Sum­mer is here! Sum­mer sea­son in both Lapland and Switz­er­land is a fan­tastic time to spend time out­doors and enjoy the warm­th, hap­py atmo­s­phe­re amongst peop­le and natu­ral­ly tre­at yourself with some cho­sen deli­caci­es. When you head towards Switz­er­land, for sure you are up for a culi­na­ry trip. Mind you, this coun­try is hap­py to recei­ve anyo­ne wit­hin its bor­ders, but you should lea­ve calo­rie coun­ting at home.

Switz­er­land is world-wide­ly known of two deli­cious things: its cho­co­la­te and cheese. Cho­co­la­te shops are all over the place, star­ting from the air­port and even in the smal­lest towns. Big­gest cities offer a tour for visi­tors to make your own cho­co­la­tes by hand in cho­co­la­tiers. A nice sou­ve­nir back home is a local cho­co­la­te whe­re you visit, with the towns own coat of arms.

Cheese is ano­t­her jui­cy topic you can­not miss in Switz­er­land. About every restau­rant offer tra­di­tio­nal cheese dis­hes, fon­due and raclette. The­se are also fair­ly easy to make at home or even bet­ter, by a Swiss friend. With the­se cour­ses it is meant to spend time and the food with the group in a rush-free man­ner. Cheese fac­to­ries, Käse­r­eis, are also a good place whe­re to visit in towns or Alps. Best chee­ses are often found from the Alps, whe­re a tiny bou­tique sells the local farm’s best produce.

Local meat pro­ducts from the Alps is ano­t­her tas­ty and uni­que pro­du­ce worth try­ing. Sau­sa­ges, dried meat and fresh cuts can be found espe­cial­ly during late Autumn, when the herds return down from the moun­tains. For vege­ta­ri­ans, often other vege­ta­ble pro­du­ce is avail­ab­le, like moun­tain pota­toes, dried apple sli­ces, jams, juice con­cen­tra­tes and curds. Hand­ma­de of course!

Other tre­ats that you should defi­ni­te­ly try when ent­e­ring the land of Alps is Rivel­la. This soft drink is one of the best thirst quen­chers after a hike up the moun­tain side. As it is pro­du­ced from milk whey, it con­tains ingre­dients such as lac­to­se, lac­tic acid and mine­rals. Tas­te is sweet and comes in varie­ty of fla­vours, for examp­le rhubarb or peach. Ori­gi­nal Rivel­la is even said to be the natio­nal drink of Switzerland.

Over­all orga­nic bio pro­ducts are often local pro­du­ce and thus, very deli­cious. They are found from nor­mal super­mar­kets Coop and Migros, as well as town mar­kets espe­cial­ly during Autumn. Most popu­lar pro­ducts and thus, also worth try­ing as a visi­tor, are eggs, fresh bread and vege­ta­bles. Swiss peop­le lead by examp­le and 42% of the who­le nati­on purcha­se orga­nic pro­ducts on a wee­kly basis. Hope­ful­ly even more in the future.