Swiss food with author Andie Pilot

Topics covered

The main meal in Switzerland
Top things to try when you visit
Unusual Swiss foods
Swiss beer
Swiss cookies and the stories behind them

Who We're Speaking With

In this episode we have something a little different for you, which is a talk with the author Andie Pilot.

Andie is a trained pastry chef with a Swiss mother who grew up in Canada and moved to Switzerland in 2010. She started a blog about Swiss food called Helvetic Kitchen in 2015. Since then, she has published three books: Helvetic Kitchen, Drink Like the Swiss, and Swiss Cookies. Today, she lives in the bucolic Emmental valley.

About the Episode

One of the great things about Switzerland is the delicious food. Although the country is known for its cheese and chocolate, these aren’t the only things you can enjoy. From craft beer to unique cookies, Switzerland is a country of culinary delights.

Great foods and drinks to try are:

Cheeses: There are so many different types of cheeses, from the popular ones also sold abroad to niche ones produced only in a small region of Switzerland. When you visit, try a variety of different hard and soft cheeses to get an idea of the various flavours.
- Fondue: One of the most popular cheese dishes is fondue, bread dipped in melted cheese. This is served mainly in the winter.
Pies: Swiss pies come in many varieties. While some are savoury, like the Bernese onion pies, others are made with fresh fruit from the orchard.
Paprika chips: These crisps are sold almost everywhere in Switzerland. They are more popular than plain ones or other flavours.
Kägi Fret: This delicious treat is like a high-class KitKat. It consists of thin wafers robed in chocolate and is a great snack to take on your next hiking or skiing trip.
Cookies: Kambly is a famous cookie manufacturer located in the Emmental Valley. They produce a wide range of cookies, including the iconic Brezeli, a flat-pressed plain cookie that’s very popular with the Swiss. Another well-known dessert is the hard-pressed cookie from Willisau. It’s so hard it’s allegedly the favourite cookie of dentists around the country because you’ll definitely need dental work after trying it.
Beer: Switzerland has the highest per capita number of breweries in the world. Check out some microbreweries in the areas you’re visiting. A great one is the Brasserie des Franches-Montagnes in canton Jura.