The Flaky Foodie

14. What's Scrumptious in Switzerland? En Guete! (Foodies Take Flight)

• Jess • Season 1 • Episode 14

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In this episode we discover what's delicious in Switzerland by talking with Janene Liston, an American expat turned Swiss Miss. She shares foods, customs, and even food etiquette tips for travelers.

This is the sixth installment of Foodies Take Flight, a series where Jess talks with world travelers, expats and citizens of countries outside of the United States about their food experiences. Whether you have wanderlust and want inspiration for your next trip, or you're a homebody who just wants a mental vacation, Foodies Take Flight will take you up and away.

Janene Liston AKA The Pricing Lady

The Flaky Foodie



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Jess:

It's Jess and you're listening to another episode of The Flaky Foodie podcast, the only show where the discussion is delicious and there's chatter to chew on. On today's episode, we're going to take flight again, this time to Switzerland. And we're going to talk with Janene, she's from America, but she's lived in Switzerland for several years. And she's gonna talk a little bit more about the food and the customs there. Now, one thing I want you to look out for listen to is how many times I've messed up the Swiss phrase that's kind of close to Bon Appetit, which is en guete and, man, I tell you, I could not catch this. But you'll see, tune in to the flaky foodie foodies take flight, this time we're going Swiss. Is all this talk of good food making you hungry? Get fresh meals delivered via Instacart. They can have the meal delivered from the store to your door and as fast as 30 minutes with priority delivery. And not only is it fast, but I have a special offer that makes it affordable as well. Free delivery on your first order of more than $10. Just click the link in my show notes or show description or go to www.theflakyfoodie/offers to take advantage of this very special discount. Welcome back! Today we have on the show Janene Liston. And she's going to talk a little bit more about where she currently lives and her travels and the food that she's enjoyed. So welcome to the show to me. Hi, Jess. I'm thrilled to be here. Yeah. Sohow many countries have you visited or lived in?

Janene:

So I've lived in two? Okay, well, three, technically. I spent a month in a month in France over the border. So I grew up in the US. I live in Switzerland. And when I first moved here, there was a period where there was a fair so there were no hotel rooms, in in Basel where I live. And so I lived over the border in France for a month.

Jess:

What was your biggest kind of culture shock food wise, when coming to France and then Switzerland?

Janene:

Yeah. So for me, I am very, I've always been very particular. My parents always share stories about how they've wasted days over a lifetime waiting for plain cheeseburgers for me at McDonald's. But I always got fresh ones. That was my thing. And when I first came to Switzerland, like I didn't even know how to order a plain cheeseburger I you know, I'm like, I would just say just meat, cheese and bread. And they'd look at me like I was somehow. And you was when I first moved here, it was very difficult. Like, I don't eat salad dressing. So to get a naked salad, which is how they literally how you would translate the way you put it here, I'll have a naked salad. You know, was very difficult, and sometimes even the waitstaff they like, they didn't know what to do when you asked for something that wasn't on the menu. And I think for me, that was one of the biggest shocks because I was used to the American way where you can have it whatever way you want. You have to do that for it.

Jess:

So would you describe yourself as a picky eater? Or a particular Eater?

Janene:

No, there's certain things there's certain things that I'm very picky about. And then other things I love, I guess what you'd call ethnic foods very much, but I don't like mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, salad sauce, cream sauces, you know? So it's, it's just very particular things. So yes, most people will call that picky.

Jess:

What Swiss foods have kind of grown on you as time goes on. How long have you been in Switzerland?

Janene:

Yeah, so I moved here in on July 31 2001. So it's been 20 years.

Jess:

Oh, wow. Okay.

Janene:

Yeah, it's been a really long time. I came on a two year contract and then stayed. I think my favorite, so hard to save. It's my favorite. But what probably my favorite thing is raclette. And raclette is a really something from the Alps from the mountains, and it's just melted cheese. He's on potato. That's really all it is. Yeah, I'm so yummy.

Jess:

That was a huge TikTok thing when you have the piece of cheese and it is melted and gooey and slathered on potatoes

Janene:

So in the mountains when you go they do this more for show now but basically you get half a wheel of cheese.

Jess Hodge:

Yes!

