We begin with the Zibelemärit
Rustic Zibelesuppe
Swiss onion soup with toasted country bread
A warming soup of onions, toasted bread and chives. We offer it as a rustic Swiss starting point for our trials, rather than as a single official Bernese Zibelemärit recipe.
Reference recipe · to be tried in our kitchen
Base for about 10 portions of 250 ml · check the final volume
Onions: 20–25 minutes · Simmering in the stock: 15–20 minutes
Ingredients
- Onions, finely sliced: 750 g
- Butter: 125 g (65 g for the onions, 60 g for the bread)
- Flavourful beef stock: 2.5 l
- Caraway seeds (Kümmel), whole or ground: 5–10 g, adjusted to taste
- Country bread, cubed: 250 g
- Chives, chopped: 40–50 g
- Salt and pepper: as needed
Method
- Melt 65 g of butter in the saucepan. Add the onions and caraway and cook over moderate heat for 20–25 minutes, stirring: the onions should be soft and golden, never burnt.
- Pour in the hot stock, bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 15–20 minutes.
- Taste and adjust the salt, pepper and caraway, keeping onion as the main flavour.
- Toast the bread cubes in the remaining 60 g of butter until golden and dry.
- Serve with the croutons and chives added at the last moment. Measure the final volume to determine the actual yield.
Origins and references
From the Il Dono trial recipe manual dated 24 October 2026. Reference base: Swissmilk, Zwiebelsuppe mit Kümmel und Brotwürfelchen. A version still to be tried, with no single Bernese standard.
Swissmilk ↗