The Swiss do do sandwiches, but they are definitely not the best in the world

The Swiss should be very good at sandwiches. They have so many potentially superb components readily available, and yet, if you ask them to combine them all to make a wholesome filling snack they are as instantly perplexed as most foreigners when they have Swiss democratic system explained to them for the first time.

Nestled in the centre of Europe, Switzerland is not afraid to take on the mantle of the melting pot, taking the best bits from each country and discarding the flab of extravagance. Italy's food forms the staple of many and German efficiency is somehow improved. You would therefore think that finding something to curb your hunger at lunch, or fuel to keep the Swiss wheel of efficiency turning with minimum disruption would involve the simple procedure of popping into your local sandwich shop, or even god-forbid convenience store, to pick up a sandwich. 

 I am yet to discover what is a typical Swiss lunch. Perhaps I am being to quintessentially British in my tastes, but when Lord Sandwich developed the idea of 2 pieces of bread and filling to keep his soldiers on the hoof, most people agreed that he had stumbled upon a basic culinary necessity for a future world in which everyone would be too busy to stop for lunch. Maybe the sandwich's military history is too much to take for this nub of neutrality. Or is it their proximity to France? Is this France's gift to a country with its fair share of Francophiles? 

 It would however, be wrong to suggest that they don't have sandwiches. 'Anna's Best', commonly sold at supermarkets sums up the state of Swiss sandwich affairs because if this is the best Anna has to offer, I'll pass through gritted teeth of ungraciousness. They look good, but you will have to flog your eldest son as an Arabian camel jockey to afford one, only to be left feeling profoundly underwhelmed, which will then turn to anger and then the final realisation that you are still starving hungry. And as for 'Snacky Sandwiches' the less said the better. 

 If you are on a journey of sandwich discovery, give Switzerland a miss - you'll be wasting your time.