Janene:

#at at all, but it's like on this contraption that's over a burner. So you let the top layer melt then you scrape it off onto your potatoes. And then you let the cheese rest while you're eating with melted and then you turn it towards the burner again and some some more melts and you scrape that off onto your, your the next round of potato. It's always served with gherkin, little mini sweet kind of pickles, and pickled onions because the vinegar and it's believed the big vinegar and those things helps you to digest the cheese and kind of break it down in your stomach. And then usually it's either followed by cash, which is a liquor like a digestive liquor, liquor, or tea if you don't drink liquor, the black tea

Jess:

Yeah, what maybe something else that you've tried. That may not have been your favorite? may not have been your favorite dish?

Janene:

Yeah, it's called a Zurich. Schnitzel it is. So it is very specific to the Jura Zurich region. And I believe it's calf. What do we call that? in English? I can only think of it in German in German. It's not Oh my goodness. What do they call baby calves? baby cows? Veal, veal? Yes. So it's it's little pieces of veal and a cream sauce. And I think it's usually served over something called spaetzle which is actually I think it's a southern German food, but this was have kind of adopted it. But because of the cream sauce, I won't touch it with a 10 foot pole. So it's not the veal or the spaetzle it's the cream sauce

Jess:

It's the cream sauce! Absolutely. So spaetzle is basically it's a dough. It's a flour water. I don't even know if there's egg in it or not. But it's definitely flour and water. And then they press it through like a colander. So it drops into boiling water in clumps. And then once it's set in the boiling water in these pieces, they drain it and then they fry it in a pan and brown it up and then put something on it so usually hear it's cheese, some sort of cheese. Do you often have friends and family visit? And if so, where do you kind of recommend that they eat or what do you recommend that they try? Yeah, I'm sure raclette is high on the list.

Janene:

Raclette always high on the list. But you know in the in summertime when it's hot, that's the last thing you want to be eating because it's not you know, it's not exactly like fair weather that we do, you know we do different things. So typically when people come to Switzerland, they have raclette or fondue cheese fondue or fondue Shinhwa, which is a French version, I guess I actually think it originally came from China. But if there are any French people out there, and I've got that wrong, I apologize. But it's basically a Boolean, and you put meat, you know, just like you would dipping bread and butter cheese fondue. This case, you usually put meat in the in the bowl yawn and it cooks it. So those are typical things. rishtey is one of my favorite things. I actually just had some for lunch today because I took a just got back an hour ago I was in took a train to trip with the with friends to the mountains today. And I had rosti which is kind of like a hash brown. So it's grated potatoes, and they fry it on both sides. So it's super crispy on the outside and really soft and yummy on the inside.

Jess:

Is that spelled R O S TI?

Janene:

Yeah, oh, with two little dots over the top. We should and you know a lot of times they'll serve it just plain. But typically here in Switzerland, you get it with a little bit of cheese, or you get it with what they call a big lie, which is a sunny side up egg on top. So it's very much I would say a lot of the cuisine here is very much what we call bauern foods. So it's farmers you know it's farmer's fair, it's quite, quite heavy. Because that's that's what they have they tend to eat. When it comes to meat. I would say lean more towards pork and veal than like in the states where like people weren't leaning more towards chicken and beef kind of thing.

Jess:

Is there anything if you were to like return to the US Yes. And would there be anything to where you would have to put like a million of it in your, in your bag to take back home with you?

Janene:

That's so difficult. Um, I think probably the thing I would miss would be the cheeses, because I really enjoy cheese. I know nowadays you can get most most of the cheeses anywhere, but it gets cost prohibitive when you're outside the country. What's also I think, probably interesting is that there's I believe that this is still true. There's only one Swiss word in the English language, which is also a Swiss food. Any ideas that that might be?

Jess:

Fondue?

Janene:

No.

Jess:

Oh...

Janene:

Fondue I think is actually French? Oh, really? That's also interesting about Switzerland. I'll move to that in a moment. muesli

Jess:

Oh, yeah, the...it's like granola, but not.

