A Little Bit of Switzerland in All of Us

So here's something most of you may not be aware of: you're all more than likely to  have a little bit of Switzerland with you. But what exactly do I mean by this? Well, I'm talking about the unsuspecting average person being unaware of how many Swiss-related products that they actually consume - and I'm here to spread awareness ^^

SWISS INVENTIONS:

So let's start off with what I think is probably the most widely used Swiss invention in the world. For all of you using a computer to read this blog, you're all probably holding the modern computer mouse in your right hand. The old-school mouse without the wheel, was developed by Jean-Daniel Nicoud and André Guignard in Lausanne, before René Sommer later extended the intellignece system of the mouse.

Next up, we have something that I don't personally use a lot of, but is nonetheless another widely used product of Swiss ingunuity, aluminium foil. These thin sheets of metal used for many things, mostly for food related concerns, was the brainchild of Dr. Lauber and the Neher brothers in the early twentieth century, and the first plant opened in canton Thurgau.

Other important Swiss inventions that are still important to households to this day include the Rex Potato (Vegetable) peeler [Zürich] and velcro [Vaud].

SWISS PRODUCTS:

OK. So let's move on to the products that you will all be aware of their general Swiss-ness. For all you keen-travellers out there, I personally never leave the country, pack boxes, move houses without my very handy Swiss Army Knife. The pocket knife of Victorinox and Wenger, originating from canton Schwyz is a symbol of Swiss precision and remains immensely popular to this day - I personally can't imagine life without mine. The newest models have digital clocks, blowtorches and even a USB memory stick.

But perhaps I'm missing the most obvious one right? What comes to mind when many of you think about Switzerland? A common answer is the cuckoo clock. Not quite what I was leading on to, but similar in concept are that of Swiss watches. Rolex, TAG Heuer, Ebel, Tissot, Swatch and Omega are just some of the many big-names in the watch industry - all of which come from Switzerland. I'm sure that most of you have, or at least know of someone that has owned a Swiss watch at some point in time.

But for all you food-lovers out there, Switzerland is home to some of the most delightful cullinary treats. Of course above all, we Swiss pride ourselves with our global status as chocolate producers. Such brands such as Lindt & Sprüngli, and Toblerone must provide some great memories for you...in fact, I bet some of you are keenly awaiting your next fix :)

Moving on to the more gourmet side of things, Swiss cheese is also considered as one of our country's undeniable symbols. The famous Emmentaler cheese - commonly referred to as Swiss cheese due to their holes, has become identifiable with SO many across the world - mostly thanks to cartoons like 'Tom & Jerry'

Let us not forget the other types of cheese that make Switzerland famous, such as the Gruyère, Tête de moine, raclette, sbrienz and my personal favourite Appenzeller. Even the sitcom Frasier couldn't help but mention some other types of Swiss delights, with one of the principal characters, Dr. Niles Crane, a keen fan of "Swiss Prosciutto" or bündnerfleisch.

Of course, we musn't forget the world's largest food company in the world - Nestlé, and yes, you guessed it, they are Swiss - of canton Vaud. Though not everything listed under their brand is Swiss (such as the popular Kit-Kat and Cheerios), they are still many Swiss products included...anyone drink Nescafé?

So, after reading this article, take a moment to pause and reflect on just how Swiss your household is exactly. I'm sure that I would have surprised a lot of you, or at least made you realise something that you hadn't actually given much thought to before.

Tschau
- Adrian