Zvieri Box Winter

Planned contents

These are the planned contents. Nothing has been bought yet: we only buy once enough boxes are pre-ordered. Before pre-orders open, we will show every piece here with its maker, ingredients and allergens.

• Mailänderli (butter cookie)

  From: All of Switzerland

  A star-shaped butter cookie.

  They are the most eaten Christmas cookie in Switzerland. Whether they really come from Milan, nobody has been able to show.

• Cinnamon star

  From: All of Switzerland

  A soft star made of nuts, sugar and cinnamon.

  Cinnamon reached Europe from Asia in the Middle Ages as a precious trade good.

• Brunsli (chocolate nut cookie)

  From: All of Switzerland

  A dark, soft cookie made of nuts and cocoa.

  A recipe survives from 1750. As early as 1725, five pounds of Brunsli were served at a feast for a new pastor in Winterthur.

• Basler Läckerli (spiced honey biscuits)

  From: Basel

  Firm little gingerbread biscuits with honey, nuts and candied peel under a thin sugar glaze.

  Who makes it: From a Basel Läckerli house founded in 1904 that still bakes and packs with a lot of hand work.

  People like to say they were invented for the Council of Basel in the 15th century. The records in the Basel state archives show, though, that their ingredients could not even be bought in Basel at the time.

• Graubünden nut tartlet

  From: Graubünden

  A gift box of tiny nut tartlets: shortcrust with walnuts in caramel and cream, each tartlet wrapped on its own.

  Who makes it: From a village bakery in Sedrun that the son took over from his father in 2004.

  Its story belongs to the Engadine confectioners who for centuries emigrated to Venice, Italy and France and brought recipes home.

• Milk chocolate from Fribourg

  From: Fribourg

  A bar of milk chocolate made with Swiss milk.

  Who makes it: From a Fribourg chocolate house founded in 1901.

  In 1819 François-Louis Cailler opened one of Switzerland's first chocolate factories in Corsier near Vevey, and Neuchâtel, Geneva and Lausanne soon followed.

• Hazelnut pralines from Geneva

  From: Geneva

  Small pieces of milk chocolate made with ground hazelnuts.

  Who makes it: From a Geneva chocolate house that has been making chocolate since 1826.

  Chocolate has been made in Geneva since the 1820s; the city is one of Switzerland's first chocolate towns.

• Hot chocolate on a stick

  From: Thurgau

  A block of dark chocolate on a stick, with little marshmallows, to melt in warm milk.

  Who makes it: From a Thurgau house that has been baking Hüppen since 1928.

  That is how it all began: for centuries chocolate was only drunk, stirred into water or milk.

We only send pieces that keep for at least four more weeks after they arrive.

How the box arrives

1. A sturdy shipping carton, so nothing breaks on the way.
2. Inside, the specialities, each in its maker's own pack, wrapped in tissue paper and closed with our seal.
3. On top, a card numbered and signed by hand. If you write a message when you order, it is written inside by hand.
4. And the booklet on heavy paper, with a page for every piece: where it comes from, who makes it and how it tastes best.
5. No invoice and no price, so it stays a gift.

Allergens

Expected to contain: Gluten (wheat, barley), milk, egg, almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, soy. May contain traces of peanuts, sesame and other nuts.

The Läckerli contain a little kirsch (cherry brandy). The little marshmallows on the hot chocolate stick contain pork gelatine.