Swiss dishes. Swiss cuisine: rösti, gsottus and wine soup National dish of the Swiss

Swiss cuisine combines the best culinary traditions of France, Italy and Germany, as well as simple and hearty local dishes, recipes for which have existed in the valleys and mountains for several centuries.

The cuisines of these three peoples influenced the culinary preferences of the most neutral country.

Each canton has its own regional specialties. Recently, many young talented chefs have emerged in Switzerland, thanks to which the country confidently occupies a prominent place on the culinary map of the world.

The culinary traditions of Switzerland are inextricably linked with the geographical location of the country.

Since most of the territory is occupied by mountains, simple but hearty rural cuisine is very popular.

The main dishes of Swiss cuisine are simple and satisfying.

The cuisine of Switzerland enjoys well-deserved recognition among gourmets all over the world, and the Swiss themselves at home are by no means shy away from Lucullean delights. So, the favorite pastime of Zurich residents is walking around restaurants and cafes, and if they praise you about one of the eateries, you can safely go there. The local cuisine has been strongly influenced by its neighbors, primarily the “older French cousin” and Italian cuisine, as well as the purely Swabian table, but still it has enough of its own delicacies that are widespread in other countries.
A typical Swiss dish is the famous fondue, which is best enjoyed when it is cold outside and raining or snowing. Then sit comfortably in front of the fireplace and, pricking pieces of bread crumb onto a long fork, dip them in the melted cheese. It is best to drink this delicacy with white wine or tea.
Another famous cheese dish that has become widespread is raclette from Wallis. The very name of the dish (“raclette” (French) - large grater) reveals the principle of its preparation. The cheese is grated on a coarse grater or broken into small pieces, heated and served with potatoes.
However, to enjoy the taste and aroma of cheese, it is not necessary to heat it up. The best example is Emmental (more often called Swiss) and Appenzell cheeses, which enjoy well-deserved recognition among gourmets, as well as Grayerz cheese. Vacherin, which is prepared only in winter, and Schabziger, a cheese with herbs from Glernerland, have an exquisite taste and aroma.
Among the Ticino delicacies we should mention, first of all, small soft formagini cheeses, which are made from cottage cheese, as well as various varieties of mountain cheese, the most famous of which is Piora. Another famous Swiss delicacy is Zurich schnitzel (veal in cream sauce). Those who like to eat heartily prefer the Berner Platte - a dish of sauerkraut with beans and fried potatoes. Bern is also considered the birthplace of the famous Rosti - thinly sliced fried potatoes with cracklings.
Now is the time to think about soups, for example, Basel flour soup, barley soup from Bünden or Busekka - Ticin tripe soup. The national dish of sunny southern Switzerland is, of course, polenta, a dish of corn grits with cream and pieces of fruit. To the south of Saint Gotthard, risotto is a favorite - a rice dish prepared Milanese style (with saffron), with mushrooms or peasant style (with vegetables).
The menu of Swiss cuisine also includes fish dishes: rudd, trout, pike and aigli (freshwater perch), which are prepared differently everywhere. In late autumn and winter, you can try game delicacies, such as roe deer back, in many restaurants. And another delicacy, famous on both sides of the Swiss border, deserves your attention. This is Bünden meat, dried beef, cut into thin slices. Those who first tasted it in Valais, and not in Graubünden, call this dish “Welsh-style meat.”
The Alpine republic is famous for its wines. White wines are widely known - “Dezaley” and “St.-Saphorin”, “Fendant” and “Johannisberg”, “Twanner”. The best varieties of red wines are the exquisitely fine “Rose der CEil-de-Perdrix”, strong “Dole”, “Pinot Noir” and “Merlot”. But perhaps the best Bünden wines are made in the Italian town of Veltalin, which since 1815 has become the Swiss canton of Grisons. “Sassella”, “Grumello”, “Inferno” - these are the names of strong ruby-red wines that owe their luxurious bouquet to the generous southern sun. All that remains is to say a few words about all kinds of sweets served for dessert, afternoon tea, and evening coffee. These include fruit pies, Zug cherry cake, carrot cake, Engadine nut cake, and of course, the famous Swiss chocolate.

Alpine pasta is a somewhat unusual combination of pasta and potatoes, seasoned with sour cream and grated cheese, and topped with crispy fried onions.

For dessert, try the Zuger Kirschtort cherry cake. It is made of puff pastry and delicate buttercream, soaked in cherry liqueur and sprinkled with nuts.

