The Fritschipastete or Chügelipastete is a traditional meat pie from Lucerne – Photo courtesy Coop Magazine

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – By now you must have gotten your guggen on, so it is only natural to follow up carnival with some typical Swiss foods eaten at the time. (See the full 2013 Swiss carnivals list).

Here’s a roundup of some of the season’s most popular foods and recipes, some of them in German:

• Zwiebelwähe or Swiss onion tart.
• Mehlsuppe or flour soup served during the “Morgestraich” in Basel, made from roasted flour, onions, butter and broth.
• Fastnachtschüechli, Beignets de Carnaval or powdered sugar fritters very popular in French-speaking cantons.
• Fastenwähe or caraway/cumin-seed sort of pretzel also popular in Basel.
• Schenkeli, Swiss deep-fried cookies served in the German-speaking region of Switzerland (link will redirect you to a video of a wonderful Swiss lady guiding you through each of the steps).
• Schlüferli, similar to a beignet but with a lemony flavor
• Fritschipastete/Chügelipastete or croustade à la lucernoise, a meat pie typical from Lucerne, made of veal and pork sausage and veal stew, served during carnival and on 2 January (see here an additional recipe from a well known local blogger in German).
• Risotto con luganighe or rissoles au sérac from canton Ticino. This Risotto makes use of local Ticinese sausages and saffron.
• Bacheschnitte or spiced honey cake from Appenzell served during carnival and early spring.
• Zigerkrapfen or sort-of fried doughnut filled with curd cheese from Zurich.

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Vegetables at the Geneva Sunday outdoor food market in Plainpalais.

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - Early in the morning, Geneva’s local farm producers and cooks, gather at one of the most dazzlingly colorful outdoor markets in the city: the Plain of Plainpalais. In my opinion, this is one of the most picture-postcard-perfect outdoor food markets in the city and the only one that runs on Sundays.

At the Plaine, you’ll find gorgeous fresh and dried fruits, artful displays of pasta, wine -in winter mulled wine-, “old-world” vegetables, mushrooms, cheese, Valais specialties, home-made jams, freshly made bread, olives, flowers and more.

Read more…

GENEVA and LAUSANNE SWITZERLAND – Beautiful Lausanne is the featured city for the 2012 Swiss week of taste which began on 13 September.

Known in French as La Semaine du Gout, the event is a 10-day celebration of local and Swiss produce and products.

Lausanne, as featured city, is hosting several events for foodies and food lovers (download their program here).

Geneva, as most large Swiss cities, is also participating in the effort to promote local, slow food. 40 cafes and restaurants are playing up local fare such as Lake Geneva whitefish, artisan beer, local fresh mozzarella and roasted boar on their menus.

Download the program featuring the activities centered around Geneva’s week of taste which culminate on 23 September here: semaine-gout-2012-ville-geneve-programme.

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LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Here’s one great excuse to visit one of the nicest cities around Lake Geneva: food! Lausanne is the featured city for the strangely called: 2012 Swiss City of Taste.

As part of this yummy culinary festival there will be plenty of opportunities to try out new flavours and enjoy gourmet walks and “ephemeral” restaurants, participate in lectures and cooking workshops or take your kids to some of the many activities related to discovering food.

Check out the programme on the city’s official website.

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