1.
Switzerland
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Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a federal republic in Europe. It consists of 26 cantons, and the city of Bern is the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in western-Central Europe, and is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km2. The establishment of the Old Swiss Confederacy dates to the medieval period, resulting from a series of military successes against Austria. Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire was formally recognized in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The country has a history of armed neutrality going back to the Reformation, it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815, nevertheless, it pursues an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. In addition to being the birthplace of the Red Cross, Switzerland is home to international organisations. On the European level, it is a member of the European Free Trade Association. However, it participates in the Schengen Area and the European Single Market through bilateral treaties, spanning the intersection of Germanic and Romance Europe, Switzerland comprises four main linguistic and cultural regions, German, French, Italian and Romansh. Due to its diversity, Switzerland is known by a variety of native names, Schweiz, Suisse, Svizzera. On coins and stamps, Latin is used instead of the four living languages, Switzerland is one of the most developed countries in the world, with the highest nominal wealth per adult and the eighth-highest per capita gross domestic product according to the IMF. Zürich and Geneva have each been ranked among the top cities in the world in terms of quality of life, with the former ranked second globally, according to Mercer. The English name Switzerland is a compound containing Switzer, a term for the Swiss. The English adjective Swiss is a loan from French Suisse, also in use since the 16th century. The name Switzer is from the Alemannic Schwiizer, in origin an inhabitant of Schwyz and its associated territory, the Swiss began to adopt the name for themselves after the Swabian War of 1499, used alongside the term for Confederates, Eidgenossen, used since the 14th century. The data code for Switzerland, CH, is derived from Latin Confoederatio Helvetica. The toponym Schwyz itself was first attested in 972, as Old High German Suittes, ultimately related to swedan ‘to burn’
2.
Chocolate
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Chocolate /ˈtʃɒklᵻt, -kəlᵻt/ is a typically sweet, usually brown food preparation of Theobroma cacao seeds, roasted and ground. It is made in the form of a liquid, paste, or in a block, Cacao has been cultivated by many cultures for at least three millennia in Mesoamerica. The earliest evidence of use traces to the Mokaya, with evidence of chocolate beverages dating back to 1900 BCE, the seeds of the cacao tree have an intense bitter taste and must be fermented to develop the flavor. After fermentation, the beans are dried, cleaned, and roasted, the shell is removed to produce cacao nibs, which are then ground to cocoa mass, unadulterated chocolate in rough form. Once the cocoa mass is liquefied by heating, it is called chocolate liquor, the liquor also may be cooled and processed into its two components, cocoa solids and cocoa butter. Baking chocolate, also called chocolate, contains cocoa solids and cocoa butter in varying proportions. Much of the chocolate consumed today is in the form of chocolate, a combination of cocoa solids, cocoa butter or added vegetable oils. Milk chocolate is chocolate that additionally contains milk powder or condensed milk. White chocolate contains cocoa butter, sugar, and milk, Cocoa solids are a source of flavonoids and alkaloids, such as theobromine, phenethylamine and caffeine. Many candies are filled with or coated with sweetened chocolate, and bars of solid chocolate, Gifts of chocolate molded into different shapes have become traditional on certain Western holidays, such as Easter and Valentines Day. Chocolate is also used in cold and hot beverages such as milk and hot chocolate and in some alcoholic drinks. Although cocoa originated in the Americas, recent years have seen African nations assuming a role in producing cocoa. Since the 2000s, Western Africa produces almost two-thirds of the worlds cocoa, in 2009, the Salvation Army International Development Department stated that child labor and the human trafficking and slavery of child laborers are used in African cocoa cultivation. The word chocolate entered the English language from Spanish in about 1600, how the word came into Spanish is less certain, and there are competing explanations. The word chocolatl does not occur in central Mexican colonial sources, another derivation comes from the Yucatec Mayan word chokol meaning hot, and the Nahuatl atl meaning water. The Nahuatl term, chicolatl, meaning beaten drink, may derive from the word for the frothing stick, the term chocolate chip was first used in 1940. The term chocolatier, for a chocolate maker, is attested from 1888. Chocolate has been prepared as a drink for all of its history
3.