Janene:

Eight, right. So the traditional muesli in Switzerland is called beer heard muesli. And it's it's got oats that like fresh oats that aren't cooked yet. I think they're just dry, right. And then usually there's some kind of yogurt or milk, and the nuts and and graded apple in it. And it's typically eaten for breakfast, The New Yorker muesli, I'm not a big fan of it personally, myself. But I just thought it was fun that it was the only word that was in the English language. I guess what's also interesting about Swiss cuisine is that because we have four national languages here, so we kind of have four cultures. So the very, about 65% is German. So then, of course, the food is quite Germanic. And then you have I think about 25% is French. So then you have a very strong French influence, especially in some reason, regions more than others. And then we have Italian, I think, maybe 10%, or maybe 15% is Italian. And then we have a rematch, which is like an old Latin language, which is more similar to the Italian I would say culturally, I hope I don't offend anyone by saying, but that means that food wise we have quite a say a mission. A mix of, of cuisines sometimes coming together.

Jess:

So what are some items to where you might have inadvertently I guess gross some locals out or anything from the US that's kind of like we don't eat that here

Janene:

well, you're I would say one of the things is the sheer like we've you have a pizza like a slice of pizza in the US is basically the size of a whole pizza here.

Jess:

Oh wow

Janene:

and here when you order pizza, maybe this is the opposite of your question. So sorry for that but it's what came to mind here when you order a pizza you each order your own there's not like this family style sharing thing and the rest of you don't order one pizza and everybody just have a slice or two so it's a it's a very different affair. I would say some people really think peanut butter is is pretty nasty. It's a you know, many people love it. But there's so many people just think it's it's really bad. I think the hardest thing or probably the most shocking thing for people is the portion sizes in the US in terms of the actual food. I'm trying to think if I've shocked anyone desserts here are very different and in that like their cakes and cookies, things like that are not very sweet compared to the US. So you know some people are like oh to 18 That's why I can't eat that because I like to bake very much. And so that's that's a little bit different. I can't think of anything in particular

Jess:

any desserts that you recommend people try if they come over

Janene:

you well I mean of course you know Switzerland is known for its cheese and for its chocolate. So I adapt to your question, what would I stick in my bag probably as much sweets as I could, can manage. So there's I used to live in a region called Zook in a town called Zook. And they have something they're called as Dugar Kia shorter and it's I think I mentioned earlier the Kia shit you drink after you have raclette Well, this is a whole kit a whole cake soaked in it. Which is not everybody enjoys it. I like it. What other desserts there's

Jess:

Kind of like a like a fruitcake or rum cake?

Janene:

It doesn't have fruit in it. You know, I'm not even sure what it's made of. I think it's probably it's made with I would guess it's made with nuts from the consistent nuts and flour. Of course. What's funny is each region has different specialties. So I'm trying to think there's not Oh, I know in Basel like, it's not really dessert, but it's something kind of sweet that you like have with coffee. They have Basel luckily. And it's like, it's kind of like a cookie. It's made with Anna so it has like a black licorice Fe flavor to it. It's not I wouldn't say it's particularly sweet. It's relatively dry. But some people love it. I'm not a fan of black licorice. I can I can eat it, but it's if I'm gonna waste, you know, invest calories in something, it wouldn't be like that, and then you have, you know, other regions that are known for their bratwurst. Or for one of my favorite things, favorite favorite things to do is you go into the mountains, and you have out cases. So cheese from farmers in the Alps, and you get like, you just get dried meats Alcacer and bread.

Jess:

Like a charcuterie board?

Janene:

Yeah, yeah, it's exactly what it is. And it's just it's I don't know what it is about it, but it's just it seems so indulgent and fun. It's even better if you have a nice glass of wine with it. And then Basel here so I'm, like I said, I think I said at the beginning I live in Basel, which is in the northwest corner of Switzerland. Right, they call it the three corners area, because like Germany and France are 10 minutes away each and during Carnival period, which is we just had a couple of weeks ago. Our specialty is model super, which is a basically we call it gravy soup. The Americans were so tactful our way we like soup, because mouth mail is flour. So it was really It's butter and flour and kind of brown and then you make a soup with a Boolean out of it. And they serve with it either a cheese or an onion tart. But they only serve the two things basically during fasting.

Jess:

So in the gravy soup, is there anything is it like a smooth kind of like a butternut squash, you know where it's smooth and kind of uniform? Or is it like a vegetable soup where there's veggies or

Janene:

No, no. No, it's like it's a well, it's not blended because there's nothing to blend. It's literally like gravy.

