Swiss cooking is mountain food: built for cold winters and long days outdoors, based on cheese, potatoes, dairy and bread. Because Switzerland has four language regions, its cuisine borrows from Germany, France and Italy, and each canton has its own specialties.

Cheese dishes

Fondue is the national dish: a pot of melted cheese, usually Gruyère and Vacherin Fribourgeois (the classic "moitié-moitié"), cooked with white wine and garlic and eaten by dipping cubes of bread on long forks. Tradition says anyone who drops their bread buys the next round. Fondue is a winter dish, and the Swiss drink white wine or black tea with it, not cold water.

Raclette comes from Valais. A half-wheel of raclette cheese is heated and the melted layer is scraped over boiled potatoes, with pickled onions and gherkins on the side. Today most people use a tabletop raclette grill at home.

Potatoes and meat

Rösti began as a Bernese farmers' breakfast: grated potatoes fried in butter until crisp outside and soft inside. The "Röstigraben" (rösti ditch) is the jokey name for the cultural divide between German- and French-speaking Switzerland.

Zürcher Geschnetzeltes is thinly sliced veal in a cream, mushroom and white wine sauce, traditionally served with rösti. Älplermagronen, "Alpine herdsman's macaroni", is pasta baked with potatoes, cheese, cream and onions, served with apple sauce.

Regional specialties

  • Ticino: Italian-influenced risotto, polenta and grotto taverns serving cold meats and local Merlot.
  • Graubünden: capuns (chard-wrapped dumplings) and air-dried Bündnerfleisch beef.
  • Basel: Basler Läckerli, hard gingerbread biscuits with honey and candied peel.
  • Geneva and Vaud: perch fillets from Lake Geneva and papet vaudois, leeks and potatoes with sausage.

Chocolate and sweets

Switzerland helped invent modern chocolate. Daniel Peter created milk chocolate in Vevey in the 1870s, and Rodolphe Lindt invented conching in Bern in 1879, giving chocolate its smooth texture. The Swiss eat around 11 kg of chocolate per person each year, according to the industry association Chocosuisse. Try a Zuger Kirschtorte (cherry brandy cake) and meringues with double cream from Gruyères.

Wine

Switzerland exports little wine because the Swiss drink most of it. Chasselas from Lavaux, whose terraced vineyards are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and Pinot Noir from Graubünden are worth seeking out.

Swiss etiquette

  • Be on time. Arriving late, even by a few minutes, is considered rude.
  • Greet everyone. Say hello in shops and to neighbours in your building. In French-speaking areas friends exchange three cheek kisses.
  • Toast properly. Make eye contact with each person as glasses touch and say "Prost", "Santé" or "Salute".
  • Respect quiet hours. Sundays and evenings after about 10pm are quiet times in most buildings.
  • Recycle carefully. Glass, PET, paper and cardboard are separated, and many communes charge for rubbish through official bags.

Eating out costs

Eating out is expensive. A lunchtime "menu du jour" or "Tagesmenü" at around 20 to 25 francs is the best value. Many residents shop across the border in Germany, France or Italy to save on groceries. See our Switzerland cost of living data for typical monthly costs.