Culinary tips

Learn all about wine making, direct from wine-growers. Visit a wine-cellar and find out lots about the traditions of wine; try a speciality wine straight from the cask.

The "Mara des bois" strawberry is a speciality cultivated by fruit and vegetable growers in Geneva, who harvest 100 tonnes of them a year. The unusual, particularly tasty flavour of the "Mara des bois" is reminiscent of wild strawberries. Thanks to its deep red colour, its soft, juicy flesh and exquisite flavour, it has become the favourite strawberry of people in the Geneva area. Available from supermarkets and markets, from May right through to the autumn.

A speciality created in the 1930s by the chocolate makers of Geneva: little cubes of chocolate, dusted with the finest cocoa powder, that melt in the mouth. Pavés are just one of the many delicious chocolate specialities from Geneva, because the city is home to many long-established chocolate making companies (Auer, Arn, Stettler, Zeller etc.). Available from specialist stores.

Calvinus beer is an unfiltered organic beer that has been brewed by the Papinot brothers for 10 years now. It is made from spring water and organically grown barley, hops and yeast; it's fresh and tasty. There are three types: light, wheat and dark. Available in supermarkets and bars in Geneva.

This bread is a local product, the result of a partnership between farmers and the bakers of Geneva. The dough is made solely using local flour and is really tasty and crisp thanks to the traditional fermentation method that is used. Available from a number of bakeries.

Sauser is unfermented grape juice, drunk especially at the Lake Geneva wine festival in Russin, where it is pressed on the Saturday morning, i.e. just a few hours before the festival begins. Sauser goes very well with the fruit tarts and famous "Gâteau polonais" made by the farmer's wives in Russin. Available from a number of cafés in Geneva.

The organic market in Saint Jean takes place every Thursday from 4 p.m. to 8.30 p.m. in the smart district of Saint Jean. The initiative originated with "Bio Genève", a group of organic producers. You can buy fruit, vegetables, bread, wine, beer and various meat products. On the corner of Avenue Gallatin/Chemin Furet.

A veritable paradise for cheese lovers. In Airolo, at the foot of the Gotthard, you can try many different types of cheese, all of which have been made with milk from the Ticino Alps. Inquisitive and courageous visitors can even have a go at forming a cheese wheel with their own hands; this will then be sent to their home address directly after maturation.

Locher beers, which have recently become popular throughout Switzerland, are now available in many restaurants. Amongst them, the brewery's most successful tipple: Quöllfrisch. The range also extends to innovative brewed products like chestnut beer and full-moon beer, which truly is brewed during a full moon.

Apple juices and ciders from the apple paradise. In the "Möhl", a typical Thurgau cider and juice mill, you'll be able to find out how "Blöterli" (bubbles) find their way into apple juice and how fruit brandies are distilled. The juice and cider mill's own distillation and juice museum exhibits old machines and equipment used to make all apple-based drinks.