Jess:

Okay, this is literally a bowl of gravy.

Janene:

More or less, yeah.

Jess:

So you started with a tart and not like a crusty bread?

Janene:

Well, a tart is like, it's like a savory pie kind of. And they either have a I don't know, sometimes if I said something in German and didn't translate it, let me know. But either with a cheese fill tart or an onion tart. So that's why they're savory. Their little mini pies, I guess you could call them.

Jess:

So do you dip the pies in the soup? Or you just you just take a bite of each?

Janene:

I never have.

Jess:

Okay. That's very intriguing to me.

Janene:

Well, so the Basel Fasnacht place at the carnival is a it's you know, it's like a Mardi Gras kind of thing except Swiss style. And even further than that. It's Basel style. So it's it's actually quite serious here in Basel. It's not like a party. It's a different different kind of celebration. And it has a very strong military aspect to it on the one hand, and then a very strong, like satirical political aspect to it. Oh, wow. Which is quite different than most sort of Carnival celebration.

Jess:

That is interesting. So does that get a lot of tourism that comes in for that? Or is it mostly like a local thing?

Janene:

I would say it's mostly locals. I'm sure they do get tourists from around the world, definitely from around the Boston region. But so like in Lucerne, which is about an hour from here, a very well known place in Switzerland, they also have a fastener celebration, but it's more like a Mardi Gras party so everybody gets dressed in costume and goes there but here in Basel if you're not marching in the parade, you're not welcome to have a costume.

Jess:

Oh so the one that is probably that you want to show up all costume for is which Wish List okay.

Janene:

But it it's it's it starts at 4am on a Monday morning. Oh wow. The whole city like ever Ready from Basel? Well, not everyone, but I would say probably 70% of people from Basel, and the Basel LAN. So there's two counties here, Basel city and model Basel lab. You know, I would say 65 70% of people kind of migrate downtown, three o'clock, 330 in the morning, at 4am, the light shut off, they shut the power off in the city. And then all you hear is this cacophony of military drums and piccolos Oh, wow. So it's really quite special. And then it goes on for three days straight, and it finishes Wednesday night at 4am. So the lights stay off for that.They turn them on, eventually. And there's other others. Lanterns is very politically, well, sometimes politically incorrect, but very politically esoterically driven lanterns, and they have other kinds of music, what's called the Google music. It's, it's a marching band, but they play in a slightly off key. So it has a really unique sound to it. And they have a couple of parades. And it's it's good, fun, powerful style.

Jess:

So what are some like customs are that a Swiss people may do when eating that an American should maybe know when visiting? or traveling? Are there any like dining customs?

Janene:

Yes, this is this was the one that it now I now when I go to the States, I'm always compelled to say this, and have to really check myself. But in Switzerland, they always say to each other even at home and en guete, which is enjoy your meal.

Jess:

Okay, you're going to have to say it slow. En Guerte? En gueta. En Guete, En Guete. Yes, enjoy your meal. And, you know, in the States, you know, generally if you went to a restaurant, the server might say, but I never said that to my parents at home. You know, or something like that. So, but that is you, you really say you have to say it. The other thing that's kind of a golden rule here is that when you're having a toast, when you're toasting one another, you have to look each so when you toast. So let's say there's five of you, if I you and I go to clink glasses, we say oh nine, but now I can't remember. Duvall. sinnvoll. So it's kind of like to your health a little bit. But you have to look the person in the eye and say their name. So it'd be involved. Yes. And so if you're in a big group of people, you don't know everyone's name. It's a little tricky. Yeah, I was just about to say that I always hear tap dancing when somebody tells me their name. So that's an incentive tomake sure you really remember.

Janene:

Yeah, it really is. It's considered that and whole flag. Impolite. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So those those are two, two customs. Oh, I know. What's also really I thought was interesting. Because, you know, in the States, or at least in my family, I was, you know, I was talking No elbows on the table. And if you're not eating your hands and your lap, yeah. And then I got over a year and one time I was at a business dinner or something. And somebody said to me, you know, Janine, if you're not eating, you should leave your hands on the table.

Jess:

Oh, wow.

Janene:

Why? And they're like, well, otherwise, they think you're messing around down there.

Jess:

Oh, my gosh.