Swiss wines, amazing in their diversity, offer a rich palette of tastes and fresh aromas. Wines that do not fit into the image of wine regions. At most international competitions today, Swiss wines very often receive the highest marks and win major awards. These achievements may be surprising, but they clearly reflect the revolutionary development of winemaking in Switzerland in recent years and the creation of very expressive and original wine varieties.

The Swiss table is very diverse: prestigious receptions, fashionable and gastronomic restaurants, fast food restaurants, regional Swiss cuisine, bistros, village inns, tea salons, dinner performances... A map and menu are posted at the entrance to the restaurant. Check prices before you push through the front door.

Swiss cuisine is considered the most exquisite in the world. For Swiss residents, food, cuisine, desserts, cheeses and wines are a way of life.

Evil tongues say: take a little Italy, France and Germany, add to this neutrality, banks and mountains - and here you have the Swiss Confederation. In scientific literature, the inhabitants of this blessed land are called Romansh. All of them are Swiss, but any resident of one or another canton emphasizes his originality. The same can be said about the kitchen. Although the most common national dishes are borrowed from the cuisines of other nations, the Swiss consider them their own. Apparently, because they add their own, very piquant elements to these dishes.

Take, for example, fondue - perhaps the most common dish throughout Switzerland. This is melted cheese, to which garlic and light white wine are added. Fondue came from Alpine shepherds, who were the first to think of throwing leftover cheese and garlic into the cauldron, and then dipping pieces of white bread into the mixture. The shepherds were very pleased with this hearty dish. The French claim that it was they who invented fondue. The Swiss argue with them. Be that as it may, it has become one of the national symbols of Switzerland, along with banks and watches. Now fondue is prepared in the best restaurants from various types of cheese. A pot is brought to the table, and very long forks are placed with it. Visitors string pieces of white bread onto them and dip them into a cheese-wine-garlic mixture. Fondue is considered a winter dish. “Shepherds' food” is also very popular among many tourists. That’s why fondue is on the menu of almost all Swiss restaurants. There is such an interesting fact that it is not recommended to drink fondue with wine, although many residents of Switzerland do it.

In the cantons adjacent to Italy, of course, typical dishes of this wonderful country are common. Locals speak fluent Italian and are very fond of various pastas, ravioli and risotto (rice dishes). The Swiss did not bring anything special new to Italian cuisine.

In Switzerland there is the concept of “resti graben” - this is the border up to which the Germans live and the German language is widespread. The term comes from the name of a typical German Alpine dish - resti, very common in German-speaking Switzerland. "Reshti graben" is the territory where this dish is eaten. In simple terms, it is boiled potatoes, fried to a “fries” state (with a crust). In fact, reshti is quite difficult to cook. Roland Jaggi, commercial director of the representative office of the Swiss national airline Swissair in Moscow, loves this dish. He mostly eats reshti in his homeland. But sometimes his wife spoils Mr. Yagi in Russia too. And it’s extremely rare for a commercial director to cook his favorite dish himself. Moreover, it is best to serve reshti in combination with a white Munich sausage - bratwurst. Mr. Yaggi shared the recipe for the dish with the readers of Turinfo (see below).

If we are talking about sausage, it should be noted that this is a typically German invention, like sausages, very popular in German-speaking cantons. Sausages from the cantons of St. Gallen and Bern are especially famous. And in Zurich, tourists, as well as local residents, are treated to huge two-meter sausages. The most delicious sausages, according to Alexander Bocharov, director of the tourism company Intellectual Fund, are served in a small restaurant located in the Arsenal building, next to Paradenplatz - in the very center of Zurich. This area is famous for the huge number of banks, whose employees fill the local restaurants during their lunch breaks. They serve sausages in huge tubs with sweet mustard, and a full meal in a restaurant with beer costs no more than 12-15 Swiss francs.

Swiss cuisine has regional specificity - the products, climate and traditional way of life of each region have a decisive influence on local culinary traditions.

The service staff usually speaks English.

Prices: Approximate cost of a three-course dinner, excluding drinks: 10 to 50 Swiss francs, depending on the level of service and location.

As for tips, in many restaurants and cafes they are included in the bill, so it is not necessary to give them. But if you are satisfied with the service, you can add 7-10% of the bill amount.

