Meat Fondue (Fondue Chinois / Fondue Burguignon) is a typical French speciality, btw.
The only traditional Swiss foods I can think of are Züri Gschnetzlets, Gschwellti and Raclette. Depending on where you eat them, they're either good or bad.
Apart from that, Swiss Cuisine is a purely theoretical term. There's no real Swiss food - almost everything you eat here is international.
Other countries may have good national foods, but neither Switzerland nor any of the English speaking countries I've been to (USA, Canada, UK) can be found on that list.
You can eat extremely well in Switzerland (if you're willing to pay for it), the ingredients are generally very good.
Things not easy to find in Switzerland: well prepared fish (which is a pity as fish from Swiss lakes taste wonderful) and spicy food (the latter being the reason for the relative low rate of cases of stomach cancer I guess). If you want good fish or spicy food, you have to do your own cooking.
heck, I never heard of any of them and I was born here :-) But I was thinking of "national foods" rather than of local specialties. I sure would love to try that friture de carpe, though.
My "beef" is why such bland food (Restaurants and canteens) costs so much and is served up in such small portions. I had a steak in a local reastaurant. The menu said regular and smaller size available (Priced 8 francs lower) I took the regular and it was tiny. So small that I asked the waiter if the kitchen had made a mistake. No sir came the reply. At 40 francs I won't be going back there in a hurry.
I think I know why the Swiss are less obese. They can't afford to eat meat.
Overcooked and tough as old boots. I have a vague recollection that the menu said DE after the menu item. I understand this means the meat was imported from as far away as Germany?
Although I have had some good food here , I have yet to have a good steak in Switzerland. I no longer eat out as much as I would like, as I don't like paying high prices for crap. Especially if coupled with bad service... hence recently I am gravitating more toward Asian restaurants which do good, cheap , chunky food with a smile.
Reckon? I was raised on Flintstones-sized porterhouse steaks. Then again I'm from cattle country
Wagyu or Kobe beef is a different story... those steaks are small and expensive, because it's an uncommon breed and is labour-intensive to produce. Meat of that quality shouldn't be cooked either, in my opinion. Cut its horns off and wipe its bum and chuck it on the plate...
It's one of the big restaurant rip offs - people that order a really expensive cut of steak, and then ask for it to be charred. In that situation one could be given any old piece of meat and wouldn't know the difference.
HA! If you think food is bad here. Try living in the US for 6 years, 40 pounds latter and lots of pesticides and hormones in my body. I figured I've never tried such horrible food!
I used to work at a place where I grilled Argentinian "Ojo de Agua" steak: about the size of your palm and would cost us around CHF18 wholesale (from Dieter Meier's - the chap from Swiss band Yello - place in Zurich; I don't have the contact details to hand but I know you can also walk in and buy retail. Also does great value wines) - and CHF40 seems about what we charged. Shame it was a disappointment for you.
Magnificent stuff, but I can also appreciate a Florentiner style T-bone (which can feed three!). Perhaps your place was also selling the small Argentine variety. My favourite is the creamy Irish stuff, which funnily enough you can sometimes get at Helvetiaplatz on Friday mornings and if you're desperate, Migros. Tonights chicken soup doesn't seem quite so appealing now...
Nobody has mentioned the Cervelat, or Cervelas (pl.).
When I first moved here I decided they were the 'best thing ever' and bought one everytime I went near a grill stand.
Can't stand them now, I am sure no real meat has not been anywhere near them! Still can't work out what my infatuation was, must have been the honeymoon period of living in new lands.
Jesus Hayley, you ought to be given a Swiss passport for taking a liking for that strange thing
It's funny those comments about steak, you would hear the same from a Swiss about the US (certainly enormous but tasteless and full of hormones) and the UK (tiny and overcooked)
Anyone for steak tartare? My local in Geneva does it for 20chf with toasts and fries (salad starter included) and it's half decent (can't complain for the price)? They also do a "pave de boeuf" for 20chf which is quite small but very thick and cooked as it should be (rare!).
Oh, Dawiz, friture de carpes is an odd duck, they leave the bone in it (the fish is nearly impossible to debone) so you have to eat it carefully. I have to say "filets de perches" is easier to eat. Otherwise, if you live by Lake Geneva and you can try "Omble Chevalier", go for it, best fish in the lake.
Most versatile thing ever, a life-saver when you do national service in fact...
"Gendarmes" and Malbunner "Pepperami" style little snack sausages are quite nice too.
For those who miss spam, go looking for "Fromage d'Italie" (not sure of the name in German know, something sounding like "headcheese"), it's the same stuff really although it does not cook well at all like Spam.
Another true taste of Switzerland is "Parfait" pate, either the original (liver pate) or the veggie version. Perfect on rye bread from Valais.
I like them uncooked about as much as I like them grilled. I eat a cold cervelat with some cheese, fresh bread and mustard every other day or so. Or I make Wurstsalat with them, it's salad, therefore it must be healthy.
I spent a weekend with my wife in Edinburgh, and we ate in different restaurants, one fairly expensive, recommended by the preson at the desk at our hotel. We thought the food was bland and tasteless, and did not have a decent meal the 3 days we where there - the best we had was haggis (we eat that also back home, in Iceland). Granted, this was 10 years ago, and it is my understanding the food has improved by leaps and bounds since then. Edinburgh was very beautiful, and next time I go, I will be sure to eat only haggis
William Tell, next time you're in Edinburgh, try a little chain called Howie's, I normally don't recommend chains but they are worth the visit, well priced and nice, fresh, tasty food.