Swiss Cuisine - cheese, fondue, sauerkraut, rosti potatoes, zurich-style veal and more
Cooking in Switzerland reflects the country's various ethnic traditions. For example, fondue and raclette (melted cheese dishes) come from the French part of Switzerland. Sausages, roasts and rösti (fried potatoes) originated in the German regions. Foods such as bündnerfleisch (sliced air-dried beef) come from the Graubünden region. In the southern regions, traditional Italian dishes are common. Most cantons have their own special dishes.
Switzerland is famous for its dairy products, such as milk, yogurt, butter and cheese. Gruyere and Emmenthal are the best-known types of cheese. Sausages are popular, and many different varieties are available in butcher's shops. Veal and pork chops are also widely enjoyed. Zurcher Geschnetzeltes is a popular veal dish. Many people also enjoy fish from Switzerland's lakes. Favourite sweets include sugar buns and spiced honey cakes, basler läckerli (gingerbread), zuger kirschtorte (layer cake), as well as the world-famous Swiss chocolate.
A typical Swiss breakfast consists of bread, butter, marmalade or honey, perhaps some cheese or cereal, with milk, tea, coffee or hot chocolate. Most Swiss have a small lunch with soup or a sandwich, although some families eat a complete meal at midday. Another typical midday meal is bircher müesli (a mixture of grains and yogurt). The evening meal may be a full dinner or a simple supper of bread, cheese and cold cuts.
There are many places to eat out in Switzerland, from fast food restaurants to family restaurants to gourmet establishments, including Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai and Mexican restaurants.
The Swiss tend to drink beer more often than soft drinks because it is about half the price. There is a large beer industry in Switzerland.
Swiss Restaurants Around the World
- Movenpick Restaurants, Canada
- Movenpick Marche, USA
- Swiss Chalet Restaurants, Canada
- William Tell, Montreal
- Au Cafe Suisse, Quebec City
- More Swiss Restaurants in Canada
- Swiss Restaurants in USA
- Swiss Restaurants in Geneva
History of Cheese-Making in Switzerland
Switzerland is a tiny country, whose success is largely due to its commitment to hard work. Other nations are looking with envy at the strong economy, efficiently run cities and the excellent road system.
Originally known as Helvetia, Switzerland was home to a Celtic tribe, which in 58 BC invaded the southern part of Gaul until the Romans forced them back. From the Romans they learnt the art of cheese making.
In the 5th century, Helvetia was invaded by tribes from northern Germany, who ruled the area until three of the Cantons (provinces) joined forces in 1291 and defeated the foreign rulers. Eventually other Cantons joined the battle and in the 15th century independence was won and the foundations for the Swiss federation were laid.
Today Switzerland is the Confederation consisting of 22 Cantons, each with its own Parliament, court of law and education system. The people are very much involved in governing their own regions. This ability to work together is seen all over Switzerland, but no way is it more effective than in the dairy industry, when most of the cheese is made in mountain chalets or in small co-operatives owned farmers or cheese makers.
The primary objective of Swiss agricultural policy is to uphold the system to ensure that the large number of meadows and pastures are maintained and the beauty of the countryside remains unchanged. This is essential in a country where tourism is a major source of revenue. With only 25 per cent of the land suitable for grazing, many of the cow's, even in summer, are fed indoors so that the grass is not trampled down. Except in the relatively inaccessible mountain pastures, you will seldom see cows grazing in Switzerland; instead farmers cut and gather the fresh grass in a system known as Zero grazing.
Early in its history, cheese was used as currency in Switzerland. Much of what was made was taken over the Alps to be exchanged with the Romans for rice, spices and wine. Cheese is still a vital part of the Swiss economy, and the Swiss guard quality fiercely. All hard cheeses have to be purchased by the Swiss cheese Union. The price of the cheese is laid down by the government, as is the price of the milk. Although Swiss cheeses can be extremely expensive the quality is guaranteed. None of the foreign copies can compare with the original, which include some of the best loved cheeses in the world.
Famous Swiss Varieties
Emmental
Soft green hills, romantic villages, farmhouses that hide beneath gigantic roofs, and richly decorated homesteads mark the charming character of the region from which this magnificent cheese originates. Emmenthaler is known for its grand size and its handmade quality. For more than one-and-a-half centuries to date, Emmenthaler has been made in village cheese dairies. The Emmenthaler cheese-making process is an old tradition using pure cow’s milk and a maturation period of at least four months. This process allows the rind to develop in an entirely natural manner, enclosing an ivory-coloured, mild, slightly nutty tasting cheese with cherry sized holes. Emmenthaler from Switzerland is a delicacy on every cheese platter, a popular dessert cheese, and is a perfect melting cheese for warm dishes.