Switzerland is a country that combines several cultures: Italian, German, French. This significantly influenced cooking traditions. Residents of Switzerland consume large quantities of various dairy products - cottage cheese, butter, milk, cheese. Their diet consists of meat, various fish, grains and legumes. Depending on the area, preference is given to one or another product. Today we want to introduce you to the most popular national dishes of Switzerland.

A little about Swiss cuisine

Local cuisine is famous for its diversity. This is associated with the ethnic composition of the population living in this territory and the influence of bordering countries: France, Austria, Italy, Germany. In addition, a large assortment of dishes is associated with the fact that agriculture is traditionally practiced here.

It should be noted that all products produced in the country are of high quality, natural taste and do not contain harmful additives. There is a special organization in Switzerland that issues certificates for the best products. This category of goods is awarded a prestigious quality mark - AOC or IGP.

In the first place among traditional ones is fondue: this is the name given to melted cheese (always hard varieties) with wine and seasonings. A piece of bread is dropped into this mixture on a long fork. Fondue is prepared directly during a meal, while the container with cheese is constantly warmed up. This is done so that the cheese does not harden. During the meal, all participants in the feast sit around the fondue pot (caquelon).

Cauldron of Pleasures

The Swiss are distinguished by their great love of cheese. Today we will talk about how to prepare cheese fondue with wine. To prepare it we will need:

30 ml cherry vodka;
200 g each of Emmental and Gruyère cheese (you can replace Gouda);
3 cloves of garlic;
200 ml white wine (dry);
salt pepper;
nutmeg.

Place the cheese mass in the fondue pot over low heat for 5 minutes, don’t forget to stir with a whisk. The ideal option for serving fondue is in a caquelon, but a ceramic bowl or cast iron pot is also suitable for this. You can dip anything into the melted cheese mixture: fried shrimp, small cubes of bread, slices of baked potatoes.

Today, Swiss fondue has a broader meaning. Many types of this dish have been created, which are prepared using other technologies and recipes:

rustic fondue - the dish is fried meat and potatoes, which is filled with melted cheese;
Burgundy fondue - boiled meat with spices and cheese;
chicken fondue - chicken fillet stewed in creamy sauce;
chocolate fondue - melted chocolate with almonds and honey, into which various fruits, waffles, bread, and cookies are dipped.

There are also unusual versions of fondue - made from ice cream and blueberries.

Cheese dishes

Due to the fact that cheese is perhaps the most beloved product in Switzerland, national dishes containing this product are deservedly popular. These include:

raclette;
Swiss meat;
reshti;
Swiss cheese soup.

Raclette

Another national dish of Switzerland, which is made from melted cheese, is called raclette. The main ingredient is boiled potatoes (often in their jackets), as well as pickled cucumbers and melted cheese. The peculiarity of its preparation is that the cheese is placed next to a heat source, and then the melted mass is scraped off the surface and served with gherkins, potatoes, and onions.

Rashti

Swiss potato resti resembles our potato pancakes in appearance and taste, but sprinkled with grated cheese. Very often in Switzerland they are served for breakfast. In order to prepare this incredibly tasty dish, we will need:

800 g potatoes (raw);
salt pepper;
80 g sl. butter (melt).

For fish paste:

150 g cream cheese;
200 g smoked salmon;
4 chives.

Coarsely grate the raw potatoes, add salt and pepper, and knead. In a saucepan with plums. add small pieces of oil and fry for four to five minutes on each side.

Serve the ready-made rashti with fish paste prepared as follows: combine all the listed components and beat thoroughly into a homogeneous mass. This deliciously combined dish will be a great addition to a family breakfast.

First meal

Quite interesting options for first courses can be seen among the national dishes in Switzerland. All of them have a refined taste and can be included in the menu of a social event. Among them are:

Ticinese busecco soup with giblets;
vegetable minestrone soup;
barley soup from Grisons;
Flour soup from Basel.

Barley soup

Interestingly, barley is considered one of the first cultivated crops. In addition, the grain is well stored and does not spoil for a long time. That is why this grain crop has a strong position in the food industry. There are a huge number of variations of barley soups all over the world. We offer you a recipe for Swiss barley soup. The dish turns out to be very rich and thick; in its homeland it is considered a winter dish, because it helps to quickly warm up after a long winter walk. To work we will need:

300 g beef (smoked);
2.5 liters of beef broth;
¾ tbsp. pearl barley (barley);
3 celery stalks with leaves;
one medium carrot;
15 cm leek (white part);
1 medium onion;
2 potatoes;
200 g cabbage (white cabbage);
1 tbsp. sl. oils;
30 g olives oil;
peppercorns;
salt;
carnation;
lavrushka

We wash the pearl barley well and soak it in water for 4-5 hours. Then we rinse again and cook until tender, on average this will take half an hour. Let's start preparing the vegetables: chop the celery and leeks, chop the carrots and onions not too coarsely, cut the potatoes into cubes, and the cabbage traditionally into strips. In a saucepan with a mixture of oils, fry the carrots and onions for no more than 2 minutes. Add leeks, celery and potatoes to them and fry for the same amount of time. Add the cabbage and fry for a couple more minutes.