Janene:

Orup to no good or something. I was like, Oh, okay. Okay. Okay, hands above the table. I thought that was pretty funny.

Jess:

Okay, so we have it we say, En Grate?

Janene:

En guete

Jess:

En Guete, sorry. When you're about to eat this, thank you for your meal, where you're toasting somebody, you say? Tumble tumble, and you have to say the name so it'd be some food. Yes. And then you have to keep your hands on the table. W hen you're not eating,

Janene:

When you're not eating hands on the table. So those are three rules

Jess:

to take with you to Switzerland, before you eat. Are there any specific eateries or restaurants that have like blown you away? Or bakeries or coffee shops, anything like that?

Janene:

I mean, I one thing I really enjoy and this is maybe more European than just Swiss, but this whole concept of an APA row. It's not it's kind of difficult to work. casual that a happy hour. And but it's it's like you just you sit on the sidewalk, not on the sidewalk, but you sit at tables on the sidewalk, you have a little white wine or whatever you like beer, whatever you like to drink, and you just kind of sit there to chat and watch the world go by. And I just, it's like, There's no hurry. There's no rush. That's Oh, that's one of the big differences. Oh, I'm so glad you asked that question. So here in Switzerland, and in most of Europe, if you walk, go and sit at a cafe or the restaurant, and you order a coffee, you can sit there all day, and they will not bother you. They will not bring you the check, they will not ask you. Nothing like that. So it's really it's very leisurely in that in that context. And very relaxing. Sometimes the hardest thing is actually flagging down the waitress to get the bill or the server. But that's I would say that's quite a different experience than what I've had in the US. Where, you know, not all places, but many places. It's all like, Okay, let's get more people in. Let's get more people in. There's kind of this rush to sit you feed you and get you out the door.

Jess:

Yeah. So it wants you to kind of take your time. Enjoy your meal. Yeah,

Janene:

Yeah. Which is, which is nice. Sorry, I now go back to the original question.

Jess:

Are there any eateries, restaurants coffee shops that have blown you away? And if so, what was the item that you ordered? I added something to the question. I'm sorry.

Janene:

No, no, no problem. So I mean, there are chain chains here, but it's not quite the same. My favorite, I think my favorite cuisine of all times, sorry, to my Swiss Swiss friends and whatever, is Lebanese food. So when I think of where do I want to go to eat nine times out of 10 it would be if there's a Lebanese, Lebanese restaurant around I will be banging on the door. Because I just love their food. It is so fresh, and so simple, and yet so delicious. So that's, that's something that I really love. But if you're coming to Switzerland, I guess to have the true Swiss experience there's, there's one or two things that I would recommend one is just go into the mountains, go up to Condor stag or go to Grendel vault. Interlocking is in the valley, but that's where a lot of people go. So go up into the mountains, and have an experience, you know, at a restaurant in the mountains itself. And it's just yeah, it's, it's, it's unique in its own way. And if you go somewhere where they serve more traditional food, then then it's, you know, it's even more of the Swiss experience. The other thing is, you know, to go to Lucerne, or Geneva or depending on where you are go to, you know, the traditional more traditional tourist places, because even though they're touristy, they are so beautiful. And I earlier said this week, just by chance, I was in the mountains. While we weren't in the mountains today, we were in the valley, but I went towards the Alps today. And on Monday, I was at a place called Righi, which is up in the mountains, and came back down on Monday and had dinner in Lucerne. And it was just you know, it's just a beautiful experience.

Jess:

So we kind of already mentioned that some things to grab will be some swiss cheese or some chocolate. Is there anything else that you may find in a Swiss grocery store that you can't get in the US?

Janene:

Good to Frog a good question. That's what that means. Trying to think so one of the things that's like a national treasure in Switzerland, and you know, they have different versions of it everywhere. But is this Swiss serve allow which is a sausage and the the Swiss version? I don't think I've ever seen it in the US. I'm sure you can find it somewhere. But of course, because I've lived here for 20 years, I wouldn't know I wouldn't really know where to go start looking for it. So so that's that's one thing and have a grill party. Yeah, with some serve Allah. What else? I'm trying to think it's hard because you know if I went to the US and stayed there For a long time, I'd be like, Oh, I can't find this. But nothing particularly comes to mind. I mean, now, you know they have when I first moved over a year, you know, there were certain things that were very hard to find. But now, you can pretty much get anything from anywhere here. And I would imagine in the other direction, it would be similar.