Gruyere
This extra special delicacy from the Gruyere district of Switzerland is well known as the basic ingredient in fondue. But with its delightfully nutty, spicy, full flavor, it is delicious as a table cheese as well. Upon eating Gruyere, one immediately recognizes the taste of whole milk that is used exclusively in making this grand cheese. We say it is grand because a whole wheel of Gruyere weighs about 80 pounds. In fact, it takes over 100 gallons of milk to make a single wheel of Gruyere! Enjoy this traditional favorite julienned into a chef's salad, melted on a hot open-faced sandwich, or of course, in a classic cheese fondue.
Fondue Origin
Fondue originated in Switzerland as a way of using up hardened cheese. Deriving from the French verb fondre, meaning to melt," fondue was a classic peasant dish. Accounts vary on how fondue was originally created. Traditional fondue is made with a mixture of Emmenthaler and/or Gruyere cheese and wine, melted in a communal pot. Cherry brandy is added to the melted mixture, which becomes a dip for pieces of stale bread and crusts.
French gastronome Brillat-Savarin mentioned fondue in his 19th century writings, but fondue really hit its heyday in 1956, when chef Konrad Egli of New York's Chalet Swiss Restaurant introduced a fondue method of cooking meat cubes in hot oil. Chocolate fondue followed in 1964.
Cheese Fondue
Ingredients:
- 1 clove garlic, halved
- 8 fl oz dry white wine, or rose wine
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 8 oz / 2 cups grated Gruyere cheese
- 8 oz / 2 cups grated Emmental cheese
- 1 teaspoon cornflour
- 1 tablespoon kirsch
- pieces of cubed French bread, to serve
Preparation:
Rub the inside of the fondue pot with cut clove of garlic. Pour in wine and lemon juice and heat gently until bubbling. Reduce the heat to low, and gradually stir in grated cheeses, then continue to heat until cheeses melt, stirring frequently. (This stage can take a looooong time.) In a small bowl, blend cornflour smoothly with kirsch, then stir into cheese mixture and continue to cook for 2-3 minutes until mixture is thick and smooth, stirring frequently. Do not allow fondue to boil. Serve with the bread.
(Serves 4)
Meat or Seafood Fondue
To serve as a main dish, allow about 1/2 pound meat per person
- Boneless beef sirloin or tenderloin
- Chicken breast
- Boneless leg of lamb
- Salmon or swordfish steak
- Medium raw prawns, peeled and deveined
- Large raw scallops
- Peanut or safflower oil
Preparation:
Select one or more of the above. Cut meat, chicken, and fish into bite-sized cubes. Arrange cubes of meat on a platter. Arrange chicken on another, and fish / seafood on another. Refrigerate until about 30 minutes before cooking. Use a fondue pot that is cast iron, enamelled metal, or other metal suitable for heating oil. Put oil in pot, filling no more than 1/3 full, or to a depth of 3 inches. Heat to 375 degrees. Spear a cube of meat or seafood with a fondue fork and hold it in the hot oil until cooked, about 1-2 minutes. Remove from the fondue fork and put on a plate, use another fork for eating! Serve with a selection of 3-5 sauces.
Sausage Salad
Ingredients for 4 persons:
- 1 bundle red radish, cut into slices
- 2 carrots, cut into slices
- 100 g (0.22 pounds) Emmentaler cheese, cut into small pieces
- 100 g (0.22 pounds) Greyerzer cheese, cut into small pieces
- 100 g (0.22 pounds) Tilsiter cheese, cut into small pieces
- 3 cervelas (pork sausage, not cooked or grilled, just raw), cut into slices
- ½ cucumber, cut into small pieces
- 4 potatoes, cooked, cut into small pieces
- pepper
- 1 tablespoon mustard
- 1 onion, hacked
- 1 piece of garlic, pressed
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon spices
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 4 tablespoons vinegar
- 5 tablespoons oil
- 1 or 2 eggs, cooked hard
- 2 tomatoes
- Chive, cut into small
Preparation:
- Put the vegetables and the cheese in a bowl and mix them well.
- Make the sauce with all the ingredients mentioned above, from pepper to oil and stir well.
- Pour the sauce over the salad and mix well.
- Peal the eggs and cut them into slices.
- Cut the tomatoes and use them together with the eggs for decoration.
- Pour the chive over the salad.
Sauerkraut
Ingredients for 4 persons:
- 600 g (1.3 pounds) sauerkraut
- 1 onion
- 1 tablespoon of oil or butter
- Salt or spices
Preparation:
- Put one tablespoon of oil or butter in a pot
- Cut the onion into small pieces and put it in the pot too
- Add the sauerkraut
- Add some salt or spices
- Heat up, then reduce heat and stew for about 60 to 90 minutes, move the sauerkraut from time to time
- Add some water
Hints: If you wish to serve potatoes and/or meat with the sauerkraut, cook it in the same pot.
