What to eat when visiting Switzerland

Traditional Swiss food

Tasting and discovering local food is part of the pleasure of visiting a new place. And Switzerland is known to be a country with delicious culinary traditions so don't hesitate and make you trip to Switzerland complete by tasting these amazing Swiss meals. At home or on the menu of any Swiss restaurant, these dishes are always on the menu.

Cheese Fondue

Fondue is made of pieces of bread dipped in cheese melted with wine served in a caquelon. It is a classic of winter cuisine in Switzerland. Simple and tasty!

How to make a good cheese fondue?
We start by simmering the white wine in the caquelon rubbed with garlic, then we gradually incorporate the cheese without the crust and cut it into pieces, raising the temperature gently and forming 8 with a wooden spatula. Be careful, the fondue must never boil.

Raclette

A quick dish that's perfect in winter: sliced potatoes under raclette cheese, all baked in the oven with apple and thyme. This Valais classic is ideal for a convivial treat. Ready in the blink of an eye, the raclette warms the soul and flatters the palate.

How to make a raclette?
Place a half-wheel of cheese on a stone or a wooden board near the embers until the cheese is melted. Once ready, the cheese could be served with a knife on the plate. Thanks to the wood fire, the cheese was smoked, giving a unique taste to your dish.

Älplermagronen

The Swiss version of the Mac and Cheese.
When the merchants crossed the Gothard with Italian pasta in their luggage, the alpine peasants quickly tasted it. they added potatoes, cream, and milk to the macaroni, thus the chalet macaroni was born. A kind of gratin made with potatoes, macaroni, cream, and onions. An accompaniment not to forget: applesauce.

Be careful, this is a very substantial mountain dish ... In general, the traditional dessert that follows this dish is made up of meringues with double cream from Gruyère.

Rösti

For this classic dish of Swiss cuisine, grated potatoes are roasted until golden brown and crisp. Each canton has its own rosti recipe: with or without cheese, made from raw or cooked potatoes, in the pan or in the oven, with or without bacon. Either way, it's a treat

What is the difference between Rosti and hash browns?
Some will tell you there is no difference, that rosti and hash browns are almost the same thing. One difference is that Rostis are traditionally cooked pan-size in a skillet, rather than as individual cakes. This means that while their exterior is crisp, it's not overly crispy

Bircher Muesli

Birchermüesli: A world-famous Swiss specialty
Müesli is, along with chocolate and fondue, the only Swiss specialty to have toured the globe. Created around 1900 by the Swiss doctor Maximilian Oskar Bircher-Brenner, it consists of oatmeal, lemon juice, condensed milk, grated apples, walnuts, or almonds.

It later became very popular as it was taught in domestic schools and served to Swiss army soldiers during military service. Today, the bircher has become a real Swiss institution just like the butter braid. There are countless variations of muesli today, which are considered the best example of fast food in terms of health around the world.

Swiss chocolate

Switzerland is one of the first countries to produce chocolate, thanks to several pioneers.

In 1819, François-Louis Cailler opened a mechanized factory in Corsier-sur-Vevey, on the heights of Lake Geneva. In 1826, it was Philippe Suchard's turn to set up a chocolate factory in Serrières, in the canton of Neuchâtel. Until the end of the 19th century, chocolate makers multiplied, which popularized chocolate in Switzerland.
In 1875, Daniel Peter thought of combining chocolate and milk. After many trials in his factory in Vevey, he found the right mixture and quickly met with great success which would definitively link chocolate to Switzerland.