Culinary adventurism is a continuous journey and today’s column focuses on the cuisine of Switzerland. Long ago, I decided to specialize in Chinese cuisine since ingredients from other countries were not available and any attempt to substitute would only lead to a poor, if not a ridiculous imitation.
My knowledge of the rest of the world’s cuisine is extremely limited and I try to bridge the gap by acquiring books like the Foods of the World, a series of books published by Time-Life International. The cuisine of Switzerland was part of A Quintet of Cuisines (1970) and only 17 pages were written about it so I moved to the Information Highway to learn more about its people and their culinary traditions.
Switzerland is a relatively small country with an even smaller population, only 7.4 million (very low birth rate is alarming compared to the, ahem, Filipinos!). A landlocked country with plenty of ambitious neighbors, it has four official languages, Schweizerdeutsch (Swiss German, 64 percent speak the language), French (19 percent), Italian (8 percent) and Romansch (Rhaeto-Romanic, 1 percent). Who said a country needs a single National Language and why have one when you can speak four?
The numerous mountains in Switzerland give its citizens plenty of exercise and an indomitable spirit, add to that some expansionist ambition, giving the country some trouble with it’s larger and stronger neighbors. In the 16th century, the Swiss declared a neutral foreign policy and in 1815, the Congress of Vienna recognized the perpetual neutrality of Switzerland and its territory to include 22 cantons (provinces, now it has 26).
Some of its citizens were however restless and the Swiss mercenaries were born, having great courage and skill in war (often working in both sides of conflicting countries!) that the Vatican recruited them to be bodyguards (Swiss Guards) of the Pope Julius ll in 1505.
Now, the Swiss military is compulsory for its Army and Air Force (no Navy, obviously) and its’ citizens-soldiers report for basic training and some refresher courses until the age of 32. Bringing home pa gyud guns, bullets, uniform and perhaps one or two Pz87 LEO WE (variant of Leopard 2 main battle tank) or F/A-18 jets, ready for war in 48 hours.
I wonder where my good friend, Swiss National Hans Hauri, Marco Polo Plaza GM, hides his SIG 550 (Sturmgewehr 90) and fifty rounds of ammunition? And underneath those mountains are permanent fortifications with underground air bases and large bunkers with the most modern and sophisticated military equipment and supplies.
But you need money to finance all those activities and this is one item that the country has plenty. Switzerland’s political neutrality gave it a rather huge advantage (after World War 1, only the Swiss franc was stable in Western Europe): add experience in financial matters plus banking secrecy laws, Swiss banks have become a favorite of international financiers. After international banking, insurance (naturally evolves after banking) and those people visiting their banks become the backbone of the tourism industry (add a view or two of the Swiss Alps!).
Food is required to fuel all these activities and when you have plenty of mountains, cattle raising na lang is your choice of livelihood and you have two quintessential Swiss products—cheese and milk chocolate that account for more than half of all Swiss agriculture activity. They produce several chesses including the Emmentaler (origins from the Emme River) and the Gruyère.
The business of chocolates is so pervasive that Nestlé S.A. is largest single employer in Switzerland and the chocolate business extends to the Swiss Army’s MRE (Meal, Ready-to-Eat); chocolate (Militärschokolade) is fortified with caffeine and kola nuts extracts plus proteins and vitamins, ready for action.
Add the cuisine of the surrounding neighbors (Italy, France and Germany), which the cantons have adopted, modified and refined and that gives you an idea of what Swiss cuisine is all about.
Perhaps the best way to be acquainted about Swiss cuisine is to join the Marco Polo Plaza Culinary Journeys to Switzerland (July 23 to August 6). It is held around this time to celebrate the day of independence from the rule of the House of Hapsburg (August 1, with the Grütli Pact of 1291).
Hard work, na pud for your favorite food columnist of tasting all those delicious Swiss food. It took me two long hours (See how difficult life can be?) trying each and every dish on the menu to be able to render a full culinary account to my beloved followers and no drinks to aid digestion (self-imposed rule, no alcohol before 1800 hours, Philippine time!).
I recommend the sampling platter of Swiss Alpine Air-Dried Beef, Landjaeger (spicy German sausage), Biersticks and liver pate followed by the soup of the Canton of Graubünden, Bündner Gersten Suppe (barley soup, I added croutons!). The Traditional cheese fondue (dip the bread into a mixture of Emmentaler and Gruyère) is a must, followed by the Raclette (melted with Electric Table-Top Grill with potatoes).
For the main course, I favored the Gratin Vaudois (Vaudois is a type of sausage with Gruyère cheese), Obwald-Style Cheese Cake (with grated sbrinz and emmenthal cheese) and the Beef Tongue with Port Wine Sauce. For desserts, try the Zuger-Kirsch Torte and the Aargau Carrot Cake and apologies to my beloved readers since I know the difficulty in pronouncing these Swiss dishes and ordering it.
The Swiss people themselves have difficulty in learning four languages and greet each other en guete, bon appetit, buon appetito, or bien appetit. But it all means the same…enjoy!