According to the original Swiss recipe, raw veal leg, pearl barley, and 2 liters of water are added to the vegetables, and everything is boiled for an hour and a half. If you don't want to boil the vegetables for so long, you can cook the broth in advance. Add smoked meat (thinly sliced) to the finished soup.

Second courses

Among the national dishes of Switzerland they have a special place. They are prepared from beef, pork, and chicken. The Swiss also pay due attention to fish products. What national dishes should you try? We recommend:

Bernes-platter - fried pieces of pork with sauerkraut or beans;
knakerli - spicy-flavored sausages with spices and sauce;
Geschnetzeltes - this is the name given to narrow strips of fried veal meat with herbs, mushrooms and sauce;
leberwurst - smoked sausages made from liver and lard;
Bundenfleisch - dried beef with onions (salted).

Geschnetzeltes

Let’s say right away that the classic version of this dish includes veal. But in the modern world it is prepared from chicken, pork and even beef. For this recipe, the veal must be fried very quickly over high heat so that it does not release its juices. Let's take:

600 g veal (fillet);
200 ml dry wine (preferably white);
50 g onion;
200 ml cream;
15 g flour;
parsley;
lemon zest from ¼ teaspoon;
pepper, salt;
2 tbsp. l. sl. oils

Fry the meat very quickly over high heat and keep it warm. Fry finely chopped onion in the same oil, add flour to it, mix, pour in wine and evaporate by half. Add cream, zest, parsley, salt and pepper. Add warm meat, boil a little, but do not let it boil. Serve with potato resti. If desired, you can add mushrooms to the recipe.

Meringue: what is it?

I would like to note that Swiss cuisine offers a huge range of confectionery products. In first place, of course, is the well-known one. By the way, it is estimated that on average every Swiss eats more than 12 kg of this product per year. A little later we will present you Swiss meringues and the recipe. But first, let's talk about the most popular desserts:

lekerli - gingerbread from Basel, honey gingerbread;
Brunsley - this is the name of chocolate cookies with the addition of almonds;
kyukhli - any sweet pies;
muesli - with apples, nuts, raisins (it is believed that this dish was invented in Switzerland).

What is this - meringue? This is the name of protein custard. If it is prepared in compliance with technological requirements, it turns out airy, shiny, tender, smooth, able to hold its shape well and be easily deposited using a pastry syringe or bag.

Confectionery products made from this mass in finished form are unusually beautiful and embossed. After some time, a light and very thin crust appears, it dries, and a soft, airy cream remains inside.

They are used to decorate cupcakes and muffins; in addition, they are used for layering sponge cakes and for decorating products. When baked in the oven over low heat, you get a gorgeous meringue cake. Swiss meringues are made by steeping egg whites in fairly hot sugar syrup. As a result, the egg white is disinfected, and the structure of the cream becomes denser.

Lyubov and Maxim Kushtuevs answered 10 of our questions about cooking and the peculiarities of the national cuisine of Switzerland.

Lyuba, Max, hello. How long have you been cooking? How did this hobby begin?

MK: My path to the kitchen was paved by my mother, grandmothers and aunts in early childhood. Having been brought up on homemade delights and delicacies, I simply had to start cooking on my own someday. How can you pass by the kitchen when the smell of baking is wafting from there or the tempting buzz of the mixer? In addition, if you don't go into the kitchen, you won't get something tasty before everyone else!

OK: I have a completely opposite situation. I am a catering child. Up until my last year at university, my main places to eat were canteens and buffets. By the way, I don’t see anything wrong with them - this is also a whole culture and often excellent chefs work there. My mother cooks very well, but she absolutely does not like to do it. It is not surprising that cooking seemed to me like hard work, something forced and certainly not creative. A kind of “obligation” that I avoided at all costs. But one day I decided that I still needed to learn basic cooking skills, so I bought the simplest cookbook and started cooking from it. The fascination of the process exceeded all expectations and gradually cooking became a kind of meditation, a break from work, paradoxically as it may seem. This is how, gradually, step by step, the first recipes emerged from ordinary cooking “for oneself”, which were not ashamed to show. First we opened our website, then we started offering recipes to magazines.

