A Swiss expat hunting for familiar flavours, traditions, and identity in Japan After our monthly team meeting at work, we usually order lunch. Sometimes bento boxes. Sometimes curry. The other day, somebody suggested biryani. Then one colleague suddenly asked: ‘Are there any Swiss restaurants that do food deliveries in Tokyo?’ The question caught me completely off guard. Because despite having lived here for many years, I genuinely didn’t know. Someone else then pointed out:

Searching for Swiss comfort food in Japan Growing up in Switzerland, bread wasn’t just food. It was infrastructure. Bread had a starring role at breakfast, a reliable supporting role at lunch and dinner, and a quiet cameo appearance whenever someone felt a bit peckish. With roughly 200 officially recognised types of bread, there was enough variety to keep life interesting, balanced, and pleasantly crumb-filled. One thing united all of them: it had to be fresh. This wasn’t dif

Missing Swiss flavours while living in Japan No matter how long we live abroad, how well we master the language, or how convincingly we nod at jokes we don’t quite understand, our stomachs eventually betray us. Assimilation may work on the outside, but deep inside, the gut is waving a little national flag and shouting, “Feed me what I grew up with!” Take my Japanese wife. Though our daily meals are mostly Western, she is occasionally seized by an undeniable, primal urge for p

Swiss food, nostalgia, and economic quirks It’s that magical time of year again – the air is crisp, the leaves are turning gold, and my inner Swiss is screaming for those Swiss delights that remind me of my childhood. Yes, winter is here, and with it comes the irresistible craving for raclette and fondue, those glorious dairy-based dishes that warm both the belly and the soul. So off I trotted to our favourite upscale supermarket, visions of bubbling cheese and crusty bread d

Swiss traditions, food pride, and cultural nostalgia When you hear "Fondue", you probably think of the Swiss classic: cheese fondue – dipping bread into a pot of melted Gruyere and Emmenthal, with a splash (or two) of white wine and Kirsch liquor, all bubbling away at your table. But come Christmas and New Year’s, the Swiss swap their cheese for meat, diving into the world of meat fondue, a tradition now as Swiss as yodeling. But while cheese fondue’s history is well-document

Beyond cheese: Swiss cuisine explained from Japan As I enter my 28th year in Japan (and my former life on 'planet Switzerland' is drifting more and more into the obscure past), I have been reflecting on the fact that some of the questions I face when meeting new people in Japan have never changed over the years. Japanese people generally show great interest in other countries and cultures, and especially so, it seems, in Switzerland. Switzerland enjoys kind of a special statu

Swiss flavours, nostalgia, and memories carried across Japan When you spend your childhood in any given country, you inevitably grow up with what I would call the 'taste of your childhood': Certain foods that are typical for that particular place, which will always remind you of the time when you were growing up, and which are not quite the same anywhere else, or may not be available at all. So if you choose to make another country your permanent home, almost inevitably you w