Tirggel
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A thin, relief-moulded honey biscuit, a Zurich speciality since the Middle Ages.
The Tirggel is like no other biscuit. Thin as a playing card and hard as a roof tile, it carries a picture in relief: a coat of arms, a scene from the Bible, a view of Zurich. The dough is made of very little, just honey and flour, lifted with ginger, aniseed, coriander and a hint of rosewater.
Everything happens in the mould. The baker rolls the dough out to two millimetres, presses it into a carved wooden board, then peels it away, and the picture stands out in relief. The oven heats from above only, fiercely and fast: a minute and a half at around 400 degrees. The top browns and every line of the design turns darker, while the underside stays pale.
Zurich has known it since the 15th century, when honey and spices were so dear that few families could afford them. For a long time, only bakers settled within the city walls were allowed to bake it. In 1840, once trade was freed, country bakers could make it too, and the rivalry played out in the pictures: everyone wanted the design the others lacked. Each bakery keeps its moulds like a family heirloom, and the Swiss National Museum holds several of them.
It is eaten during Advent and at New Year, and now in spring too, when Zurich burns an effigy of winter. Don’t bite into it in one go: break off a small piece and let it melt, as the honey comes slowly.
Sources: Wikipedia, “Tirggel” (French, German and English) and “Couque de Dinant”; Zurich Tourism, page “Zurich’s Honey Tirggel”.
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