Chicken on Wheels

-got my eyes on the road, my hands upon the chicken.

After five months of living in Zurich I've finally screwed up the courage to ask the Gueggeli (dialect for 'chicken') dude parked in the supermarket parking lot down the road about his wares.  I wasn't hungry, unfortunately, as I think that buying a bird would have aided in my questioning the seller.  As it was, I think that I may have been a vaguely welcomed distraction for him during a slow period during the day.  Still he met my 'I'm foreign...tell me about your chicken' type query with a bit of a wary eye.   I'm glad that I did approach him as I learned a thing, or two, about the gueggeli biz.

Fleet of Gueggeli

Although the image on the signage and the giant-sized bird on the roof of the truck would have one think that it's only about poultry, I found out today that one can buy rotisserie ham hocks from the gueggeli mobile shop as well.  I also noticed that one is able to buy not only a regular-sized bird, but also what would appear to be a game hen-sized bird.  Half-portions are also available.  The hocks, fatty and ample, are bought per piece; there is no halving them.  Prepared salads and 'buerli', the ubiquitous bread rolls sold at bakeries and doled out with sausages in the region, are also on offer.  I can't imagine buying a half portion of chicken and a buerli and calling it lunch.  I suppose that one is really buying something that one would then take home to eat.  Rotisserie bird on-the-go doesn't seem at all that appetizing to me, never mind it being a bit finger-licking messy.  But what do I know?  I'm not Swiss.