Bern
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The city of Bern or Berne is the de facto capital of Switzerland, referred to by the Swiss as their Bundesstadt, or federal city. With a population of 141,762, Bern is the fourth-most populous city in Switzerland, the Bern agglomeration, which includes 36 municipalities, had a population of 406,900 in 2014. The metropolitan area had a population of 660,000 in 2000, Bern is also the capital of the canton of Bern, the second-most populous of Switzerlands cantons. The official language in Bern is German, but the language is an Alemannic Swiss German dialect. In 1983, the old town in the centre of Bern became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Bern is ranked among the top ten cities for the best quality of life. The etymology of the name Bern is uncertain and it has long been considered likely that the city was named after the Italian city of Verona, which at the time was known as Bern in Middle High German. As a result of the find of the Bern zinc tablet in the 1980s, it is now common to assume that the city was named after a pre-existing toponym of Celtic origin. The bear was the animal of the seal and coat of arms of Bern from at least the 1220s. The earliest reference to the keeping of bears in the Bärengraben dates to the 1440s. No archaeological evidence that indicates a settlement on the site of city centre prior to the 12th century has been found so far. In antiquity, a Celtic oppidum stood on the Engehalbinsel north of Bern, fortified since the second century BC, during the Roman era, a Gallo-Roman vicus was on the same site. The Bern zinc tablet has the name Brenodor, in the Early Middle Ages, a settlement in Bümpliz, now a city district of Bern, was some 4 km from the medieval city. The medieval city is a foundation of the Zähringer ruling family, according to 14th-century historiography, Bern was founded in 1191 by Berthold V, Duke of Zähringen. In 1218, after Berthold died without an heir, Bern was made an imperial city by the Goldene Handfeste of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II. In 1353, Bern joined the Swiss Confederacy, becoming one of the eight cantons of the period of 1353 to 1481. The city grew out towards the west of the boundaries of the peninsula formed by the river Aare, the Zytglogge tower marked the western boundary of the city from 1191 until 1256, when the Käfigturm took over this role until 1345. It was, in turn, succeeded by the Christoffelturm until 1622, during the time of the Thirty Years War, two new fortifications – the so-called big and small Schanze – were built to protect the whole area of the peninsula
4.
Lausanne
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Lausanne is a city in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and the capital and biggest city of the canton of Vaud. The city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva and it faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura Mountains to its north-west. Lausanne is located 62 kilometres northeast of Geneva, Lausanne has a population of 146,372, making it the fourth largest city in Switzerland, with the entire agglomeration area having 420,000 inhabitants. The metropolitan area of Lausanne-Geneva was over 1.2 million inhabitants in 2000, Lausanne is a focus of international sport, hosting the International Olympic Committee, the Court of Arbitration for Sport and some 55 international sport associations. It lies in a noted wine-growing region, the city has a 28-station metro system, making it the smallest city in the world to have a rapid transit system. Lausanne will host the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics, by the 2nd century AD it was known as vikanor Lousonnensium and in 280 as lacu Lausonio. By 400 it was civitas Lausanna and in 990 it was mentioned as Losanna, after the fall of the Roman Empire, insecurity forced the transfer of Lausanne to its current centre, a hilly site that is easier to defend. The city which emerged from the camp was ruled by the Dukes of Savoy, then it came under Bern from 1536 to 1798 and a number of its cultural treasures, including the hanging tapestries in the Cathedral, were permanently removed. Lausanne has made a number of requests to recover them, after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, Lausanne became a place of refuge for French Huguenots. In 1729 a seminary was opened by Antoine Court and Benjamin Duplan, by 1750 ninety pastors had been sent back to France to work clandestinely, this number would rise to four hundred. Official persecution ended in 1787, a faculty of Protestant theology was established at Montauban in 1808, during the Napoleonic Wars, the citys status changed. In 1803, it became the capital of a newly formed Swiss canton, in 1964 the city hosted the Swiss National Exhibition, displaying its newly found confidence to host major international events. From the 1950s to 1970s a large number of Italians, Spaniards and Portuguese immigrated, settling mostly in the district of Renens. The city has served as a refuge for European artists, while under the care of a psychiatrist at Lausanne, T. S. Eliot composed most of his 1922 poem The Wasteland. Hemingway also visited from Paris with his wife during the 1920s, in fact, many creative people - such as Edward Gibbon, an historian, and Romantic era poets Shelley and Byron - have sojourned, lived, and worked in Lausanne or nearby. The city has been quiet, but in the late 1960s. Later demonstrations took place to protest against the high cinema prices, the most important geographical feature of the area surrounding Lausanne is Lake Geneva. Lausanne boasts a dramatic panorama over the lake and the Alps, in addition to its generally southward-sloping layout, the centre of the city is the site of an ancient river, the Flon, which has been covered since the 19th century
