At a restaurant across from City Hall, I enjoyed my first Swiss meal: fried eggs, bacon, and rosti. I was told by Diccon Bewes, a Brit turned Swiss who has lived in the country for years and recently penned the book Swiss Watching, that the Swiss are huge meat consumers and that rosti, a type of hash browns, is a quite common Swiss dish. Also popular: fondue and raclette, which consists of a slab of cheese that is heated and that is then scraped so that the melted portions pile onto diners' plates, often over potatoes and meat. Photo 5 of 12 in Touring Basel, Switzerland, Part 1 by Miyoko Ohtake

Touring Basel, Switzerland, Part 1

5 of 12

At a restaurant across from City Hall, I enjoyed my first Swiss meal: fried eggs, bacon, and rosti. I was told by Diccon Bewes, a Brit turned Swiss who has lived in the country for years and recently penned the book Swiss Watching, that the Swiss are huge meat consumers and that rosti, a type of hash browns, is a quite common Swiss dish. Also popular: fondue and raclette, which consists of a slab of cheese that is heated and that is then scraped so that the melted portions pile onto diners' plates, often over potatoes and meat.