I have lost count of the number of times I’ve thought how much of a need there is for a certain cookbook, and finding nothing anywhere. The world has very few English language books on Swiss food (since the 1960s and 70s anyways), and fewer still related to baked things. It is hard to understand why Swiss cookbooks aren’t translated to English, as Switzerland actually has a very diverse food culture, especially when it comes to “Backwaren” or baked goods. Swiss biscuits are called “Guetzli” in Swiss-German, the sort-of equivalent of North American “cookies”. I have baked Swiss biscuits for over three decades, and for many years my main-stay was Guetzle mit Betty Bossi, which first appeared circa 1978. In the last couple of years I have added a few other vintage Guetzli books. There is nothing really in the way of a modern interpretation of Guetzli.
Enter author Andie Pilot with her exceptional book, “Schweizer Guetzli und Andere Leckereien”. Published by Bergli Books, the book is also available in English as “Swiss Cookies”. Andie is also the author of one of the few contemporary English books on Swiss cooking, Helvetic Kitchen, and a book on Swiss drinks, Drink Like the Swiss. Growing up in Canada with a Swiss heritage, Andie now lives in the hills of the Emmental, in the Swiss canton of Bern. Her blog, Helvetic Kitchen, is arguably one of the internet’s best culinary blogs, delving into traditional Swiss recipes that sometimes seem forgotten in a world of fusion-esque type food. The recipes all have easy to understand instructions, and photographs illustrating the various steps.
This book is exceptional in many ways. Firstly it covers 45 different Swiss recipes, from historic Swiss biscuits to classic Swiss biscuits, Christmas biscuits, and a special series of re-imagined biscuits. Andie really understands what it is to write a cookbook, because cookbooks should be more than just a series of recipes held together with a few photos. I have always thought that a good cookbook does not only include recipes, but engages the reader with a story. Sometimes that story details the authors experience, and other times it is a story about the recipes themselves. This book does both, some Guetzli have stories, and this is interwoven with a series of anecdotes about bakeries, and baking related things such as springerle maker Anise Paradise. This actually adds a very nice touch.
The photographs are extremely pertinent. Each recipe has its own full photo page clearly showing what the actual biscuits looks like. So I haven’t tried more than a couple of the recipes, but from experience all the Guetzli in this book are easy to make and delicious. They don’t require much in the way of special equipment, and (most) the ingredients are available anywhere (except possibly sandalwood powder!). I highly recommend this book for anyone looking for authentic European biscuit recipes.
Also keep a look-out for Andie’s reimagining of her first book: Helvetic Kitchen : Swiss Home Cooking, published by Bergli Books, due out soon.
