Wähe

Wähe (which derives from the dialect in the regions of Basel, Zurich, Baden and Alsace) is a baked dish typical of Swiss and Alemannic (German) cuisine. A wähe consists of a casing (typically made of shortcrust pastry, but sometimes yeast dough or puff pastry) and a topping of a custard enveloping either fruit, vegetables or cheese. The custard and fruits or vegetables are baked together. The preparation is thus very similar to that of the French quiche or tarte.
The wähe is likely to have originated in central Switzerland. The first documented mention of the term "wäye" dates back to 1556 when it was described as a bun or cake in a lexicon from the Zurich area. The wähe was first created in home baking and, according to Albert Spycher, it was made with the dough leftovers from bread baking. The scraps of bread dough were rolled out into round flat cakes, the edges of which had to be raised and pressed together to prevent the topping from leaking out. They were topped with all those ingredients that were readily available at home. Since both fruits and vegetables were suitable ingredients, it is rather difficult to separate the story of the savoury wähe from the sweet version.
However, the wähe did not remain just poor man's food, it also became very popular with the middle class. The recipe for an "apple dünne" can be found in Das Kochbuch der Catharina Fehr 1824, which was widespread among the bourgeoisie. According to this recipe you need butter pastry, sliced apples, and a sauce made of flour, wine, sugar and raisins. Since the 19th century the wähe has also been prepared in industrial bakeries.
Originally, the wähe was a food eaten during Lent in the Catholic parts of Switzerland, particularly in the east. On the other hand, it was a festive dish in the Protestant areas, above all in the west. In some regions (Freiburg and Waadtland) wähe was usually eaten on Friday, when meat was not allowed. Even today, many bakeries offer wähe only on Friday because of this tradition. In the mountain regions, wähe has been known only since the early 20th century, probably because ovens were very rare there. In the alpine regions, given the prevailing livestock and milk production, wähe was mainly prepared with cheese and cream. The variety with fruit was most common in the fruit-growing areas of rural regions. Today both sweet and savoury wähe are baked in every regions.
The following words are used as partial synonyms for wähe. This, however, does not mean that each specific variety is baked according to the same recipe, because many names have a broader meaning that can refer to other kinds of cakes too. For each region there is an individual recipe and dialect name for the wähe.
In French speaking Switzerland the cake similar to a wähe is called a tarte, in Italian speaking Switzerland a torta or crostata, in Romansh a tuorta.
Savoury wähen are coated with onions, cheese and/or bacon. The cheese wähe (also called a cheesy cake) is made with a custard of grated cheese (e.g. Gruyère), cream and eggs.
Vegetable wähen can be made with courgette, spinach, tomatoes or broccoli. Again a custard of grated cheese, cream or milk and eggs is used.
Typically, sweet wähen are topped with fruit, especially plums, apples, apricots, rhubarb and cherries, etc. – depending on the time of year fresh or frozen. Before the fruit is added, the dough is often covered with a layer of ground nuts. A custard of milk, cream, eggs and sugar is added before the baking of the wähe. In southern Switzerland wähen are often baked without this custard (much like a tart).
Vermicelles, grape or red currant wähen are not coated until or just before the wähe is finished baking.
Another sweet kind of wähe is the nidle-cake, made using a custard of cream (nidle), eggs and sugar.
The Zibelemärit (onion market) in Bern is traditionally accompanied by a Zwiebelkuchen for dinner.
The basler fastenwähe is made with a salty yeast-dough sprinkled with caraway and looks quite like a pretzel. Other than the name these fastenwähen have nearly nothing in common with the usual wähe.