When you eat Bear Droppings and Little Beavers

Licorice or Bäredräck - BirgitH / pixelio.de

Do you know the Swiss German word for 'licorice'? Believe it or not, it is 'Bäredräck' which literally means 'bear droppings'. Think about it, some licorice is shaped in a way that it really looks like animal droppings - just maybe not a bears!

If you think bears are the only animals found in Swiss food, you're wrong! We also eat 'little beavers' or 'Biberli' which is a very tasty marzipan filled tartlet and 'little sparrows' called 'Schpätzli'.

As in many other languages, there are many Swiss German words that are funny to the foreign ear and mind. They either simply sound silly or they have an interesting and very funny literal meaning. This is especially true in the case of Swiss Food.

Funny sounding Swiss dishes and treats

Bäredräck (licorice, lit. bear droppings)
Bettmümpfeli (bedtime snack, lit. little bed munchy)
Biberli (almond tartlet, lit. little beaver)
Chnöpfli (small spaetzle, lit. little buttons)
Fotzelschnitte (french toast, lit. slice of scraps)
Härdöpfelstock (mashed potatoes, lit. mashed earth apples)
Schpätzli (spaetzle, lit. little sparrows)
Suuser (young wine, lit. whizzer)

This list is obviously very short and I'm still searching for more words to add. If you think of anything that would fit, please let me know!

© 2016 IRENE WYRSCH "A HUMOROUS GUIDE TO SWITZERLAND" ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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