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Aare
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The Aare or Aar is a tributary of the High Rhine and the longest river that both rises and ends entirely within Switzerland. There are more than 40 hydroelectric plants along the course of the Aare River, the rivers name dates to at least the La Tène period, and it is attested as Nantaror Aare valley in the Berne zinc tablet. The name was Latinized as Arula/Arola/Araris, the Aare rises in the great Aargletschers of the Bernese Alps, in the canton of Bern and west of the Grimsel Pass. The Finsteraargletscher and Lauteraargletscher come together to form the Unteraargletscher, which is the source of water for the Grimselsee. The Oberaargletscher feeds the Oberaarsee, which flows into the Grimselsee. Right after Innertkirchen it is joined by its first major tributary, less than 1 kilometre later the river carves through a limestone ridge in the Aare Gorge. It is here that the Aare proves itself to be more than just a river, a little past Meiringen, near Brienz, the river expands into Lake Brienz. Near the west end of the lake it receives its first important tributary. It then runs across the plain of the Bödeli between Interlaken and Unterseen before flowing into Lake Thun. Near the west end of Lake Thun, the river receives the waters of the Kander. Lake Thun marks the head of navigation, on flowing out of the lake it passes through Thun, and then flows through the city of Bern, passing beneath eighteen bridges and around the steeply-flanked peninsula on which the Old City is located. The river soon changes its flow for a due westerly direction. From the upper end of the lake, at Nidau, the river issues through the Nidau-Büren Channel, also called the Aare Canal, and then runs east to Büren. A short distance further, below Brugg it receives first the Reuss, its major tributary, and shortly afterwards the Limmat, its second strongest tributary. It now turns to north, and soon becomes itself a tributary of the Rhine, the Rhine, in turn, empties into the North Sea after crossing into the Netherlands. New York, NY, Columbia University Press, the Columbia Gazetteer of the World. New York, NY, Columbia University Press, leipzig, Germany, Veriag von Gustav Mayer. Gresswell, R. Kay, Huxley, Anthony, eds, standard Encyclopedia of the Worlds Rivers and Lakes
6.
Swiss chocolate
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Swiss chocolate refers to chocolate produced in Switzerland. While cacao beans and other such as sugar can originate from outside of Switzerland. Switzerlands chocolates have earned a reputation for high quality with many famous international brands. The 17th century saw the start of chocolate processed in Switzerland, in the 18th century chocolate was only produced in a few areas, such as the Ticino. Closely linked to this was the invention of Milk Chocolate by Daniel Peter in Vevey, from the 19th century until the First World War and throughout the Second World War the Swiss chocolate industry was very export-oriented. After the Second World War Switzerland began to outsource production due to commercial restrictions, today most Swiss chocolate is consumed by the Swiss themselves, and Switzerland has the highest per capita rate of chocolate consumption worldwide. In 2004148,270 tonnes of chocolate were produced in Switzerland, the gross income of the Swiss chocolate industry in 2004 was 1.37 billion CHF. In 1901 Swiss chocolate producers created the Union libre des fabricants suisses de chocolat, in 1916, this was divided into the Chambre syndicale des fabricants suisses de chocolat and the Convention chocolatière suisse. The former Chambre syndicale protects the interests of Swiss chocolate producers, the Convention chocolatière focused on the quality of the chocolate and sought a uniform price strategy. In 1994 the Convention was disbanded, belgian chocolate Culinary Heritage of Switzerland Much of the content of this article comes from the equivalent German-language Wikipedia article. Chocosuisse, Union of Swiss Chocolate Manufacturers Information about Swiss Chocolat, www. swissworld. org Annual International Chocolatiers and Chocolate Fair
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Cocoa butter