How did your interest in cooking turn into a passion for Swiss cuisine?

OK: Well, first of all, Swiss cuisine is far from the only thing that interests us in cooking. But, indeed, this topic is one of my favorites. First of all, because we live in this country. Its atmosphere, culture and traditions surround us every day. The more we immerse ourselves in them, the wider, deeper and richer Switzerland itself appears to us. Personally, I don’t really understand people who move to live abroad, but at the same time refuse to assimilate into the new environment, do not want to learn the language, and are not interested in the traditions of the country. When life gives you the opportunity to expand your horizons and touch the culture of another state, it would be stupid not to take advantage of it. And it doesn’t matter whether we are talking about Switzerland, Mongolia, Cameroon or some other corner of the world.

MK: Despite the fact that Geneva has practically become our second home, we have always been and remain Russian people. We love our country very much and especially Moscow - our hometown. From this point of view, it is even more interesting for us to study Swiss cuisine, find common features with Russian, compare the habits of our peoples, find out how differently Russians and Swiss perceive the same ingredient. For example, in Russia carrots are added to soups, salads and stews. And here it is often used in sweet baked goods. But pears and apples, on the contrary, are frequent guests in hot, savory dishes.

« Swiss cuisine. Not just recipes» - your first book. Tell us more about it: how did you even come up with the idea of writing a book on this topic?

MK: But the main reason was that the cuisine of Switzerland is very poorly covered in the Russian book industry; there are also not many good, correct and truly Swiss recipes in the RuNet. There are often outright “blunders”. For example, it is recommended to add water to cheese fondue, and one of the books even calls fondue “a type of omelet.” Recently we heard on television that in Switzerland there are four (or even six) cantons that speak Italian. Such misinformation is accepted by the majority at face value and wanders from one source to another, multiplying and taking root. Having looked at all this, we decided that it was time to put an end to such injustice.

What's the most unusual thing about Swiss cuisine?

OK: From our point of view, there is practically nothing unusual in Swiss culinary traditions. All products are familiar to us, and most are truly loved and familiar from childhood. In comparison, Chinese or Japanese cuisine is much more exotic for our tastes. True, the Swiss sometimes have very interesting combinations of products. A few years ago we had a culture shock when we were served warm coffee with milk along with fried potatoes “resti”. First thought: “Maybe the waiter confused something?” It turned out that no. We risked trying it and were amazed at how harmonious this combination is! And then, having engaged in a deeper study of traditions, we found out that reshti or maluns with coffee is the most classic combination. I was also initially surprised that Swiss cookbooks recommend serving wine, cider or beer as a drink with soups. It would seem, why would there be a drink with soup at all? But the answer to many “whys” in Swiss cooking is simple: “It’s the way it is.”

MK: It’s also not customary in Switzerland to drink desserts with tea or coffee. Here's the weird thing: soup requires a drink, but dessert doesn't. If in a restaurant you don’t ask for dessert and coffee at the same time, the waiter will never do it. By the way, I have seen such a tradition in many European countries, and it suits me quite well. But Lyuba cannot eat sweets without tea, she says that they are tasteless alone.

OK: Yes, and tea without sweets is also somehow not very good.

What do you think is a basic ingredient that should always be in the kitchen?

OK: Hmm, it’s difficult to answer something original... Of course, water. Without it, everything else loses its meaning. And then, it’s probably most logical to have a constant supply of what you most often use in cooking. If you love baking - keep flour, sugar, vanillin. Fry often - stock up on vegetable oil. Our most important consumables are seasonings: dry garlic, nutmeg, a mixture of peppers, etc. We prefer to buy the rest as needed so that everything is fresh.

MK: But it’s easier for me to take the question in a slightly different direction - what equipment can’t you do without in the kitchen? Here the list emerges very clearly - a set of good knives, a measuring cup, and even better, accurate scales, a saucepan and a frying pan. This is the minimum that we can never do without. Moreover, it is not worth saving on these elements. Almost all the cheap dishes we once bought have already been thrown away. But expensive, high-quality things have lasted for many years, and they are more pleasant to hold in your hands.

Do you have to be a semi-professional chef to cook Swiss cuisine?

