National dishes of Switzerland: a list with recipes

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

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

A bit 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 the countries bordering it: France, Austria, Italy, Germany. In addition, a large assortment of dishes is associated with the fact that agriculture is traditionally practiced here.

Note that all products produced in the country are of high quality, natur altaste without the content of harmful additives. In Switzerland, there is a special organization that issues certificates for the best products. This category of goods is awarded the prestigious quality mark - AOC or IGP.

Traditional Swiss cuisine

In the first place among the traditional dishes of national cuisine is fondue: this is the name for melted cheese (necessarily hard varieties) with wine and spices. A piece of bread is released into this mass on a long fork. Fondue is prepared directly during a meal, while the container with cheese is constantly warming up. This is done so that the cheese does not freeze. During the meal, all participants in the feast sit around a fondue pot (caquelon).

Pleasure Pot

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

• 30ml cherry vodka;
• 200 g of Emmental and Gruyère cheese each (gouda can be substituted);
• 3 garlic cloves;
• 200 ml white wine (dry);
• s alt, pepper;
• nutmeg.

Put the cheese mass in the fondue bowl on a minimum fire for 5 minutes, do not forget to stir with a whisk. The ideal option for serving fondue in a caquelon, but a ceramic bowl or a cast-iron cauldron is also suitable for this. You can dip anything into the melted cheese mass: fried shrimp, small cubes of bread, slices of baked potatoes.

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

• country fondue - the dish is fried meat with potatoes, which is poured 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, in which various fruits, waffles, bread, biscuits are dipped.

There are also not quite ordinary fondue options - ice cream and blueberries.

Cheese dishes

Due to the fact that cheese is perhaps the most favorite product in Switzerland, national dishes with the inclusion of this product in them are well-deservedly popular. These include:

• raclette;
• Swiss style meat;
• solve;
• 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 uniform), 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, served with gherkins, potatoes, onions.

Reshti

Swiss potato reshti looks and tastes like our potato pancakes or pancakes, but sprinkled with grated cheese. Very often in Switzerland they are served for breakfast. In order to prepare this unusually delicious dish, weyou will need:

• 800g potatoes (raw);
• s alt, pepper;
• 80g sl. butter (melted).

For fish paste:

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

Coarsely grate raw potatoes, add s alt and pepper, knead. In a saucepan with plums. oil spread small potato cakes and fry for four to five minutes on each side.

To ready-made reshti, serve fish paste prepared as follows: combine all the listed components, beat well into a homogeneous mass. This dish, which has an exquisite combination, will be a great addition to a family breakfast.

First courses

Quite interesting varieties of 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:

• Ticino busecco soup with giblets;
• minestrone vegetable soup;
• graubünden barley soup;
• flour stew from Basel.

Barley soup

Interestingly, barley is considered one of the first cultivated crops. In addition, the grain is well stored and does not deteriorate for a long time. That is why this grain crop has a strong position in the food industry. All over the world there are a huge number of variations of soups with barley. We offer you a recipe for Swiss barley soup. The dish turns out veryrich, thick, at home it is considered winter, because it helps to quickly warm up after a long winter walk. For work we need:

• 300g beef (smoked);
• 2, 5 l beef broth;
• ¾ st. barley (barley);
• 3 celery stalks with leaves;
• one medium carrot;
• 15 cm leek (white part);
• 1 medium onion;
• 2 potatoes;
• 200 g cabbage (white);
• 1 tbsp sl. oil;
• 30g olive. butter;
• peppercorns;
• s alt;
• carnation;
• lavrushka.

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

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

Second dishes

Among the national dishes of Switzerland, they stand on a specialplace. They are prepared from beef, pork, chicken. The Swiss pay due attention to fish products. What dishes of national cuisine should be tasted? We recommend:

• Burness Platter - fried pork pieces with sauerkraut or beans;
• knakerli - spicy sausages with spices and sauce;
• geschnetzeltes - so called narrow strips of fried veal meat with herbs, mushrooms and sauce;
• leberwurst - smoked sausages made from liver and lard;
• bundenflaisch - beef jerky with onions (s alted).

Geshnetceltes

Let's say right away that the classic version of this dish includes veal. But in the modern world, they cook it from chicken, pork and even beef. For this recipe, the veal must be fried very quickly over high heat: this is necessary so that it cannot release the juice. Take:

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

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

Meringue: what is it?

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

• leckerly - gingerbread from Basel, honey gingerbread;
• brunsley - the so-called chocolate chip cookie, 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 meringue? This is the name of the protein custard. If it is prepared in accordance with technological requirements, it turns out to be airy, shiny, tender, smooth, able to keep its shape well and be easily deposited with a confectionery syringe or bag.

The finished confectionery products made from this mass turn out to be extraordinarily beautiful, embossed. After some time, a light and very thin crust appears, it dries up, and a soft airy cream remains inside.

Swiss meringues are used to decorate cupcakes and muffins, they are also used to layer sponge cakes and to decorate products. When baked in the oven over low heat, a magnificent meringue cake is obtained. Swiss meringues are prepared bybrewing egg whites with fairly hot sugar syrup. As a result, the egg white is disinfected, and the structure of the cream becomes denser.