Resources in English about Swiss cooking

We all know there’s a lot more to Swiss cookery than fondue. But where to find the resources in English to learn about (and maybe even try our hand at making) typical Swiss dishes like the pork fricassee in the image?

Here’s the most complete list of resources that I’ve been able to compile so far.

The Classic book is Cooking in Switzerland (latest edition 2005) by the now deceased doyenne of traditional Swiss home cookery, Marianne Kaltenbach.

A Taste of Switzerland (latest edition 2007) by Sue Style, the Financial Times Weekend columnist who used to live in Switzerland, has wonderfully readable essays on breads, cheeses, sausages, wines and lots more, and good recipes (some of them are available on http://recipes.wuzzle.org/index.php/89).

(Sue Style, who now lives in France just over the border from Basel, contributes monthly and by no means always Swiss-specific food and lifestyle content to The English Show on Basel’s Expat Radio (www.theenglishshow.com).

Very handsomely produced and authored by a whole team of people is Culinary Art and Traditions of Switzerland: A Selection of Recipes, Typical Regional Foods, and Characteristic Aspects of the Country (8^th edition, 2001). The publisher is the Nestlé Pro Gastronomia Foundation in Vevey.

All three of the titles will be in stock or orderable in English book shops like Orell Füssli Zurich, Stauffacher Bern, Bergli Books, Basel, OffTheShelf Geneva, and the English sections of Payot branches.

For more recipes and information

Zug-based Ed McGaugh, son of an American father and a Swiss mother, writing under the name of “Swiss Chef”, compiled a list of book and web resources about Swiss cookery on http://mouthfulsfood.com/forums May 7, 2005 Post # 116.

His list includes all three books above, plus a number of other titles and a couple of English-language websites. To add to Ed’s book list: Traditional Swiss Cuisine by Peter Buehrer, in German and English (AT Verlag). Two references that could be added to Ed’s web list are www.swissroots.org and www.about.ch (click on Culture).

An additional book for the list is Schweiz - Kulinarische Höhepunkte (1998) by Marion Michels and Irene Dörig which despite that mouthful of a title is also in English.

The Swiss National Library

The Swiss National Library (NL) in Bern (http://ead.nb.admin.ch/web/swissinfodesk/ecof-en.html) provides a wealth of info. While its book selection is vintage, it’s certainly valuable for researchers. Titles not included on Ed McGaugh’s list are:

The Swiss Cookery Book: Recipes from all Cantons by Helen Guggenbühl (1953); Cooking the Swiss Way by Helga Hughes (1995); Swiss Cooking by Anne Mason (1983); and Swiss Cooking by Elisabeth Rosenthaler (1964).

There are also several older publications on cheese on the NL list, as well as a number of web links including Recipe Source (http://www.recipesource.com/ethnic/europe/swiss/).

Many new publications out

Exciting news is the plethora of books on traditional Swiss cooking that started appearing, in English, around the time Ed McGaugh compiled his list and since. If this isn’t a pretty bullish sign that there is a massive upsurge of interest in Swiss traditional cuisine I’ll eat my hat. Titles include:

Switzerland - A Culinary Tour (2006) Peter Widmer

*Swiss Cooking (2003) Michael Klein, Yvonne Tempelmann

*Swiss Roestis (2003) by Stefan Stich

*Valais Cooking (2008) Irma Dütsch, Roland Puippe

Zermatt for Gourmets (2006) Annette Weber, Marcus Gyger

*Lake Lucerne Cooking (2006) Erica Bänziger, Claudio Zemp

*St. Gallen Cooking (2006) Kurt Hanselmann

*Zurich Cooking (2006) Robert Haupt

*Graubünden Cooking (2007) Jacky Donatz, Chasper Pult

*Berner Oberland Cooking (2007) Urs Wandeler, Elsbeth Hobmeier

Ticino con Amore (2008) Marion Michels, Dave Brüllmann

There is also an English version of Hartley and Reto Mathis’s, Mathis Fine Food Affairs, Europe’s Highest Altitude Gourmet Restaurant, 2486 m ü M (2006). To get the flavor of this, go to their entertaining and glamorous website www.mathisfood.ch.

Other relatively recent books on Swiss food are *Swiss Cheese (2004) by Lucas  Rosenblatt and Judith Meyer, Swiss Cookies: Biscuits for Christmas and All Year Round (2008) by Andrew Rushton and Katalin Fekete, which I reviewed in this blog on December 2, 2008, and *Swiss Chocolate by Marysia Morkowska, due out in May, 2009.

* Part  of a trilingual, reasonably-priced (CHF 19.90) series published by Fona Verlag, Lenzburg. Widely available.

Update August 2009: Betty Bossi Verlag AG Zurich and the Swiss national tourism board MySwitzerland have issued an attractive and highy informative new cookbook entitled The Swiss Cookbook, more at www.MySwitzerland.com/gourmettravel and my blog of September 13, 2009: ”A New Swiss Cookbook in English.”

Web articles and blogs

Ed McGaugh sometimes writes about Swiss food and recipes at http://chezedorovio.blogspot.com.

You can read what New York-based chef Nick Malgieri, who lived in Switzerland when he apprenticed here, has to say on Swiss food (and wine and restaurants) at http://www.swiss.com/COUNTRIES/US/LOCAL_CONTENT/FEATURES/Pages/nickmalgieriarticle_us.aspx . He gives many recipes.

The site of Laughing Lemon Food & Wine (www.laughinglemon.ch), a Zurich-based business, is particularly good on fresh, Swiss seasonal products and some Swiss recipes. See my interview with owners Jack McNulty and Silvia Gautschi (blog post March 4, 2009). The McNultys have also contributed audios and articles about chocolate, asparagus, and more, to www.bastronomy.com.

A fabulous site is http://fxcuisine.com “Spectacular Recipes and Memorable Food Experiences With Two New Articles Added Weekly”. FX stands for François-Xavier, the Lausanne-based Swiss man who writes this site, yes, in English, and takes the pictures. The blog is by no means just about Swiss food, but a lot of it is. It’s really great.

Another fun Swiss site is www.suissegourmande.ch, featuring ten Swiss men and women shopping, preparing and eating very typical dishes (recipes included) from all around the country.

Media

In Switzerland’s English-language media, WRS (www.worldradio.ch) features a weekly program on the Swiss food scene called Stir It Up.

There are occasional articles and  guest blogs about Swiss products, tips, restaurants etc, from Geneva-area correspondents on www.genevalunch.com.

Zurich-based www.foodie.ch dubs itself  “Switzerland’s premiere online food magazine”; it’s a new addition, with a young/trendy international and eclectic view of food featuring many Swiss products and foodie design items.

There are occasional articles on Swiss food in Swiss News. I particularly enjoy coverage from Ticino about such subjects as polenta and how to make your own nocino (walnut liqueur) by Locarno-based Catherine Richards Golini.

I have written widely on the subject of Swiss cuisine and products. One piece, “Beyond Rösti” gives an overview of Swiss cookery and is available at www.swissnews.ch (November 2008, Food Feature).

My blog “A Matter of Taste” on Swisster.ch includes recipes and resources, and all manner of Swiss food talk: news, information, exhibits, fairs, events and specials, interviews and more.

Picture of Fricassée de porc, a traditional Geneva dish, copyright Eric Dubrit, Auberge des Vieux-Chênes, Presinge (GE)