Swiss cuisine plays to the country’s strengths, with cheese dishes like fondue and that same melted goodness over potatoes, meat and onions; pies and Zurich’s own style hot pot; and more modest breakfast items like the famous Bircher muesli. On tours of Switzerland you will quickly learn locals do not hold back, following hearty meals with different varieties of cake, cookies and pastries, not to mention just a few of the iconic Swiss chocolate brands such as Lindt and Toblerone. When it comes time to ‘cheers’ be ready for local beers like Eichof and wines such as Riesling.
Breakfast:
Bürli, Zopf, sweet Magenbrot
Birchermüesli (Swiss invented Muesli)
Mains:
Cheese Fondue (molten with white wine, garlic and dipped with bread or potato)
Raclette melted cheese over potatoes, gerkins, pickled onions and dried meat
Rösti grated potatoes with cheese, chopped ham and/or egg.
Veal, Beef, Chicken, Lamb, Trout
Pastetli (Meat pie with mushrooms)
Zürcher Eintopf (Hot-pot Zürich style)
Papet Vaudois leeks and potatoes
Pasta tri colori
Wurst sausages: Cervelat, Luganighe, Luganighetta, Kalberwurst, Landjäger
Dessert:
Dreikönigskuchen (Epiphanies cake), Nusstorte (nut cake)
Apfelküchlein (deep fried apple cookie), Brunsli (Swiss brownies)
Mövenpick Ice Cream
Fasnachtsküchlein (Carnival cookies), Basler Leckerli (Basel cookies)
Carac shortcrust pastry
Chocolate:
Toblerone, Lindt, Teuscher, Sprüngli, Frey, Pamaco,
Cheese:
Emmental, Gruyère, Vacherin, Appenzeller
Drinks:
Clean mountain tap water
Rivella Blue, Red, Green (soft drink with milk whey)
Chocolate Malt Ovomaltine
Beer:
Eichof, Feldschlösschen, Appenzeller, Amboss, Cardinal, Ueli Bier
Wine:
Riesling X Sylvaner, Chasselas, Blauburgunder (Pinot Noir)
Spirits:
La Clandestine Absinthe
Damassine
Courtney Gahan is a serial expat, traveller and freelance writer who has bartered with Moroccan marketeers, seen the sun rise at Angkor Wat and elbowed her way through crowds on NYE in NYC
