When people ask me how long it took to write my Swiss Bread book, I usually say about two years in earnest. In reality, my research started when my family and I moved to Switzerland in 2012. Since that time, I’ve been visiting bakeries, baking at home, talking with chefs, reading old cookbooks, pestering people for their family recipes and absorbing all I can about Switzerland’s bread. This work has led me to create a collection of bread stories from across the country, accompanied by dozens of recipes for home bakers.

Vernissage for Swiss Bread – Octobre du Livre Gourmand

Atelier – Je confectionne ma tresse maison

To help launch my new book, I had the pleasure of co-teaching a workshop about Tresse with the talented Michel Sauser, a former professional baker. Held at Théâtre 2.21, and in partnership with the Ville de Lausanne’s Octobre du Livre Gourmand and Lausanne à Table, the workshop featured tips on how to make the dough, the braiding process and more. Our class was fully booked, and we had such a wonderful group of participants.

Vernissage hosted by Helvetiq and Théâtre 2.21

Following the Tresse workshop, the launch event (Vernissage) for my book continued with speeches from Le Syndic (i.e., mayor) of Lausanne, Monsieur Grégoire Junod, and Hadi Barkat, founder & CEO of Helvetiq. Michel Sauser and Benjamin Knobil did a bilingual reading from my book, and we enjoyed a musical performance from Stéphane Blok.

Following the speeches and performances, those in attendance received a Swiss bread tasting plate to demonstrate the diversity of Swiss breads. Michel Sauser made his version of Tresse and my recipe for Silersli. I brought homemade Birnbrot (pear bread), Magenbrot (“stomach bread”) and Pane Valle Maggia (sourdough).

Swiss Bread / Brot Huusgmacht / Pains Maison

Written in English and translated to German and French by Helvetiq, my hardcover book has over 300 pages.

What you’ll find in my Swiss Bread book:

• 42 recipes for delicious Swiss breads from around the country and some of the stories behind them (who invented them, their history, my personal experiences and more).
• Dozens of incredible images of my homemade breads from photographer Dorian Rollin, with food styling by Camille Stoos.
• Profiles of 5 artisanal Swiss bakeries from Switzerland’s different linguistic regions.
• My bread-baking tips and tricks, including my favorite tools and an easy recipe for a sourdough starter.
• Some background information on Switzerland’s bread culture, flour types and more, such as where the oldest preserved bread was found.

It has been an absolute pleasure to work on this project, and I’m thrilled to finally share it with you. I really hope you’ll like it. Please don’t hesitate to contact me, if you have any questions about my recipes.

And, I would love to see your bread photos! When you share your photos via social media, please use the hashtag: #swissbreadbook

Finally, I would like to say a big thanks to the 507 backers of Helvetiq’s crowdfunding campaign via wemakeit.com. We couldn’t have done this book in three languages without your help!

Where to find it:

In Switzerland

• Online via my publisher, Helvetiq: in English, French or German
• In bookstores, such as Payot, Orell Füssli and more

Outside of Switzerland

• Swiss Bread (English) is available for international shipping via Bergli Books.
• Vachement Suisse is offering international shipping for the English and French versions of my book.
• Amazon Germany is another option for international shipping in all three languages, but Swiss Bread (in English) is temporarily out of stock via this website – more copies will be available there soon and via Amazon UK.
• Brot Huusgmacht (German) and Swiss Bread (English) is available for delivery to Germany, France, Italy and Austria via Orell Füssli.

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Updated: May 18, 2022