Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

FOOD AND DRINK

How many of these must-try Swiss regional delicacies have you tasted?

Switzerland is best known for cheese and chocolate, but there is much more to discover in culinary terms across its four language areas.

Published: 21 April 2023 17:21 CEST
Updated: 1 September 2023 16:10 CEST

Deutschschweiz

If like many foreigners you have landed in Zurich on an empty stomach and crave a hearty meal, head to the Restaurant Kronenhalle for a Züri Gschnätzlets. Zurich’s very own cult dish is made of finely sliced veal fillet dipped in a creamy mushroom sauce and served with Rösti – another Swiss classic.

The Bern version of this popular potato dish – simply called Berner Rösti – adds diced bacon to the potatoes, which themselves can be sautéed or shallow-fried in a pan. Once cooked, Rösti is always served with the crust side up.

If you’re in the mood for something lighter, Basel’s Mehlsuppe – a staple Fasnacht dish – makes a perfect meal for a cold day. Legend has it that a clumsy cook once burned the flour meant for the soup and instead of tossing it, added it to the broth only for it to prove a success with diners. The soup is traditionally made with (burned or unburned) flour, bouillon, red wine, and butter, and eaten with bread.

When asking the German-Swiss for pasta suggestions you are likely to be recommended a portion of Älplermagronen, the Swiss take on your classic Mac and Cheese. The name itself translates to alpine macaroni pasta and the recipe can differ from region to region, with some opting for bacon or caramelised onions, while others alternate between various types of cheese. In any case, it’s a worthy guilty pleasure food.

Romandie

The French-speaking part of Switzerland is arguably home to two of the country’s most well-known cheese dishes both domestically and abroad: Fondue and Raclette.

In Switzerland, both dishes are a must in the winter, but even the Swiss are divided on which melted cheese concoction takes the crown. However, one thing is commonly agreed upon: Whether you prefer your cheese melted in white wine to make a thick soup or heated in a pan to make Gschwellti – there is no wrong answer.

Speaking of Gschwellti, the Swiss potato dish (often paired with Raclette) may be the underdog among foreigners, yet it’s super easy to make. To fix up these cheesy potatoes, you can use a variety of potatoes, steam or boil them until tender, and remember to leave the skin on. Then simply top the potatoes with your melted Raclette cheese and a Swiss favourite is born.

You can travel far and wide and not hear a single soul express an urge for a slice of cholera – until you cross the border into Valais that is. In the canton, Cholera – a leek and potato cake – is considered a regional delicacy. Though never confirmed, it is argued that the flaky pastry gets its name from the word Chola or Cholu, meaning coal in the Valais dialect, and not in fact, the cholera outbreak. Go figure.

Neighbouring Vaud is home to the Papet Vaudois, a one-pot dish so yummy it is commonly called one of the finest dishes Switzerland has to offer. The Papet Vaudois is traditionally prepared using sausages from the canton of Vaud, such as the saucisson vaudois (pork) or the saucisse aux choux Vaudois (pork mixed with cabbage). The sausage of your choice is then placed over the creamy potato and leek mix.

Ticino

Ticino is home to countless culinary highlights, the majority of which draw on recipes from its southern neighbour, Italy. One great example for this is Polenta, a cornmeal mush prepared with only water and cornflour that is said to go back to Roman times. Though you get the best results by continuously hand-stirring the mixture over a chimney fire, today you can luckily buy pre-cooked polenta to getting stuck with repetitive strain injury.

Ticino is also known, among other things, for its chestnut forests and many locals and tourists alike enjoy visiting the region in the autumn for a round of chestnut-picking. Today, many recipes are made using chestnuts – once Ticino’s staple food – such as the Kastanieneintopf, an oven-baked chestnut stew featuring potatoes and bacon, and the Tessiner Kastaniensuppe, a delicious, creamy soup refined with cinnamon, pink peppercorn, and rosemary.