Zurich Style Veal (Zürich Geschnetzeltes)
Ingredients for 4 persons:
- 300 g (0.66 pounds) fresh mushrooms, sliced
- juice of ½ lemon
- spices
- 600 g (1.3 pounds) veal, cut in small pieces
- 2 tablespoons margarine
- 1 onion, cut in very small pieces
- 1 dl (3.4 fl. ounces) white wine
- 1 to 2 dl (3.4 to 6.8 fl. ounces) water
- 1.5 to 2 dl (5 to 6.8 fl. ounces) cream
- gravy-powder
- paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- grind pepper
Preparation:
- Cook the mushrooms together with the lemon juice in a small, covered pot. Heat up slowly, cook for 2 minutes.
- Pour the liquid into a cup. Add some spices to the mushrooms, keep them warm.
- Melt the margarine in a frying-pan
- Add the onions, stew. Increase the heat, add the meat, add some water and roast gently. Turn the meat occasionally to make sure it gets roasted evenly.
- Remove the meat.
- Add the white wine, let cook until the liquid thickens.
- Add the liquid from 2. plus some gravy-powder, cook until the sauce binds.
- Add the cream and increase the heat slightly.
- Add paprika and some spices.
- Pour salt, pepper and ½ teaspoon paprika on the meat. Put meat into the sauce, increase the heat, but do not cook.
- Add the mushrooms.
Remarks:
Zürich Geschnetzeltes is usually served with rösti(hash browns), but rice or pasta fits fine as well. See the rosti potatoes recipe below.
In a restaurant, if this menu is declared as Zürich Geschnetzeltes, it has to be made out of veal, but you can use pork or chicken if you wish.
If you like kidney, you may want to replace half of the veal with it.
Rosti Potatoes or Swiss-Style Potato Cake
Ingredients:
(4 servings)
- 1 3/4 lb Potatoes (see below)
- 3 oz Butter, lard or bacon fat
- 1 1/2 tb Water or milk
Preparation:
This is a favorite dish of German-speaking Switzerland. Besides being served as a side dish with meat or fish, it is sometimes eaten on its own, for lunch or even breakfast, with milky coffee.
The potatoes should be boiled in their jackets the day before. These should be waxy potatoes of the potato-salad kind. The next day, peel them and grate them on the coarsest blade of the grater. Heat a large heavy frying pan, and let the fat get hot: then put in the potatoes, sprinkle with salt, and fry, turning them constantly. When they have soaked up the butter or whatever, add more. Now form a "cake" by pushing the potatoes from the edges of the pan into the middle and flattening down the top.
Sprinkle with the water or milk, reduce heat, and cover with a lid or inverted dish. Shake the covered pan occasionally to keep the potatoes from burning, and leave on low heat for at least 15 minutes. The potatoes must stick together, but not to the bottom of the pan. When cooked, turn the cake out onto a plate, bottom side up, and serve. (Or alternately, brown the other side as well.) . Variations: (1) Saute 2 T chopped onions in the fat before adding the potatoes. Don't let them brown. Also note that in this version, the potatoes will need less fat. (2) Saute 2 - 3 1/2 oz. diced bacon before adding potatoes. You won't need any extra salt. (3) Sprinkle cooked potatoes with grated cheese before serving, and heat it briefly in the oven to melt it.
Chocolate Fondue
Ingredients:
- 1 (12 oz) semi-sweet chocolate bits
- 2/3 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup coffee, orange or mint liqueur
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup evaporated milk or cream
Preparation:
In heavy saucepan or fondue pot, melt chocolate with sour cream over low heat; stir until smooth. Stir in liqueur; thin mixture with cream or milk as necessary. Keep warm over low heat. Serve with a variety of fresh fruit, pound cake, angel food cake etc.
Basel Cookies
Ingredients for two medium size baking sheets:
- 450 g honey (16 ounces)
- 300 g sugar (10.5 ounces)
- 1½ tablespoons of cinnamon
- 1 pinch of clove powder
- ½ teaspoon of nutmeg
- 100 g (3.5 ounces) ground candied orange peel
- 100 g (3.5 ounces) ground candied lemon peel
- 200 g (7 ounces) ground almonds
- Grind skin of one lemon
- 1 dl (0.4 cup) of kirsch
- 600g (21 ounces) flour
- 1½ teaspoon of baking powder
- 150 g (5 ounces) confectioner's sugar
- 3 to 5 tablespoons of kirsch or water
Preparation:
- Put honey, sugar, cinnamon, clove powder and nut meg in a pan, heat up slowly, then remove from stove.
- Add candied orange peel, candied lemon peel, almonds and grind skin of lemon, stir until mixed evenly.
- Add kirsch, flour and baking powder, knead on a table to form a soft dough.
- While the dough is still warm, roll it out on the back of two greased baking sheets approximately 5 mm (0.2 inches) thick.
- Let it rest for about 5 to 6 hours or over night in a dry place.
- Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes in the center of the pre-heated oven at 220 °C (430 °F).
- Mix confectioner's sugar and kirsch or water, frost dough immediately.
- Cut off stale edges. Cut dough in small pieces (5 x 3 cm, 2 x 1.5 inches), take them off the baking sheets and let them cool.