What is an ‘Appenzeller Pantli’?

Sausages and cured meats are widely consumed in Switzerland. Meat in general is consumed on a daily basis, and preserving meat by smoking it or by adding salt has been done for millennia in Switzerland.

The Appenzeller Pantli is a regional raw sausage specialty from the Appenzellerland. The four-edged sausage is similar to the Landjäger, is made from mostly fine-grained beef meat, pressed in natural casings and then stacked in a press box, which gives it its characteristic square shape. Traditionally, the sawdust from resinous Appenzell fir wood is used for smoking.

According to an old master butcher born in 1933, there are photos of a Pantli from a trade exhibition that took place at the end of the 19th century. In the Swiss sausage book "Alles ist Wurst", another butcher tells about his grandfather, who began to produce the Appenzeller Pantli in 1896. An edition of the Zürcher Tagblatt from 1892 praises the Appenzell Pantli as an "Appenzell Landjäger (spicy smoked sausage)".

Thus if you are in canton Appenzell try a Pantli which is served raw, in soups, or other local specialty dishes. It has a distinct garlic flavour and is truly another Swiss speciality discovered.