Alpine herder's pasta: macaroni cooked together with cubed potato and onion in cream, finished with melted Alpine cheese and crispy fried onions, served with stewed apple sauce on the side.

Aelplermagronen emerged in the high Alpine summer pastures of Uri, Schwyz and the central Swiss cantons in the 19th century. Macaroni reached Switzerland via the Gotthard rail in the 1880s; herders, who already had potatoes, onions, cream and the local hard cheese stockpiled in their alpine huts, combined the lot in a single pot over the wood fire. The Apfelmus (stewed apple) on the side is the Alpine balance: a sweet-sour acidic counterpoint to the rich pasta. In Zurich, Le Dezaley and Restaurant Swiss Chuchi keep it on the cold-weather menu; in mountain restaurants from October to April it is the standard hut lunch.

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