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Swiss Cuisine: The One and the Many
| Article
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19706 |
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Section : |
LIFE
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| Issue
Date : |
9 / 1991 |
691 Words |
| Author
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Eloise Paananen
Eloise Paananen is a food and travel writer based in
Washington, D.C. |
Celebrating seven hundred years of confederation this year, the Swiss can be justly proud of their grand cuisine. Healthy, of course, and hearty, Swiss cooking is a matter of pride and creativity. Indeed, in their use of sauces, breads, chocolates, cheeses, and cereals--and in the realization that almost half of the country's food is imported--the Swiss have of necessity waxed creative for hundreds of years.
In the years following the confederation, young Swiss males traveled abroad in search of work and adventure. As mercenaries, they fought for kings and princes in Spain, France, Italy, and Prussia. When they returned home, they brought the foods, eating and drinking habits, fruit trees, vines, and vegetables of foreign lands.
The first Swiss chef to reach international fame was Heinzelin of Zurich, who cooked at the court of a South German count in the year 1290. In the sixteenth century, Switzerland underwent a "cheese revolution." Farmers converted their nonyielding farmlands into pastures where their cows, sheep, and goats could graze. Hard cheese, which kept indefinitely, became the standard food for soldiers, sailors, and the general populace. The mix of milk, farmer cheese, and hard cheese sustained the Swiss well into the eighteenth century.
Modern-day Switzerland covers a land area about twice the size of New Jersey and has a population of six and a half million people. The Swiss are multilingual people: 75 percent speak German; 20 percent, French; 4 percent, Italian; and 1 percent, Romansh, a derivative of Vulgar Latin.
Swiss cuisine is really several cuisines, reflecting the diversity of its people and the influence of the neighboring countries on the various regions of Switzerland, which is located in the center of Europe.
Fondue, from the French verb fondre (to melt), is served almost everywhere in French Switzerland. Farther east along the Rhone River, raclette replaces fondue as a favorite dish. Coming from the French word racler (to scrape), raclette consists of cheese melted over a fire and scraped onto boiled potatoes. And then there are trout, fresh from the lake and served with sauces not found in cookbooks. The canton of Vaud is famous for its smoked ham and sausages and its pates. Neuchatel, Vaud's northern neighbor, is known for its tripe. Fruits and dried meats are a specialty of the canton of Valais.
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