Gstaad

Every spring, Gstaad is filled with the sound of ringing cowbells as farmers lead their stock up to alpine pastures as high as 2,000 metres: to lush meadows strewn with aromatic herbs, and into the healthy mountain air. There they make Hobelkäse "plane cheese", which after maturing for two to three years is so hard that it can only be sliced with a tool like a carpenter's plane. Add a glass of white wine, some crispy bread fresh from the wood-fired oven, a sunny terrace – and the holidays can begin!

The cattle in this idyllic mountain region enjoy plenty of space to roam, as well as lush grass and healthy mountain air. You can tell from the superb quality of the meat. Beef from the neighbouring Simmental is the best far and wide, with fillet steaks and entrecôtes featuring on the menus of top restaurants. Gstaad also offers plenty of other meaty treats, from kid in spring to Alpschwein (pork from pigs fattened on the alp) in the autumn, accompanied by fresh garden vegetables. And to crown it all: mouth-watering cheeses, including truffle-flavoured Brie.

One of the culinary gems of the region is home-made Saanen mustard. Every family, every restaurant has its own secret recipe. It tastes so good that some people eat it on its own, with a spoon – but it tastes best of all accompanying Hamme, the succulent leg of ham from the region.

Gstaad has a sweet tooth. The village confectioners offer an inspiring range of sweet temptations, from the celebrated "Saanen Gibeni" (chocolates filled with hazelnuts and hazelnut cream) to the "Gletschertüüfeleni" (chocolates filled with walnuts, almonds and chocolate cream) and to the Premium Ice Cream made from the finest Saanen cows' milk: too good to resist!