Double Double Tirggel Trouble

Gift from a witch

The recorded history of so many Swiss cookies is a romantic one - bakers giving recipes to their sweethearts or sending messages in dough. Tirggel, Zurich’s crispy honey biscuit, also served to pass love letters, which were pressed into the dough using intricate wooden forms.

However, one of the earliest records of Tirggel had nothing to do with lovers, but a woman named Margreth Bucher, who was accused of being a witch.

The case against her was heard by the Zurich state court on May 2, 1487, and the accusations included the paralysis or death of numerous cattle and people, turning milk into blue flame, and copulation with the devil. The direct mention of Tirggel came in this line: