Farmers Market Update: Switzerland

by Darya Rose | Nov 21, 2010

Lausanne, Switzerland

Liz O’Sullivan is an Irish expat who has been living in Lausanne for the past six years. A full-time foodie, she moonlights in the IT department of a large manufacturing company in the Lausanne area to feed her (food) habit.

Farmers Market Update: Lausanne, Switzerland

by Liz O’Sullivan

This week, the farmers market update comes to you from Lausanne, a wonderful place nestling on the shores of Lake Geneva in Switzerland.

Here we are on Google Maps: Lausanne

This is an outdoors market held year around on Wednesdays and Saturdays – yes, even when it’s snowing!

The market is located near the old town of Lausanne, in close proximity to the cathedral and the town hall. One of the fun things about this market is the vibrant atmosphere – people treat it very much as a social occasion, and it’s usual to see cafés thronged with people taking a coffee and a croissant as a break from their morning shopping.

Unlike in the US, it’s not usual for farms here to have a website – we ‘re lucky if stalls display their name. A phone number is a bonus! Local producers usually operate on a very small scale, and often have a limited assortment of goods on sale.

While last weekend brought us beautiful, sunny (and unseasonable) weather, today showed that Autumn has mostly definitely arrived. The delicate, fragrant Summer produce has been replaced by delicious autumn vegetables such as pumpkins, potatoes and onions, and these walnuts and chestnuts, the latter simply waiting to be roasted.

Pumpkin

Nuts

Or how about some leafy green fresh herbs to go with the pumpkin?

I eat mushrooms every other day, can’t get enough of them. I like to to sauté them in a little olive oil and some ground spices. Right now, the choice is huge, but I have a weakness for the chanterelles (the yellow ones in the foreground). The mixed mushrooms in the background are a composition of Autumn chanterelles, ceps, morels, brown mushrooms and more.

Apples

Mushrooms

I love apples and this time of year brings its own varieties, such as the almost-forgotten pinova – a sweet-tasting crunchy variety. I also found Golden Victor, Boskoop and Conference pears.

The Lausanne market isn’t just about fruit and vegetables, it’s also a place for bakers (small, non-commercial ones) to display their wares. My favorite baker offers a wonderful choice of artisan breads such as spelt, olive and sun-dried tomato or bread with sunflower seeds, not to mention croissants, brioches and other tempting treats.

Cheese

Bread

Although Switzerland is a small country with an area of only 15,940 square miles, every canton (a mini-version of the states in the US) boasts its own specialities of cheese, dried meats, biscuits etc., and these are commonly sold at weekly markets. I’m Irish, cheese is part of my heritage and I can never resist trying new varieties. So I was delighted to find goats’ and sheep’s cheese from the canton of Fribourg (Freiburg) on display.

And, last but not least, we would not be in Switzerland if this were not on sale too.