4 Traditional Foods
You Have To Try in Geneva

Fondue is Switzerland's national dish, a melting pot of different flavors and aromas, similar to the country itself–a melting pot of people and different cultures. Its name comes from the French word fondre, meaning to melt, and it was first described in Homer's Iliad as a mixture of goat cheese, flour, and wine. Fondue's key ingredient is cheese that is melted over a fire, with a lot of regional varieties and flavorful additions such as cherry brandy, white wine, or a sprinkle of nutmeg. It was invented out of necessity, when the alpine locals and traveling herders relied only on cheese, wine, and bread to get them through the winter. As the summer cheese dried out and bread became stale during the winter months, the people started to melt cheese with wine and dip pieces of stale bread into it. Traditionally, fondue is prepared in a flameproof casserole called a caquelon. The dish varies from region to region: fondue Neuchatel uses Gruyére and Emmental, fondue Vandois adds a lot of garlic, while fondue Fribourg is prepared with ripe Vacherin cheese. Pieces of bread are placed on traditional, long-handled fondue forks used for swirling the bread in cheese. According to local customs, if one loses a piece of bread in the pot, he or she has to buy a round of drinks for everyone involved in this unique and cheesy communal affair.Expand

Raclette is a national dish that shares its name with a slightly nutty Swiss cheese made from cow's milk, an appliance for preparing the dish, and a full dining experience. Extremely popular in the ski region Valais and other parts of the Swiss Alps, where it also originated, raclette was invented by the Swiss mountain shepherds who used to gather around a fire while roasting potatoes. As they left some cheese near the fire, it started to melt so they scraped bits of it on the potatoes and raclette was born. The dish takes its name from the French word racler, meaning to scrape. As few people have a fireplace these days, modern appliances such as raclette melter and raclette grill are used instead. The scraped cheese is usually accompanied by roasted or cooked potatoes with their skin still on, vegetables, cold cuts, pickles, onions, and bread. There is also a variety of raclette where the mixture of cheese and other ingredients is scraped onto an opened baked potato. A perfect dish to share with others during cold, winter nights, raclette is best paired with light white wines or traditional kirsch liqueurs.Expand

Rösti is a simple, buttery and fragrant national dish of Switzerland, a crispy crusted potato pancake with an appetizing golden color. It is a great side dish to traditional Swiss delicacies such as leberspiesschen (grilled calves' livers wrapped in bacon and sage) or émincé de veau. The potatoes for rösti are boiled, peeled, chilled, grated into long strips, and fried with butter, oil, salt, and maybe a bit of bacon fat. The dish is then cut into wedges and served to hungry consumers. Additionally, herbs, onions, ham, or grated cheese can be added to the dish to enhance its flavors. Rösti was originally consumed for breakfast by farmers from the Swiss canton of Bern, but today it is a popular side dish with lots of variations. For example, Bernese rösti is prepared with bacon, Valaisian rösti with sliced tomatoes and raclette cheese, while Basilean rösti is a mixture of potatoes and sliced onions in a 1:1 ratio.Expand

This classic Swiss fondue is believed by some to be the best fondue variety of them all. It is native to the Valais region and consists of tomatoes or tomato paste, white wine, garlic, butter, shallots, and grated cheeses such as Gruyère and Emmental. Traditionally, tomato fondue is paired with potatoes, rather than the usual pieces of bread used for dipping.Expand