Fribourg culinary specialities

The Canton Fribourg, nestled in the Swiss Midlands at the foothill of the Alps, has plenty of charming traditional cities and villages and great outdoors to experience. The region is also the birthplace of several worldwide renowned tasty and (unfortunately heavy) original Swiss culinary specialties. In this story, we review the main dishes of this part of Switzerland.

Fondue moitié-moitié

Probably the emblematic speciality of this is the Gruyère cheese, of course! Cheese fondue is indeed a tradition in the western Alps. From the French Savoy, through the Italian Valley of the Mont-Blanc and French-speaking Switzerland, cheese fondue is a typical winter dish. In Fribourg, the moitié-moitié (half & half) cheese fondue is made up of 50% Gruyère AOP and 50% of Vacherin Fribourgeois AOP cheese. Each traditional restaurant in the region adds to this “half & half” melted cheese a unique combination of garlic, corn flour, white wine, kirsch, and Cayenne pepper. Wonderful! But perhaps not the best choice if your to-do list includes hiking in the mountain afterwards. Further local tasty (but still heavy) dishes are made of a perfectly harmonised mix of ham, potatoes and cheese.

Picture © Credits to meailleluc

Chocolate

The milk of the local cows grazing in the green pastures of the Swiss Midlands is not only excellent for producing cheese. The worldwide renowned Swiss milk chocolate originally comes from this area: A visit to the ancient but still operating Cailler chocolate firm is a must. In 1819, François-Louis Cailler built the first industrial chocolate factory in Switzerland, in the Lake Geneva region. Several years afterwards, his son discovered the beautiful region of Gruyères in the bordering Canton Fribourg and the delicious milk produced by the local cows. He found there the perfect place to set up a new chocolate factory in 1899. A nice guided tour for visitors will help you learn the story of the factory and much more about chocolate and its production.

Picture © Credits to Erstudiostok

Meringues and double crème de Gruyère

In addition to chocolate, another local delicious speciality from Canton Fribourg is the meringue with La Gruyère double-cream. Nothing to do with cheese! La Gruyère double-cream is a white, thick (at least 45% fat) and sweet cream, which is poured exquisitely on the meringues and often served with red berries.

Picture © Credits to sanniely

Cuchaule

The Cuchaule is a brioche bread. It is made again with milk, butter and saffron which gives a pretty and uncommon yellow colour to the dough. You can buy a cuchaule seemingly everywhere and all year round in Switzerland. But it is traditionally eaten, served with mustard, in the Fribourg region in autumn for the Bénichon feast.