A Humorous Guide to Switzerland

In this mini series I'll write about the five daily meals people eat in Switzerland:  Zmorge, Znüni, Zmittag, Zvieri and Znacht . What do we typically eat? When do we eat? What is the proper conduct at the table? Today, I'll write about  lunch . A Swiss Zmittag Zmittag is the Swiss German word for lunch and is a short form of "zu Mittag" which means "at noon". This also implies that in Switzerland Zmittag is eaten at mid-day which means exactly at 12.00 and not 12.15 pm or even later. Our stomachs will start rumbling if they don't get filled at the usual time.  Swiss punctuality is the key ! What is special about Swiss Zmittag? In Switzerland, the time between 12am - 1pm is considered a quiet time or rest time . Any kind of loud noise is not allowed during this time. Lawn mowing and drilling holes in the wall are frowned upon. Some people even consider it rude to call someone on the phone during this hour although mobile phones have changed this cu...

In this mini series I'll write about the five daily meals people eat in Switzerland:  Zmorge, Znüni, Zmittag, Zvieri and Znacht . What do we typically eat? When do we eat? What is the proper conduct at the table? Today, I'll write about Znüni . What is a Znüni? The Swiss German word Znüni is a short form of the German 'zu neun' which literally means 'at nine'. It refers to a small meal or a snack that is eaten at or around 9am. A non-literal translation for Znüni would be ' mid-morning snack' . Znüni is a custom all over Switzerland and exists in schools, companies and homes just the same. Some companies even encourage their employees to take a mid-morning break and enjoy a conversation and a cup of coffee with their colleagues because it supposedly improves productivity. In fact, Znüni is such a common thing in Switzerland that the word  Znüni  is also used in combination with other words: Znünibrot  (Znüni bread) Znünigipfeli (Znüni croiss...