Switzerland
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OTOH, maybe you should just eat your cheese...and ice cream....
https://www.npr.org/2026/07/13/nx-s1-5884664/zeke-emanuel-optimize-health-long-life
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The #1 snack in Switzerland. Seems random so I had to taste for myself. Definitely not hard to find.
Don't eat chips often but I might I might make an exception for these! The flavor is very subtle compared to flavored American chips - maybe regular BBQ flavor at 1/4 volume with a bit of lime and vinegar. Very tasty.
Limited distribution outside of Germany and Switzerland, which will sound exotic to the home folks. Light, cheap, and familiar enough in flavor that the toddlers will eat them.
Souvenirs!
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Tour bus driver suggested a restaurant where we could sample the iconic foods of Switzerland. Says heās never been there but itās always busy and the diners look like locals. Next door to where our tour bus dropped us off so why not?
Nailed it! This places breaks no new ground and was exactly what we wanted.
Veal strips and onion gravy. Think beef stroganoff light with a pinch of (nutmeg?). Served with rosti - hash browns with extra butter. Another less than photogenic meal but very satisfying.
Fondue, of course. Emmenthaler with white wine, bread, taters and pears. (Pears?). Excellent! Iām beginning to wonder why everyone doesnāt weigh 600 pounds but the general population appears to be quite fit. It might be all of the hills and stairs.
We were advised not to eat from the dipping fork (rude and unsanitary) but it seems everyone does it anyway.
Cream of veg soup. No cream I could discern, more of a puree. Has zucchini in it which would overpower most soups but works in this one. Iāll be making this one at home. Photographs comparatively well.
This one has a long name but the toddlers would recognize it instantly as Mac and cheese. Sharp white cheese rather than cheddar.
That pretty much covered the list except for āBerner platterā which no one else wants to try but me. Kind of a charcuterie with dried green beans (?), sauerkraut and sausages.
Iāll watch for it.
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#3 most popular soda in Switzerland after Coke and Coke Zero. Not nearly as sweet as either of those and made with whey, of all things. Very unusual, think āiced tea w/lemon, carbonated with a little sugarl
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The #1 snack in Switzerland. Seems random so I had to taste for myself. Definitely not hard to find.
Don't eat chips often but I might I might make an exception for these! The flavor is very subtle compared to flavored American chips - maybe regular BBQ flavor at 1/4 volume with a bit of lime and vinegar. Very tasty.
Limited distribution outside of Germany and Switzerland, which will sound exotic to the home folks. Light, cheap, and familiar enough in flavor that the toddlers will eat them.
Souvenirs!
The #1 snack in Switzerland. Seems random so I had to taste for myself. Definitely not hard to find.
Souvenirs!
Theoretically youāre supposed to declare foodstuffs at immigration which will slow you down. They should allow them to enter given theyāre sufficiently processed to not have a pathogen risk but still itās a pain in the ass.
Or you just donāt declare it and hope for the best.
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Great photos @steve-miller !
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The #1 snack in Switzerland. Seems random so I had to taste for myself. Definitely not hard to find.
Souvenirs!
Theoretically youāre supposed to declare foodstuffs at immigration which will slow you down. They should allow them to enter given theyāre sufficiently processed to not have a pathogen risk but still itās a pain in the ass.
Or you just donāt declare it and hope for the best.
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Special train today, built for steep inclines.
The track includes a rack on the steep parts that engages a cog under the engine. Very cool.
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The scenery in these mountains is spectacular!
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Sunrise on the Matterhorn.
The phenomenon is called Alpenglow. The sunlight appears almost white as you watch it but cameras correct it to yellow/orange.
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Discovery of the day - pepper!
Tried it at an Italian restaurant and the flavor blew me away! So much more flavor than any pepper Iāve had before. Floral, almost sweet.
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It costs $5000 US in fees to climb it. Every year 2000 people attempt it and about 400 make it. You have to climb it and return in one day - if youāre not past a certain point by 11 AM you have to turn back. Not sure how they enforce this.
There are 4 paths to choose from, all of similar difficulty. Amazing that anyone even tries.
Then I looked through a book at a local shop and found that one guy did all 4 in one day!
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We traveled to the base of the mountain, some 9500ā. Taxi, bus, two cable cars, stairs and an elevator. Air very thin, had to take precautions.
I canāt describe what I saw - it was overwhelming.
Standing in Switzerland, looking across Italy to Mont Blanc in France - the highest alpine peak.
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But all is not well in alpine paradise. The glaciers - and there are a lot of them - retreated some 30ā this year and theyāve had little rain. Theyāve closed the mountain to public skiing for the first time ever - no snow. Time was you could ski all summer.
The Olympic ski team is still training and we met some of them on the cable cars. Charming young people, very athletic, very friendly.
Theyāre hoping for record snow this winter.
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A fellow traveler observed that the Swiss have developed more ways to change elevation than any other country, then proceeded to itemize them.
Stairs
Escalators
Cog wheel Trains
Funiculars
Elevators
Gondolas
Ski liftsWhat the Romanās did for water the Swiss have done for vertical transportation.
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Discovery of the day - pepper!
Tried it at an Italian restaurant and the flavor blew me away! So much more flavor than any pepper Iāve had before. Floral, almost sweet.
@Steve-Miller Thereās apparently a lot of variety in pepper. (Thatās not counting things like Szechuan peppercorns, which arenāt in the pepper family.) Iād love to try the type you found.
In my Indian cooking explorations, I bought some Long Pepper (a true pepper, Piper longum). Tastes similar to what you describe. Not as sharp as regular pepper, and has spicy flavors that recall cloves and nutmeg. Itās different enough from regular pepper that it may not quite work the same way in Western dishes. Our standard pepper has more of a hot bite or sting without the overtones of sweet spice.
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