Culinary Heritage of Switzerland is a partially multilingual online encyclopedia

Encyclopedia

An encyclopedia is a type of reference work, a compendium holding a summary of information from either all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge....

 of traditional Swiss food and produce

Produce

Produce is a generalized term for a group of farm-produced goods and, not limited to fruits and vegetables . More specifically, the term "produce" often implies that the products are fresh and generally in the same state as where they were harvested. In supermarkets the term is also used to refer...

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History

The project was initiated through a parliamentary motion of Swiss MP Josef Zisyadis

Josef Zisyadis

thumb|Josef ZisyadisJosef Zisyadis is a Swiss politician, a member of the of the Swiss Party of Labour, and of the Alternative Left ....

 in 2000. After obtaining CHF

Swiss franc

The franc is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein; it is also legal tender in the Italian exclave Campione d'Italia. Although not formally legal tender in the German exclave Büsingen , it is in wide daily use there...

 2 million of funding by the Swiss federal government, the Swiss cantons and private sponsors, the private association "Culinary Heritage of Switzerland" was founded in 2003.

The association hired a team of researchers, including ethnologists and historians, to write the articles and carry out field research by interviewing Swiss bakers, butchers, cultural historians, archivists and farmer's wives. It made the encyclopedia, with an initial scope of some 400 articles, available to the public on 9 December 2008 at no charge.

Scope

To be included in the association's database, a food must be recognised as traditionally Swiss, have been produced for at least 40 years and remain in production. The project's scope is limited to processed foodstuffs, such as cheeses or meat products. It does not include unprocessed food (with a few exceptions), wines, recipes or dishes.