When you think of Switzerland, what comes to mind? Is it the rolling, green hills? Is it the Alps? Is it skiing or watches? Or is it the fact that you always get confused between an ambulance symbol and the Swiss flag? These are all true of the Swiss, but what you cannot skip over are the cows that graze in this picturesque, mountainous landscape - and the cheese and chocolate that their milk produces.
Looking up with glassy blue eyes, an older Swiss man named Alexandre asks if I want to churn the preposterously large cauldron of soon-to-be-cheese - a milky liquid that sits above a crackling fire. Alexandre works at one of the largest cheese factories in all of Switzerland and does demonstrations for the public twice a day. He hands me the wooden stirring tool with a smile and adamantly talks in hoarse French about what seems to be the speed at which I must stir the steaming liquid. After a few attempts, his eyes light up to let me know that I have at least temporarily mastered a small portion of the cheese-making art. His enthusiasm for the cheese he is making never stops, as I can see him smiling - content and proud - even when I leave the demonstration area to go taste some of the factory's cheese.
While cheese may be popular in other parts of the world, nowhere is there as much enthusiasm for it than in Switzerland. From the Gruy??re (hard cheese) to the Mutschli (semi-hard) to the Gala (soft cheese), the Swiss seem to have their priorities straight when it comes to food. While Spain may have 100 different varieties of cheese and various northern regions where manchego and other famous sharp Spanish cheese is found, Switzerland can boast rolling, luscious hills on which cows can graze for days.
Take a quick trip from Geneva - a town known for its beautiful Lac L?©man and flower clock - to Gruy??res, where cheese lovers can bask in the glory of endless cheese fondue shops situated next to one of the most breathtaking views you can experience.
While there are various types of fondue, the two main varieties that dominate in cheese country include raclette and traditional fondue. While traditional fondue is exactly what you expect, raclette involves a block of cheese and a heating machine: the cheese is placed on the heating machine, and soon, bubbly goodness awaits. After a few minutes, the block of cheese begins to melt and crisp, and you can scrape off the gooey top layer.
Chocolate in Switzerland, unlike many other countries, is pretty much exclusively milk chocolate. Dark chocolate, on the other hand, is not quite the Swiss specialty; you'd better go to Spain or other parts of Europe if you (like me) prefer the rich, bitter taste of dark chocolate. Spain's conquest of the Aztecs allowed the Spanish to begin importing chocolate from the New World back to Spain, and their chocolate secrets then began to spread to the rest of Europe. But it was the Spanish that discovered the exotic flavor first - evidenced by the dark chocolate that is produced in mass quantities in Spain.
Like the Spanish, though, the love of sugary and fatty dairy products in Switzerland does not lead to overweight bodies and bloated faces. If anything, a typical Swiss person is healthy and active - often because activities such as hiking and skiing are within an hour from most of the major cities, like Geneva and Zurich.
It's official: The Swiss love their milk chocolate and cheese as much as the Spanish love their dark chocolate and churros - a match made in gastronomical heaven.
Dani Bennett is a junior who is majoring in English and spending this semester abroad in Spain. She can be reached at Danielle.Bennett@tufts.edu.