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Cocoa butter, also called theobroma oil, is a pale-yellow, edible vegetable fat extracted from the cocoa bean. It is used to make chocolate, as well as some ointments, toiletries, cocoa butter has a cocoa flavor and aroma. Its best-known attribute is its point, which is just below human body temperature. Cocoa butter is obtained from whole cocoa beans, which are fermented, roasted, about 54–58% of the residue is cocoa butter. Chocolate liquor is pressed to separate the cocoa butter from the cocoa solids, the Broma process is used to extract cocoa butter from ground cacao beans. Cocoa butter is deodorized to remove strong or undesirable tastes. Cocoa butter contains a proportion of saturated fats, derived from stearic and palmitic acids. Cocoa butter, unlike cocoa solids, has no more than trace amounts of caffeine and theobromine, some food manufacturers substitute less expensive materials such as vegetable oils and fats in place of cocoa butter. Several analytical methods exist for testing for diluted cocoa butter, adulterated cocoa butter is indicated by its lighter color and its diminished fluorescence upon ultraviolet illumination. Unlike cocoa butter, adulterated fat tends to smear and have a higher non-saponifiable content, cocoa butter is becoming increasingly expensive. Substitutes have been designed to use as alternatives, in the United States, 100% cocoa butter must be used for the product to be called chocolate. The EU requires that alternative fats not exceed 5% of the fat content. Cocoa butter is an ingredient in practically all types of chocolates. This application continues to dominate consumption of cocoa butter, pharmaceutical companies heavily use cocoa butters physical properties. As a nontoxic solid at room temperature that melts at body temperature, cocoa butter is one of the most stable fats known, a quality that, coupled with natural antioxidants, prevents rancidity, giving it a storage life of two to five years. The velvety texture, pleasant fragrance and emollient properties of cocoa butter have made it a popular ingredient in products for the skin, such as soaps, cocoa butters moisturizing properties are also said to be effective for treating mouth sores. However, the largest clinical study regarding the effects of cocoa butter on stretch marks in pregnant women found that results were no different from a placebo. The most common form of cocoa butter has a point of around 34–38 °C
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Conche
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A conche is a surface scraping mixer and agitator that evenly distributes cocoa butter within chocolate, and may act as a polisher of the particles. It also promotes flavor development through frictional heat, release of volatiles and acids, there are numerous designs of conches. Food scientists are still studying precisely what happens during conching and why, the name arises from the shape of the vessels initially used which resembled conch shells. When ingredients are mixed in this way, sometimes for up to 78 hours, chocolate can be produced with a mild, lower quality chocolate is conched for as little as six hours. Since the process is so important to the texture and flavor of chocolate. Rodolphe Lindt invented the conche in Berne, Switzerland in 1879 and it produced chocolate with superior aroma and melting characteristics compared to other processes used at that time. Legend has it that Lindt mistakenly left a mixer containing chocolate running overnight, though he was initially distraught at the waste of energy and machine wear and tear, he quickly realized he had made a major breakthrough. Before conching was invented, solid chocolate was gritty and not very popular, lindts invention rapidly changed chocolate from being mainly a drink to being made into bars and other confections. Lindts original conche consisted of a roller and granite trough, such a configuration is now called a long conche. The ends of the trough were shaped to allow the chocolate to be back over the roller at the end of each stroke. A modern rotary conche can process 3 to 10 tonnes of chocolate in less than 12 hours, modern conches have cooled jacketed vessels containing long mixer shafts with radial arms that press the chocolate against vessel sides. A single machine can carry out all the steps of grinding, mixing, Conching redistributes the substances from the dry cocoa that create flavor into the fat phase. Air flowing through the conche removes some unwanted acetic, propionic, a small amount of moisture greatly increases viscosity of the finished chocolate so machinery is cleaned with cocoa butter instead of water. Some of the substances produced in roasting of cocoa beans are oxidized in the conche, the temperature of the conche is controlled and varies for different types of chocolate. Generally higher temperature leads to a shorter required processing time, temperature varies from around 49 °C for milk chocolate to up to 82 °C for dark chocolate. The elevated temperature leads to a partially caramelized flavor and in milk chocolate promotes the Maillard reaction, the chocolate passes through three phases during conching. In the dry phase the material is in form. Air movement through the conche removes some moisture and volatile substances, moisture balance affects the flavor and texture of the finished product because, after the particles are coated with fat, moisture and volatile chemicals are less likely to escape