MK: No, what are you talking about! You can also be professional.))) In fact, this book is designed both for a well-versed culinary reader and for those who are taking their first steps in the kitchen. There are a number of recipes that almost anyone can cook - you just need to carefully read about the cooking process and listen to our recommendations. When we collected materials for the book and prepared dishes, we specifically noted and separately wrote down points that could cause difficulties, so that we could then place them in the recipes as a separate line. Sometimes they even slightly adjusted the recipes to the conditions of the “average kitchen” in order to remove all the difficulties.

Swiss cuisine is associated with hearty food, how true is this?

MK: For the most part this is true. Swiss cuisine only confirms the well-known rule that any national cuisine originated not in the hands of chefs of expensive restaurants, but in the kitchens of ordinary housewives. So to speak, the path from the peasant table to the feasts of nobles. Look at Switzerland - a mountainous country with snowy winters, peasants had to work hard in the summer to provide themselves with supplies, all this determines the nature of the cuisine - nourishing, simple and made from products available all year round. Here the main products are cheeses, cereals, potatoes, pasta, dried meats, wines and so on. But still, I would not say that the cuisine of this country is completely so harsh - just remember the airy meringues or delicate cream sabayon, dishes from lake or river fish. As in any kitchen, there is a certain balance here too.

New Year is coming soon, will this book help in preparing the festive table?

OK: Without a doubt. Among the recipes there are many dishes that are perfect for a festive family feast. Here are just a few examples: Geneva chicken fricassee with porcini mushrooms, Ticino veal rolls, carrot cake, lecherli gingerbread and, of course, mulled wine. And if you plan to celebrate the New Year at the dacha in a friendly company, then it’s impossible to think of a better dish than fondue. All it requires is white wine, cheese and bread. Just imagine: it’s snowing outside the window, and at home you have a big pot of boiling cheese!

MK: If you plan to cook fondue, please read our recommendations carefully. Our experience shows that there are a lot of misconceptions about this dish in the world. That is why our book devotes a little more pages to fondue and raclette than to other specialties, from the basics to the little tricks.

Is this book fundamentally different from other publications? If so, why?

MK: A hint of the unusual nature of the book is contained in its subtitle: “not only recipes”; it really goes beyond a simple collection of recipes, as it also contains a lot of useful or useless, but always entertaining information about the country. Each chapter begins with a story about a particular region of Switzerland. The purpose of this regional study part is to create an alpine mood in the reader, to help understand why this or that dish is prepared exactly the way it is, what the story is behind the recipe. We also tried to include in the book as many photographs as possible of the natural beauty of the country, cities, villages, mountains, lakes, waterfalls. After all, after a long and eventful walk, your appetite is even better!

Were you able to convey everything in this edition or should we expect a new book?

OK: Does anyone seriously think that Swiss cuisine is limited to just over seventy recipes? With this book we have only lifted the veil of some delicious secret, so to speak, opened the door to a whole culinary universe. Today we already have more than one and a half thousand recipes of Swiss cuisine in our collection, and every day the reserves are only replenished. So there are a lot of plans and ideas for continuation, and we have already started working on their implementation. Rest only in our dreams!

We invite you to experience real Swiss cuisine right now. Try making chicken fricassee according to the authors' recipe.

Chicken fricassee Geneva style

The people of Geneva have always loved deliciously cooked poultry. Of course, this predilection is due to the canton’s immediate proximity to France, namely to the main center of French poultry farming, the city of Bresse, home of the famous Bresse chickens. Chicken fricassee, or, more simply put, a type of stew, is another striking example of the influence of French culinary traditions on Swiss cuisine.

Ingredients:

Chicken - 1.3 kg
Dry white wine - 200 ml
Onions - 300 g
Potatoes - 700 g
Porcini mushrooms - 150 g
Chicken broth - 100 ml
Garlic - 4 cloves
Butter - 150 g
Fresh basil, rosemary, parsley
Salt, freshly ground black pepper.

Preparation:

Melt 60 g of butter in a deep (preferably cast-iron) frying pan and fry finely chopped onions in it until transparent. Cut the chicken into portions and add to the onion. Add basil and two crushed cloves of garlic. Pour in white wine and broth, cover with a lid and leave to simmer over low heat for 40 minutes.

Cut the potatoes into cubes with a 2 cm edge. Meanwhile, in a separate frying pan, melt another 60 g of butter, put the potatoes in the frying pan along with rosemary, add salt and pepper and fry until half cooked for 10 minutes.

