself the ribel was just OK, but it served like a great base for the apple sauce.
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Ribel
Ingredients
- 1 cups milk
- 1/2 cup water
- 3 tsp butter, divided
- salt to taste
- 1 cup cornmeal
Directions
Place milk, water, 1 tsp butter and salt in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Turn off the heat and stir in the cornmeal until combined. Cover and let rest for 15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning.
Melt the remaining 2 tsp of butter in a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the cornmeal and, using a wooden spoon, break into pieces. Cook, stirring as needed to not let the cornmeal burn, until toasted to your liking.
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Adapted from a recipe at the official tourism-website of the Principality of Liechtenstein
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