Jess:

Have you ever had someone who's a vegetarian or a vegan visit? And how was finding food?

Janene:

Yeah, so that's changed a lot. In the last, say, five years, I would say five years ago, it was almost impossible to find, especially if you're vegan to find something but that's changed a lot you have a lot of restaurants now that cater to that, you know, even on a normal menu old will have at least vegetarian options and often vegan options as well. And then the grocery stores you find especially vegan options everywhere. Now. Switzerland, I would say is generally a little bit slower on the uptake for these things than other parts of the world. But they've they've really embraced it. And there's a big push here and the Swiss in general are very environmentally liberal. Yeah, so they're very concerned about the environment and it's, you know, one of the places where we have lots of green space and they really take care and that includes with how they eat. They do love their meat don't get me wrong, but just see a lot more people interested in in alternatives. And so I think that they're very much headed in the right direction on that

Jess:

Since you're a big cheese and chocolate fan much like myself. Are there any varieties of cheese that you should look for?

Janene:

Say I usually when I you know, here at home, you know, I buy a lot of the standard stuff. What I like is when I go to the mountains whenever I go to the mountains, I hope I pray that we come across a birdcage, and I help Qasr I like a cheese producer. And then we can bring something back because they tend to do more hard cheeses, which I really like. I don't mind soft cheese, but I really like hard cheese. And they're very sharp cheeses so typical for Switzerland is your Emmentaler cheese, which is what I grew up in the US knowing is sleaze with holes in it. I know we didn't even call it Swiss. We just call it cheese with holes in it and then cheddar wasn't cheddar. It was the orange one because that was the only one my brother would eat. I also really like some of the some of the French cheeses. What's the soft 103? Yeah, yeah, no, it's not Bri. That's one of them. That's not the one I prefer. I'm just drawing a complete blank on cheese's right now. My apologies for that. I mean, they have they have hundreds of of kinds of cheese, I'm sure of it. But those are the ones that they're most known for. And I remember when I first moved to Switzerland, after about a year and a half, I hadn't met a small group of American ladies who are here. We called ourselves the PALS the professional American ladies society. And we just made the acronym up to so that we could call each other pals right. And one of the first events we did was we went to m and tall and we made a 10 kilo or a nine kilo Willa cheese. Oh wow. And then like three months later, you could go back and pick it up and they cut it into portions for this. I think it was six of us and we each got a big a big ol wedge of cheese

Jess:

that was a cool thing. Will they they ship it to you like if you're visiting only for maybea week or two? I don't know i they might be able to... I guess it would depend on on Yeah, the import duties and taxes and whatever. But it was really good fun. Yeah, I okay. If you're squeamish at all then maybe you might not enjoy you know throwing bacteria into milk and reading she but it was it was really good fun. I was I was trying to stall to see if I can remember any more cheese. Oh, I know when that I really like it's called Esperance sprints a sprint SB R I N Zed and it is a hard cheese Oftentimes is used as a less expensive option to Parmesan, because Parmesan real Parmesan from Italy can be quite pricey. So you can grade it and it has a similar flavor and texture to Perpich on but I like to eat it. Yeah on the car to Cherry platter as it's nice and salty and it has a really lovely favorite flavor to it. Appenzeller that was the one I was trying to remember earlier had been stellar is I believe a slightly softer than an M and tall doesn't have holes in it usually. And it's not bad melted. And then of course there's the lovely green there we are might be one of my favorites. Beautiful cheese. Nice sharp one. Very nutty. So are there any chocolates? hate to put you on the spot again, but any any particular chocolate brands or types that you should look

