There is no such thing as Swiss cuisine in the singular. The country has four language regions, and each cooks towards its large neighbour: German-speaking Switzerland hearty, the Romandie French, Ticino Italian, the Grisons alpine. What they all share is cheese, milk and the potato.
The classics
- Fondue moitié-moitié — half Gruyère, half Vacherin, with white wine and kirsch. A winter dish; in summer only tourist places serve it. Budget 28 to 40 francs a head
- Raclette — melted cheese over potatoes with gherkins and pickled onions. From the Valais
- Rösti — grated potatoes fried in a pan, originally a farmer's breakfast. The language border, the Röstigraben, is named after it
- Zürcher Geschnetzeltes — veal in cream sauce, served with rösti
- Bündnerfleisch — air-dried beef from the Grisons, sliced paper-thin
- Papet vaudois — leeks and potatoes with cabbage sausage, the canton of Vaud's national dish
- Basler Läckerli, Zuger Kirschtorte and Engadine nut tart for the sweet side
Cheese, properly
Switzerland makes around 450 varieties. The main protected-origin ones: Gruyère (no holes, contrary to the cliché), Emmental (the holes), Appenzeller washed in herb brine, hard Sbrinz, and Tête de Moine, shaved into rosettes with a girolle. Dairies can be visited — Gruyères and the Emmental have demonstration cheeseries with shops.
Chocolate
Milk chocolate was invented here in 1875 (Daniel Peter, using Henri Nestlé's milk powder) and conching, which makes it smooth, in 1879 (Rodolphe Lindt). Consumption runs to about ten kilos per person a year. Buy at a confiserie, not at the airport.
The regions in one line each
- German-speaking Switzerland: rösti, sausages, veal, beer
- Romandie: fondue, papet, perch fillets from Lake Geneva, wines from Lavaux and the Valais
- Ticino: polenta, risotto, chestnuts, merlot — eaten in a grotto, the stone house in the woods
- Grisons: air-dried beef, capuns, pizzoccheri, nut tart
Wine almost nobody knows
Switzerland exports almost no wine — roughly 98 per cent is drunk at home. That is why it is unknown abroad. Try Chasselas from the Lavaux, Petite Arvine and Cornalin from the Valais, and Merlot from Ticino.
What it costs and how to spend less
- Restaurant main course: 25 to 45 francs. Fondue 28 to 40
- The lunch menu is the trick: 18 to 25 francs for soup or salad and a main, in the same places that charge double at night
- Beer 5 to 8 francs, coffee 4 to 5, mineral water 4 to 6
- Tap water is excellent and city fountains are drinkable unless marked kein Trinkwasser
- Migros and Coop have cheap self-service restaurants; takeaway from a butcher or baker costs 8 to 15 francs
- Service is included. Rounding up is enough; nobody expects more