For dessert, we recommend trying the canton’s torta di pane (bread cake), which can be made using stale white bread paired with dried fruit nut (raisins). The tasty cake was invented by the region’s lesser financially fortunate and helps reduce food waste while being deliciously sweet.

Grisons

Though less popular internationally than its German, French and even Italian-speaking counterparts, the canton of the Grisons sure has its fair share of regional delicacies to lure visitors to its borders.

The people of Surselva swear by Capuns, a spinach beef wrap slash dumpling simmered in milk or cream. However, if you attempt to make Capuns yourself, you best be warned. It is said that each family has its very own recipe for this famous concoction, ranging from adding varied ingredients (dried meat, bread, mint, chives, onions) to using entirely different cooking methods (boil, simmer, fry, bake). But don’t let the gazillion recipes throw you off, Capuns is worth a try whichever cooking combination you attempt.

Another Grisons must-try recipe is Maluns, which is made of – you guessed it – potatoes. Grab a bag of potatoes, flour, salt, butter, and a big portion of patience, for this dish needs to be fried (very) slowly until light brown for the perfect taste. Add apple sauce and some cheese to round it off.

While in Grisons, you should also order some local Bündner Gerstensuppe. The barley soup is also well-known outside of Grisons and particularly favoured after a day spent on the slopes. Recipes differ from town to town, but usually include barley, Grisons meat, garlic, onion, and leek.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

FOOD AND DRINK

Swiss court to rule whether holes in Emmental cheese are too small

One of Switzerland’s most iconic cheeses — the Emmentaler — is in a hole, and now a court must rule on its fate.

Published: 5 June 2024 15:15 CEST
Swiss court to rule whether holes in Emmental cheese are too small

Swiss cheesemakers have faced some tough challenges in the past few years: first, a US court ruled that ‘Gruyere cheese’ does not have to come from the Gruyères region — or, for that matter, from Switzerland — in order to bear the name.  

And now another court, this time in Switzerland, must decide on the fate of yet another Swiss cheese.

What is happening?

The tell-tale holes of the Emmentaler cheese — so called because it is produced in the Emmental valley in the Bernese Oberland — are shrinking.

The regulatin holes, according to the Emmentaler Switzerland association, must be ‘cherry-sized’ — that is, between 2 cm and 4 cm in diameter.

Now, however, they are more the size of the stone in a cherry.

The cause of this shrinkage is modernisation.

In the past, when cows were milked by hand, hay dust (fine particles from hay) got into the milk. As unappetising as it may sound, bacteria that formed in the process produced gases, which led to the characteristic holes.

However, since modern milking machines have been used, the holes have shrunk because the machines tap the milk from the udder so cleanly that fewer hay particles get into the milk.

That is a problem because the smaller the holes in the cheese, the more likely it is that cracks and fissures will form.

Foreign cheese producers prevent this from happening by simply adding hay dust to the milk, which is why German and French Emmentalers have much larger holes. (Of course, the Swiss argue that those cheeses are not ‘real’ Emmentalers, as they didn’t come from the right region in Switzerland).

Be it as it may, in Switzerland’s rules are stricter, and the use of such additives in Emmentaler is banned.

Cheesemakers have submitted a request to the Federal Office for Agriculture (FOA) to change the existing rules.

The request was denied on the grounds that the use of additives would lead to an “industrialisation of Emmentaler”.

Cheesemakers then appealed to the Federal Administrative Court where they faced their foes from FOA again.

The government department continued to argue against the additive, pointing out that, despite smaller holes, the cheese’s quality is good, so the hay powder is not necessary.

Also, they said that the use of this additive is not a part of a traditional manufacturing process, and Emmentaler must be different from industrialised large-hole cheeses.

The lawyer for the Emmentaler Switzerland consortium, however, countered that the FOA’s argument is full of holes.

“The Emmentaler’s characteristic holes must be preserved,” he said. “If we do nothing, they will disappear altogether.” 

The court has not yet handed down its decision.

READ ALSO: Why is Switzerland so obsessed with cheese? 

SHOW COMMENTS