Janene:

for? Yeah, so I really depends on what you like. I mean, the Lindt chocolate, which you get all over the US and actually in the US, they have more flavors of Lindt chocolate than they sell here. Really? Yeah. Oh, yeah, because they kind of they're a little bit more traditionalists here. So they've kind of you know that Lynne has taken the chocolate to the US. And then, you know, created versions of the little balls, the linen balls that they have, you know, to the American palate. So like, you would never find peanut butter in a lint ball in Switzerland. That would be a little bit sacrilegious. At least not yet. Who knows what the future will bring. But when it comes to chocolate, there's this specialty chocolate chocolate trees here. I don't believe she really has gone to the US or even outside of Switzerland. So that's a very traditional, they make prey liens. There's another one, his name is not in a letter later. That's the one I think it's still called later. And they make kind of like a a lot of barks. Folks, for lack of a better word, you know, like chocolate with different nuts, or cereals or whatever in it. And you go in, and it's just like, bark everywhere. They have, you know, 20 different kinds. And so those are a little bit different at sparingly. What I really like it sparingly, is they have a hot chocolate that you can buy in a big metal container. And it's actually flakes of chocolate. So it's not a powder, it's really thin flakes. And each Flake is maybe the size of a nickel or something like that. But what I like is not just to make hot chocolate with it, but it's great. You just sprinkle a little bit on ice cream, or let's say you've made a dessert and you've kind of messed it up and it doesn't look really pretty, then you can top it with with a little of these chocolate flakes.

Jess:

Definitely great baking hack

Janene:

That's what I would do. I would great a chocolate bar over the top to kind of hide any messiness. So this way, I don't have to dirty a grater. Sprinkle a little chocolate on top. And that makes a really nice gift. So for a while they're like oh for Christmas or birthdays, whatever. A lot of people when I would go to the States would get one of these cans of of hot chocolate flakes, if you will, for lack of a better word. That is really Yeah, it's just me and later rock or two places I would recommend

Jess:

that is really interesting. And now I want a canister tomorrow.

Janene:

Where are you located?

Jess:

I'm in Florida Tallahassee.

Janene:

Let's see it probably would melt before it ever got.

Jess:

It will be a can of just the chocolate lump

Janene:

When I was first it's a funny it's funny story when I first moved to Switzerland on Swiss airlines, whenever you flew just before you landed, they handed out these big gold coins that were chocolate. And almost everybody I ever met has a sob story about how they put it in their pocket before they got off the plane. Oh, some point in the day because Swiss chocolate melts. Now American chocolate doesn't melt quite as fast. But this stuff it just I don't think they put the paraffin wax in it or certainly not to the same degree so it meant like body heat melted.

Jess:

My gosh.

Janene:

Everybody has a story of you know, chocolate soup on the tips of their fingers.

Jess:

That's how you spot a tourist.

Janene:

Yeah, yeah. I mean, if you don't know that it melts like that, then you wouldn't even think twice. You know, if it was a little Hershey bar, I really wouldn't think twice about putting it in my pocket and saving it for later. But when it comes to Swiss chocolate, you do have to be more careful. And like when I go to the states, if I'm visiting in summer, I don't bring chocolate because, you know, if my luggage gets stuck on the tarmac, waiting for, you know, the baggage team to come and take it off the plane and whatever. Or if I have my luggage in the back of the car, and I get stuck in traffic, or if I stopped somewhere, it will be soup. And it's just not worth the risk.

Jess:

Yes. Well, thank you so much Janene for coming and being a part of the show today. I really appreciate it. Can you just tell us a little bit about your business? You're also known as the pricing lady? Yes,

Janene:

I am. So I'm an expert in the topic of PRICING and VALUE. I work with small businesses to help them understand how they can price more effectively and build more sustainably proper, profitable businesses.

Jess:

Awesome. And so if people want to find out a little bit more about you or a little bit more about your business, where would they go?

Janene:

They can head on over to thepricinglady.com and check me out there or look for the pricing lady on LinkedIn.

Jess:

Okay, thank you again, so much for being here. This has been the flaky foodie podcast and today we took a little trip to Switzerland to talk about the food there. Thank you so much for listening. I want everyone to have a great week, and Guete?

Janene:

En Guete.

Jess:

En Guete, I'm sorry, I'm gonna get it before this week..En Guete and and eat something delicious. Thank you, everyone. Bye. So I hope you enjoyed this week's flight. If you did treat it like gossip or the gospel and tell someone about it. Now what does that look like? That means giving us a five star rating, sharing us with your friends, and also just listening again come back next week. I'll be here and make sure you eat something delicious this week. Make sure you say en guete correctly. And just enjoy. Have a great week everybody.