In a small frying pan over high heat, saute the mushrooms with the remaining garlic, butter and parsley for 10 minutes. Season to taste.

Place the fried chicken in a large baking dish, place the potatoes around and distribute the mushrooms on top. Cook in the oven at 190°C for about 15 minutes. Serve hot.

Cooking time: 1 hour 30 minutes.

Quantity: 7 servings.

Swiss cuisine is a flavorful mixture of German, French and Italian cuisine. Most restaurants and hotel canteens offer a wide selection of dishes from different countries on the menu. It takes effort to find a restaurant serving local cuisine.

If you manage to visit Switzerland, be sure to take the opportunity to try the colorful local cuisine, often borrowed, with the addition of your local northern flavor.

Swiss cheese
Cheese making is part of Swiss heritage. On the territory of modern Switzerland, cattle breeding and dairy farming have always been common, concentrated in the highlands of the country. Today, more than 100 varieties of this product are produced here. However, there is no mass production here, everything is prepared in hundreds of small, strictly controlled dairy production facilities, each of which is under the supervision of a federally qualified master cheesemaker.

The cheese with holes, known as Swiss or Emmental, has become widespread despite being originally produced in the Emme Valley. Back then, no one thought about protecting the name for the cheeses of this area. Other famous cheeses are Gruyère, Appenzell, Raclette, Royal and Schabziger. The names of some varieties were also copied, for example Sbrinz and Spalen are closely related to the ancient Roman name Helvetic ( caseus helveticus).

Fondue

Cheese fondue, which consists of Emmental and Gruyère, used alone, together or with special local cheeses, which are melted in white wine, flavored with garlic and lemon juice. Freshly ground pepper, nutmeg, red pepper and kirsch are added to the dish. Traditional local seasonings are often added. Guests surround the bubbling fondue cup and use long forks to dip cubes of bread into the hot mixture. Instead of bread, apples, pears, grapes, sausages, cubes of boiled ham, shrimp, pitted olives, and small pieces of boiled potatoes can be used.

Raclette

Almost as well known as fondue. Popular for many centuries, its origins are lost in ancient times, but the word raclette comes from the French word racler, meaning "to scrape off." The name raclette originally belonged to a dish made from a special Valais mountain cheese, but today this is the name not only for the dish itself, but also for cheeses suitable for melting over an open fire or in the oven.

A piece of cheese (traditionally a half to quarter wheel of raclette) is held over an open fire. As soon as it begins to soften, it is scraped onto a plate with a special knife. The unique aroma and taste are most revealed when hot. The classic accompaniment is fresh, crispy, homemade black bread, but raclette can also be eaten with boiled jacket potatoes, pickled onions, cucumbers, or small ears of corn. Raclette is usually eaten with a fork, but sometimes a knife may be needed.

Other Swiss dishes

The country's ubiquitous vegetable dish called röchti or rosti (brown potatoes). Potatoes are baked in the oven along with cheese, which melts and turns golden brown.

Spätzle (a local type of dumpling) is also offered on the menu of Swiss cafes.

Lake fish in Switzerland is an attractive but expensive pleasure. The most delicious fish in alpine lakes is, of course, trout and small perches.

Hard sausages are very popular in Switzerland. They can be bought at all open markets. The most famous type is bündnerfleisch, a specially prepared dried beef.

Berner Platte is a classic version of Swiss cuisine. If you order this typical farm food, get a huge plate with a pile of sauerkraut or green beans, topped with a piece of meat, sausage, ham, bacon or pork chops.

In addition to cheese fondue, you can enjoy bourguignonne fondue, popular all over the world. It consists of pieces of meat on wooden sticks, cooked in oil, seasoned with sauces of your choice. In addition, many establishments offer chinoise fondue, made from thin slices of beef and oriental sauces.

Typical recipes from Canton Ticino include mushroom risotto and mixed grill known as fritto misto. Polenta made from cornmeal is popular as a side dish. Ticino is also prepared from river fish, such as trout or pike. Pizza and pasta have also spread to all provinces of Switzerland.

Salads often combine fresh lettuce and cooked vegetables such as beets. If you want to try an authentic Swiss salad, ask for zwiebelsalat, made with lettuce and onions. In spring, the Swiss love fresh asparagus so much that the police are forced to increase night patrols to reduce theft of asparagus from the fields.

