Actually, that’s not the whole menu; Swiss Army cuisine, like its knives, is a bit more versatile, but canned ravioli and 50-gram packets of biscuits offered as a “neutral bread replacement” are high on the list of military classics.
The Swiss Defense Department buys in bulk, of course; this month it ordered 54,000 cases of canned ravioli in tomato sauce—considered a classic by Swiss troops. They ate 64 tonnes of it last year, and that’s for an army that’s small enough to get by on 40,000 meals a day. The ravioli has another plus: the cans can be opened with the iconic knife.
The biscuits (that’s biscuit as in cracker, not as in cookie), like the ravioli, have long shelf life and “As a neutral bread replacement, the biscuit pairs just as well with cold cuts and cheese as with chocolate or vanilla cream and applesauce.” The 50-gram pack, the army says, “is ideal as a bread replacement for breakfast in the field during a deployment exercise.”
The army also occasionally adds new products to its stock. The most recent additions are chocolate and raspberry flavored high-protein bars, double-chocolate energy bars, basmati rice and chocolate pudding.
Armasuisse, the military procurement agency, tries to use Swiss products wherever possible, preferably fresh, but says “Ravioli are an important part of the storage strategy.”