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Odor
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An odor or odour or fragrance is caused by one or more volatilized chemical compounds, generally at a very low concentration, that humans or other animals perceive by the sense of olfaction. Odors are also commonly called scents, which can refer to both pleasant and unpleasant odors, the terms fragrance and aroma are used primarily by the food and cosmetic industry to describe a pleasant odor, and are sometimes used to refer to perfumes, and to describe floral scent. In contrast, malodor, stench, reek, and stink are used specifically to describe unpleasant odor, the term smell is used for both pleasant and unpleasant odors. In the United Kingdom, odour refers to scents in general, the sense of smell gives rise to the perception of odors, mediated by the olfactory nerve. The olfactory receptor cells are present in the olfactory epithelium. There are millions of olfactory receptor neurons that act as sensory signaling cells, each neuron has cilia in direct contact with air. The olfactory nerve is considered the smell mediator, the axon connects the brain to the external air, odorous molecules act as a chemical stimulus. Molecules bind to receptor proteins extended from cilia, initiating an electric signal, thus, by using a chemical that binds to copper in the mouse nose, so that copper wasn’t available to the receptors, the authors showed that the mice couldnt detect the thiols. However, these also found that MOR244-3 lacks the specific metal ion binding site suggested by Suslick. When the signal reaches a threshold, the fires, sending a signal traveling along the axon to the olfactory bulb. Interpretation of the begins, relating the smell to past experiences. The olfactory bulb acts as a station connecting the nose to the olfactory cortex in the brain. Olfactory information is processed and projected through a pathway to the central nervous system. Odor sensation usually depends on the concentration available to the olfactory receptors, the olfactory system does not interpret a single compound, but instead the whole odorous mix, not necessarily corresponding to concentration or intensity of any single constituent. The widest range of odors consists of compounds, although some simple compounds not containing carbon, such as hydrogen sulfide. The perception of an effect is a two-step process. First, there is the part, the detection of stimuli by receptors in the nose. The stimuli are processed by the region of the brain which is responsible for olfaction
10.
Historical Dictionary of Switzerland
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The encyclopedia is published by a foundation under the patronage of the Swiss Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Swiss Historical Society and is financed by national research grants. Besides a staff of 35 at the offices, the contributors include 100 academic advisors,2500 historians and 100 translators. The encyclopedia is being edited simultaneously in three languages of Switzerland, German, French and Italian. The first of 13 volumes was published in 2002, the last volume was published in 2014. The 36,000 headings are grouped in, Biographies Articles on families and it makes accessible, for free, all articles ready for publication in print, but no illustrations. It also lists all 36,000 topics that are to be covered, lexicon Istoric Retic is a two volume version with a selection of articles published in Romansh. It includes articles not available in the other languages, the first volume was published in 2010, the second in 2012. An on-line version is also available
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Mattequartier
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The Mattequartier is a historic section in the Old City of Bern in Bern, Switzerland. The first expansion of Bern occurred as the city was founded in 1191, the central and oldest neighbourhood was known as the Zähringerstadt after the founder, Duke Berthold V of Zähringen. While the Zähringerstadt grew, the area below the Zähringerstadt along the banks of the Aare river developed into the Mattequartier, situated in the southeast of the Aare peninsula, the Mattequartier, together with the Nydegg, constitute medieval Berns smallest neighbourhood. Workshops and mercantile activity prevailed in this area, and medieval sources tell of numerous complaints about the ceaseless and apparently nerve-wracking noise of machinery, carts and commerce. The Matte area at the riverside features three channels, through which Aare water was diverted to power three city-owned watermills built in 1360. In the early 20th century, a hydroelectric plant was built in that location. Nearby, the busy Schiffländte allowed for the reloading of goods transported by boat up and down the river
