Typical Swiss Recipes
The Fondue
For four people, you will need:
600 g of white bread
1 clove of garlic, cut in half
400 g salted gruyere (from Gruyère)
400 g of Friborg Vacherin cheese
3 dl of white wine (e.g. Chasselas Romand)
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp kirsch
a little nutmeg, pepper
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How it's made:
Cut the bread into cubes.
Rub the fondue pot with the garlic clove. Pass the cheese through the rösti grater directly into the fondue pot. Dissolve the cornstarch in the wine, add, bring to the boil over low heat, stirring regularly. Add the kirsch, season.
This dish has to be stirred at all times. It thus can be a bit of a source of stress. So make sure the table is set (charcuterie board and pickles are out) before starting. Also surround yourself with fun and cooperative people who will sit down when the fondue is ready.
Suggestion: if the fondue turns into a hopeless half and half, as in oil and cheese, dilute 1 tbsp. of cornstarch in a little white wine and lemon juice, add, slowly bring to the boil while stirring.
Personnal preference: to make the fonue more digestible, you can try the tomato variation, as in adding a small tin of diced tomatoes and serving the fondue with small boiled potatoes. You then don't use the traditional forks but a large spoon or small ladle (for the very traditional that would be made of wood) and put some of the fondue on your potatoe.
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The Raclette
For four people, you will need:
800 g of sliced raclette cheese
1 kg of boiled potatoes (firm-fleshed variety)
a little nutmeg
a little paprika
a little pepper
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How it's made:Place the cheese on a dish, and the potatoes in a basket with a towel, cover. Serve nutmeg, paprika and pepper separately.
Arrange pickled cucumbers, small white onions, Graubünden meat and raw ham on another dish or in bowls, present separately.
Preheat the raclette oven. Present cheese, potatoes, side dishes and condiments separately on the table. Place the cheese in the pans and melt it under the grill. Scrape the melted cheese onto the plates using the wooden spatula, season. Serve Note: this dish is usually served with a charcuterie board and pickles. Please note that Switzerland has some of the nicest curest meats. Be it in the supermarket ("viande séchée") or in a butcher's shop, it's well worth a try.
The raclette shown in the picture differs a little from the recipe above. In the original way of making raclette, you cut a whole cheese in half and use a specific heater that will melt the top of the whole wheel. It taste better, in my opinion, but it is not beginner's trick. First go to a alpine cheese restaurant and watch how they do it before trying yourself.
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Typical
Vaud Pastries
Sweets
In the illustration, we have the "carac". It a pie crust filled with chocolate, which can be somewhere between very cream to rock hard, covered with a green sugar coat and a chocolate dot. If you are into chocolate, this is a must.
There are also "bouchon vaudois", litteraly vaudois corks, which are sweet wafer like, cork sized delicacies, fairly difficult to find.
Then you have the "tarte à la crème" or "gateau du Léman" with a custard pie in a bed of sweet pie dough. Or it can be an actual pie crust with a wonderful creamy filling.
The "tarte à la raisinnée" begs the question: What is raisinnée? Contrary to what the name suggested, it has nothing to wine (raisin: grapes). It is a thick, dark molasse like goo made of pear and/or apple juice which traditionnal hand stirred for 24h in relay (really, check it out) until it is reduced to a kind of think syrup. The above mentionned pie is a pie crust with a mix of raisinnée and double cream. Don't watch the calories and try it: it's wonderful.
There is also the very traditional "tresse", as in braid. It a braided bread doe, with a specific braiding pattern and flour. It usually eaten on Sundays. In the canton Fribourg, they have similar doe (with safron in it) called "cuchaule" which is eaten with a bizarre mixture called "moutarde de Benichon", as in Benichon mustard, which can't really decide whether it's sweet or savoury, sour or peppery. Very strange but typical. Oh and it's only served in September and October.
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Savoury
Talking about which, let's talk typical savoury pastries from Canton de Vaud.
We'll start with a strangely named "taillés aux greubons". It was a way to recycle pork fat droppings. It is puff pastry with lard, bacon and so on several layers. It looks a bit uncouth but it is tasty.
Then you will be able to buy in the supermarket or hand made in your local bakery the tradionnal "bricelet" which is, for the most part, an elaborate wafer. It come in sweet or savoury varieties, with lemon peel or cumin added to the dough. If you're interested, their fabrication requires a tremendous dexterity and is fascinating to watch.
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