Trying snacks in foreign countries is one of my favourite activities. I find it so interesting and intriguing to see, and I feel it is quite telling of their culture too as to what their eating habits are. Anyway, on our recent trip to Switzerland, we explored some supermarkets to see what’s good. By the way, Coop is super popular here – are they Swiss? And as a matter of fact, we’d actually recommend buying snacks and sandwiches or sandwich fillings with bread instead of spending too much money eating out especially if you’re on a budget as it’s notoriously not cheap here. Right, let’s look at what we tried and enjoyed.
Drinks
Rivella – this is essentially the Swiss national drink (unofficially). You’ll find this everywhere and whenever you see Swiss people, you’ll find them drinking this too. It has got a very unique ingredient too, which always grabs our attention. It is a soft drink using milk whey (bet you didn’t expect that!). There are different versions of it, but what you should try is the original (which is the red one).
Swiss Cola – I guess every country has its cola and Switzerland is no different. It tastes like a cola ice pop would, but the quality was better than the cheap cola drinks you get in the UK. I’d happily drink this to be fair.
Crisps
Zweifel are the Walkers or Lays of Switzerland it seems. They are everywhere! And there are a variety of flavours and textures you can get them in, much like Walkers to be fair. So, I would assume they’re quite well established. Taste-wise very similar and no layman would probably taste the difference, but if you’re in Switzerland, definitely pick these over Walkers. Go for the paprika flavour – real good!
Chocolate
Kägi – this is one of the most popular chocolates in the country and so it is a must try when here. What does it taste like? Think of Timeout, but the quality of the chocolate is a little better.
Cailler – when you’re coming to Switzerland, you’ll be aware of their national chocolates: Lindt and Toblerone. But you can get them anywhere in the world. So, you should try some unique alternatives. One of the main challengers to these kings, is Cailler. Go to any supermarket and you’ll see how they dominate the scene. There’s so many different types of Cailler chocolates you can choose from. I tried and absolutely fell in love with the one pictured: the green originale – it has Lindt level chocolate with a hazelnut filling for a crunch. It was so good, it tasted like a combination of Lindt and Ferrero Rocher – tell me that doesn’t sound insanely good.
Bakery
Zopf – this is the local bread that you have to try when in the country. It’s a thing of beauty that’s for sure, but what about the taste? It was quite unique tasting in that it was like a cross between brioche and a slight hint of a pretzel. Lovely! This is often consumed in the morning. I can see it going perfectly with a cup of coffee.
Quiche or tarts – quiche seems to be popular here with a wide variety to choose from. One of the most popular types is the spinach tart. We picked one up in Grindelwald and were not disappointed! It is served cold and the taste made for a perfect savoury goodness.
Berliner – this famous doughnut is known worldwide. Switzerland’s culture and cuisine is influenced by neighbours France and Germany. This is the reason why this German Berliner doughnut is so popular here and it is one of the must trys when here. If you love doughnuts, you cannot miss this.
Miscellaneous
Ovomaltine – before Switzerland I didn’t even know this existed. But a couple days here and I quickly realised how popular it is. They’ve got it in chocolate form, milk shake form, spread form, ice cream, cake and the list goes on. I saw it everywhere and almost every aisle! Here’s a little secret… I prefer it over Nutella as a spread all day!
Coloured eggs – we saw this first at our breakfast buffet and then a whole section in the supermarket. This got us intrigued. After a little research we discovered it refers to eggs that are hard boiled.
Kambly biscuits – we stumbled upon this and boy we had zero regrets. The variety pack of 4 types of biscuits were so good and unique. Each and every one had its own texture and taste. I wish I got a few of these boxes back.
Werther’s caramel popcorn pretzel flavour – I don’t know if this is specific to Switzerland or not, but seeing this in the supermarket, how can we not be intrigued? Did the taste live up to the intrigue? That’s an emphatic yes from us!
