A Swiss Christmas #ExpediaWorldOnAPlate

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I’m always interested in learning about how other countries do things, and as Christmas is such a special time of the year it makes it even more fun to learn about how it’s done elsewhere. Expedia recently challenged me to pick a country and make a traditional Christmas Meal, and seeing as we’re flying into Switzerland in January I thought it would be nice to see what they get up to!

So after perusing a few different websites I came to the conclusion their traditional Christmas meal is either Turkey or pork/ham served with vegetables and sliced potatoes with cheese. Another meal that is becoming more popular for Christmas is a cheese fondue (or , and often invitations are sent out with the words ‘FIGUGEGL’ (fee-goo-geck-ul) meaning ‘Fondu isch guet und git e gueti Lune’ and that translates as ‘fondue is good and gives a good mood’. Most people go by the rule that if you drop whatever you’re dunking in then you have to kiss the person to your left!  As Sam and I would find it hard to polish off fondue and a full roast we’ll leave the cheese for another time I think, but made and consumed a full roast, then moved on to the sweet courses…

 

Cookies & Cake

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My research told me that cookies are really popular and that most families have their own recipe that’s been handed down through the generations, Anise cookies & Milano cookies are popular, but I didn’t think the children would like the aniseed flavour so stuck with Milano cookies but added some ginger spice (based on this recipe) because I only had ginger bread men cookie cutters to hand! I also made my personal favourite chocolate cookies, although I should have used toblerone really, being swiss! I’ll be sure to stock up when we fly into Geneva in January!

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Walnut cake is another popular dessert around Christmas time, and one I think I’ve only made once before. I used a simplified version of good old Mary Berry’s, without the boiled icing and the caramelised walnuts on top, again, not too healthy for the baby! I made three layers and sandwiched them with butter-cream icing, and we enjoyed it after every meal for three days! Definitely a tradition I could get on board with as most walnut cake has coffee included but I’m not a coffee lover!

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To go with our traditional roast I thought we should go the whole hog (geddit?) and serve Glühwein, and for dessert traditional walnut cake and home made biscuits; both ginger and chocolate. In Switzerland the main meal is eaten on Christmas eve, which is when it is traditional to dress the tree before opening presents!

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Recipe: Gluhwein

  • 1 bottles of red wine
  • 250 ml Water
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 60g sugar
  • 6 cloves
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 2 oranges – cut into bite-size pieces

Method: Fling it all into a pan, stir and simmer on a low heat! Or in my case pop it all into the slow cooker on high for a couple of hours and it makes your kitchen smell delicious!

To be perfectly honest I think Switzerland does Christmas perfectly! If any of these recipes have made you wonder about visiting Switzerland then take a look at the package holiday deals on Expedia and see what takes your fancy!

 

This is a collaborative post, all words and opinions are my own!

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