There are plenty of bird choices during the fall months in Switzerland. Look for fresh turkeys, Bresse chickens, pheasants, quail, wild duck, geese and much more!

I don’t eat much meat. But, I will make an exception when it comes to fall in Switzerland and gobble down quite a lot of birds.

There are considerable opportunities to find very fresh turkeys, chickens, pheasants, quail, wild duck, and much more. There are also some important practical issues to consider before purchasing a bird, as many newcomers to Switzerland quickly discover.

Selecting a special bird to prepare during the holiday season is not necessarily a choice made based on price or flavor, but rather one of size. Most Swiss ovens are far too small to cook a large bird – especially for the giant turkeys meant to feed copious amounts of friends and relatives during the holidays. Fortunately, there are some available options awaiting those who can think in smaller terms.

One such example is the humble chicken, which is often overshadowed by the more prominent holiday turkey. But a really good chicken can be a revelation. More...

Suuser festivals celebrate the first product from this year’s grape harvest!

Suuser is partially fermented grape juice, and it is the first chance to grab a taste of this year’s harvest.

Suuser – or also referred to as sauser – is fruity and sweet, with a refreshing acidity and appealing fizz. It is mostly foggy in appearance, but don’t let that put you off. The cloudy look is simply the result of the juice not being filtered before its bottled.

The best suuser is sold unpasteurized, which means the juice is still in active fermentation mode. This explains why the bottles are merely covered and not completely closed. During the fermentation process, yeasts produce carbon dioxide gases, which must somehow escape the confines of a bottle. If the bottle was completely closed, then the pressure from the mounting gasses would eventually cause a rather devastating explosion. Needless to say, it is best to use a bit of caution when keeping your suuser in the refrigerator – make sure to keep the top loosely covered!

The first suuser makes its way to Switzerland from Italy, where the grapes are harvested earlier than Switzerland. The Italian suuser are made from red grapes, and they are only available for about one month. The alcohol level seldom goes over the 2% level. It is a very light and fruity drink…and a great way to get rid of some of the world’s annual surplus of wine.

The traditional October suuser season is quite a tradition in Eastern Switzerland, Germany and Austria. Each country produces and sells their own variety of sauser (called Federweisser in Germany and Sturm in Austria), which usually involve some sort of festival.  More...