Swiss sausages and cured meats

Meat in general is consumed on a daily basis, pork being particularly ubiquitous in Swiss cuisine.

In the Lower Engadine, beef and pork were smoked as early as the 1st millennium BC; this is attested by pierced shoulder blades found on archeological sites.

Smoking meat was probably common since the Neolithic, as livestock had to be slaughtered before the long winter season.

[1] This has not changed much throughout history: until the 19th century, animals were typically slaughtered in November, then cut up for salting, smoking and making sausages.

[8] Switzerland has a large number of regional meat products and specialties that constitute an important gastronomic heritage.