The glory of Swiss cuisine is the small cakes and pastries that are served throughout the country in teahouses and cafes. The most common delicacy is a muffin shaped like a muffin and traditionally a large cake filled with whipped cream.

Chocolate superpower

Cocoa beans are the main ingredient in chocolate. Columbus brought cocoa beans to Europe from Nicaragua in 1502. Royal cooks mixed bean powder with sugar and hot water, which was a great success among the royal family. During the nineteenth century, attitudes toward cocoa varied greatly between North America and Europe.

In 1825, the famous culinary specialist from the French-speaking world, Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, stated that chocolate is one of the most effective foods for increasing physical and intellectual strength. In contrast, Harriet Beecher Stowe declared chocolate unsuitable for American cooking. Despite Ms. Stowe's attacks, the chocolate market continues to grow. This fact was immediately noticed by the wary Swiss from their politically neutral bastion in the Alps.

Since the early 1800s, the Swiss have invested heavily in the cocoa market. Industry pioneers opened the country's first chocolate factory in Corsier, near Vevey. The transnational concern Suchard was created in 1824 near Neuchâtel. In 1875, Daniel Peter invented milk chocolate by adding condensed milk to cocoa powder and sugar. In 1879, the first chocolate bar was created. In 1899, the Sprungli and Lindt empires merged in Zurich to form a chocolate dynasty. Soon after, the Toblerone and Nestle organizations were created.

Today Switzerland is the world's largest chocolate producer. Secrecy and precision have always been among Swiss virtues, and both are essential during the complex mixing process that transforms raw ingredients into the final product. Consumers are constantly expecting new works of art from their chocolate wrappers, so an army of commercial artists toil year-round to meet market demands.

The Swiss consume more chocolate per capita than any other country in the world. No self-respecting climber will go to the mountains without chocolate bars. Housewives usually do not buy less than a kilogram of chocolate at a time. Therefore, this product can also be attributed to traditional Swiss cuisine.

Beverages

White wine is the best choice to drink with fondue. There are few restrictions on the sale of alcohol here, but prices for bourbon, gin and whiskey tend to be much higher than in the United States. Local wines are excellent. Unlike French ones, they taste better when they are aged a little. Many drinks are produced exclusively for local consumption. Most wines produced in Switzerland are white, but there are good rosés and aromatic reds.

The most exported wines are produced in Valais, Ticino and Sealand. There are more than 300 small wine-growing areas here. In the French-speaking part of Switzerland, Fendant and Johannisberg are considered the best wines. In the German-speaking part you can try several dry and light red wines - Stammheimer, Klevner and Hallauer. In Italian-language - red merlot with a pleasant bouquet.

Beer
Swiss beer is the drink of choice in the German-speaking part of the country. The most common are light beer Helles and dark Dunkles.

Liqueurs
The liqueurs here are tasty and very strong. The most popular are Kirsch (a national alcoholic drink made from cherry pit juice) and Plum (plum liqueur). Williamsina Pear Brandy is made from aromatic Williams pears. In Ticino, most locals love the fiery Grappa brandy, distilled from waste from the grape pressing process.

In principle, this is the main thing you can learn about Swiss cuisine. Although, of course, it’s better not to read about it, but to try it yourself, because unfortunately, eating through the monitor won’t work.

What do the Swiss eat? Just cheese and chocolate? You yourself guessed that no. To taste the variety of Swiss cuisine, you should go on gastronomic tours around the country or visit where national dishes of Switzerland are served. Neighboring countries, as well as a lifestyle dominated by agriculture, have left their weighty say in the traditional recipe. The peculiarities of Swiss cuisine are the minimal use of spices and herbs. But the national cuisine of Switzerland is not only the well-known fondue and raclette, but also many other interesting and, most importantly, delicious dishes.

Soups and main courses

“Swiss cheese soup” with toasted croutons. It is cooked in meat broth with the addition of cream, hard cheese and herbs.
“Barley soup from Grisons”, its second name is Grisons soup. This is the favorite national dish of the Swiss in winter after long walks. The recipe is somewhat reminiscent of rassolnik, but without pickles and with the addition of cabbage and celery.
Gourmets will be surprised by another dish of Swiss cuisine - Basel flour stew. The recipe for French onion soup has been modified to create onion soup with a Swiss twist.
We recommend trying an unusual dish with a scary name – cholera. The recipe for this dish arose at the height of the cholera epidemics that raged across Europe. The ingredients are simple - potatoes, cheese, eggs and apples, but the taste is great.