FIVE GREAT FOODS TO EAT AT HERBSTMESSE

Herbstmesse, which is the Autumn Fair, celebrated its 550th anniversary this year! This epic fair is located in Basel, and seven of the city’s squares have amazing rides, delicious food and lots of fun! It is pretty amazing that we live in the city that hosts Switzerland’s oldest and largest fair. This year, we set out to experience the fair in all its glory, including trying as much of the incredible food we could! We came up with five great foods to eat at Herbstmesse, and we hope you have the chance to enjoy them one day as much as we have!

1. Kartoffelpuffer

Kartoffelpuffer are delicious potato pancakes that come with a sauce of your choice! Since latkes, or potato pancakes, are eaten every year for Hanukkah, I have had many potato pancakes in my life! But, the Kartoffelpuffer at Petersplatz are my new favorites!

When ordering at the counter, you are able to choose from three sauce options (apple sauce, garlic sauce, and yogurt herb sauce). I chose the garlic sauce, and it tasted wonderfully with the crisp potato pancakes.

2. Öpfelchuechli

Are you a fan of apples and donuts? If you are, Öpfelchuechli are a great pick for you! These mouth-watering fried apple slices are the perfect dessert after a day of fun at Herbstmesse! They also come with an incredible vanilla cream sauce and powdered sugar poured over them.

3. Rosekiechli

Rosekiechli, or rose cakes, are hand-made pastries that have been made for over 80 years. They are only made at the stand during the fall fair so it is definitely a treat to eat these! They reminded me of crispy funnel cakes since they are fried and then sprinkled with powdered sugar. These delicious cakes get their name because they look like roses!

4. Kääskiechli

Kääskiechli are cheese cakes. These tarts are filled with Swiss cheese and baked to perfection. They have been a favorite cold weather treat of mine since we arrived in Switzerland. At the stand, there were lots of options with other ingredients in the cake. I chose to stick with the classic, and it was a great choice!

5. Gebrante Mandeln

These are almonds that are roasted in a copper pot along with water and sugar. After caramelizing, the almonds become hard and are then ready to be eaten as a delicious treat. When you walk by one of these stands, the smell of the almonds roasting definitely pulls you in! They are a bit hard though so probably not suitable for young children!

There are obviously so many other amazing options to eat at Herbstmesse so I have added a few more notable mentions! Gregg’s favorite is the schnitzel brot. He also mentioned all of the different sausages like bratwurst, curry wurst, rauch wurst and the list goes on. There are also tons of stands with fondue or raclette, which are both Swiss favorites! In addition, Magenbrot and Mässmogge are some other yummy sweets! Check out our Youtube video on our time at Herbstmesse to see more!

We cannot wait until next year to eat more delicious food and experience more of Herbstmesse! Thank you so much for wandering along with us!