Is summer officially over?  

My American friends told me about their weekend plans, going away, getting out of New York City, hanging out on the beach, savoring the day off on Monday for Labor Day weekend.  Not to mention enjoying their last few days wearing white linen pants!  As for my French friends, talk is all about la rentrée (the return), a much talked about time of year when schools reopen, children don their backpacks once again, and adults go back to work as well – or at least shed their summer attitude in the office.  The month of August is pretty much obligatory vacation time in France, as many businesses close, shops put up signs that they too are on summer vacation and the streets lose their hustle and bustle.  Everything then goes back to normal on September 1st.  

I am not quite ready to turn the page on summer.  The sun is still shining here in Zürich and the lake looks like confetti, dotted with a rainbow of sailboats, kayaks, windsurfers, catamarans, swimmers, rowers, swans, fishermen and rafts filled with sunbathers.  Oh, and don’t forget your Mercedes pedal boats of course (see below), some of which even come with a children’s slide attached.  It’s a regular water zoo out there.  Yet somehow, no collisions ever occur, even with large cruise ships charging through.  Rather impressive in fact.

Here’s a look at this summer in photos, the months past, but still summer days ahead…

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Nothing fishy about the flavor, it’s all about the name.  What I noticed on the bag of dried berries above was Beeren in German, meaning berry, and Groseille in French, meaning redcurrant.  If I had noticed the smaller word in French that says maquereau (meaning the oily fish mackerel), I most probably would have hesitated, and put them back on the shelf.  Who wants mackerel berries anyhow?!  But I was at Globus, Zürich’s answer to Dean & Deluca, where everything looks so colorful and perfect and so attractively delicious.  Sitting beside the bags of raisins and dried apricots, there they were.  Looking like a more firm, brighter version of mulberries, I was enticed.  A serious lover of dried fruit and forever curious in food markets, I didn’t even question it, just grabbed them.  But when I tasted one back at home, by the look of my face, you’d think I had just swallowed a whole lemon.  For me, it was extremely sour, with a displeasing aftertaste.  I would later learn that I am not alone.

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It was during the spring of 2001.  I was planning a backpacking trip around Europe with a friend, to follow our college graduation.  Seemed like a common thing to do at the time, but our trip leaned heavily toward the culinary end of things, whereas many other graduating students may have chosen to concentrate more on what to drink.  We signed up for a weeklong culinary class in Italy’s untouched hill town of Casperia, highlighted gelato shops in Rome and Florence to hit (several times a day mind you), restaurants to try in Prague, dishes to taste in Corsica, and of course, planned a stop in my favorite city, Paris.  A cooking class would be necessary there as well.  I had just read about a Frenchwoman organizing a class where you shop at a local market and cook lunch from all the ingredients just purchased.  I called Paule Caillat, and a friendship was formed.  She’ll always remember that call, and that it was a rainy day in Paris, for it was I who informed her she had been in Gourmet Magazine!  

My friend Joey and I ended up spending a fabulous day at Paule’s class, Promenades Gourmandes, starting at Paris’ oldest market, Marché des Enfants Rouges (on rue de Bretagne in the 3rd arrondissement) in the morning, cooking lunch at Paule’s apartment in Paris’ Marais neighborhood, and getting a royal tour of her favorite food shops that afternoon (with a clothing shop here or there, fashion being both Paule and Joey’s other passion).  Paule is a sprightly petite woman with more energy than a 15 year old, with so much to say and share – and no worries, all in perfect English.  Just be sure to have had breakfast before meeting her, you’ll need the energy to keep up.

Fast forward 7 years to this summer in Paris. (more…)

“Do you want what?s in the box or what?s behind the curtain?”  Famous words of Monty Hall, host of Let’s Make a Deal, one of the most popular game shows on American television during the 1960′s and 1970′s.  Contestants had to choose between curtain number 1, 2 or 3, to either fall upon an entire new living room’s worth of furnishings or a live chicken – the stress that it entailed!  Every time I approach Zürich’s main train station, I am not quite so much as stressed as genuinely curious as to what I will find behind the curtain, or rather, the station’s main doors.  Not nearly as arbitrary as the infamous curtains, the train station’s main hall transforms itself in its entirety according to season or current event.  

I became aware of the station’s changing face when entering one day, only to be confronted by a huddle of 56 foot tall replicas of eleven of Europe’s top soccer stars, their faces created with the most realistic precision (thanks to Geomagic digital reconstruction software, apparently).  This was of course during the months that Zürich was one of the cities in Switzerland and Austria to host the Euro Cup, the prestigious soccer tournament that takes place every 4 years.  In one month’s time, that same space was occupied by tremendous glass chandeliers, a dancefloor set for a Summer Night Ball, soon replaced by a full out club during the Techno Parade, well, I began to catch on.

For me, the most exciting transformation happens more than once a year – 37 Wednesdays to be exact – when it becomes a food market! (more…)

From July 1st to August 17th, Zürich’s calm lakeside had a rather large addition… in the form of a 3300 square foot movie screen!  Film buffs, families, and even non cinema-goers all look forward to this annual event, when Zürich (as well as Bern, Basel, Lausanne and Geneva) hosts the annual Orange Cinema festival. Thirty shows include top films of the moment, classics, cult movies and premieres, mostly from the US, but also from France, Switzerland, UK, Spain, Italy and Israel.  

A big attraction of the event is of course seeing a great movie supersized, but also the unbeatable ambience right on the lake – staring at a screen with waves undulating below it, boats passing by on either side, with just the mountains and sky behind.  But also… the food.  No popcorn at this movie.  And no tiny kiosk with just 1 or 2 options either.  Full-out restaurants and plenty of tables and chairs surrounding the stadium seats were available.  

The longest line seemed to be at Hiltl (there and at the counter where they were distributing free Creme d’Or ice cream cones), as is the case at their restaurants all around town too.  It’s the number one spot in Zürich for vegetarian food, and I’d almost go so far as to say one of the hottest spots in Zürich period, vegetarian or not.  I’m sure a large percentage of fans are not even vegetarian (including myself and Olivier).  They chose an Asian theme for the movie festival, and were serving exotic dishes such as Malaysian Rendang, Masaman Thai Curry (recipe below) and Satay Tofu.  More well-known dishes of theirs were also available, and even a smaller version of their famous salad bar.  Perhaps a homemade Mango Lassi to go with, or a cocktail from another bar set up near the screen, and this is a dinner and a movie that will be hard to beat.  I don’t quite have advice for setting up a 3000 square foot screen, but as for reproducing Hiltl’s curry dish at home, there I can help:

Hiltl’s Masaman Thai Curry 

Peel the potatoes and dice them into 2 cm cubes. Dice the eggplant and peppers into 2 cm cubes. Peel the onions and cut them into eighths. Heat the peanut oil, add the curry paste and let sweat. Add the potatoes and cook with the oil and curry paste. Cover with water, season and cook briefly until soft. Add the eggplant, peppers, onions and coconut milk. Simmer gently for approximately 5 minutes. Bind with corn flour. Slice the (unpeeled) apple and add directly to the mixture. Cover and cook for 5 minutes, then add the peanuts. Serve with basmati rice. 

Tip:  Curry paste is available in shops selling Thai or Indian foods. However, it often contains shrimp, so be sure to check the ingredients. For this reason, Hiltl prepares all its curry pastes in house.

www.hiltl.com

Chocolate, summertime… well that means melted chocolate, sticky fingers and messy faces.  Or perhaps big cones of cool chocolate ice cream.  But it can also mean a creative time for chocolatiers to come up with new recipes for chocolate bars that play up summer ingredients and fresh fruits, and new combinations of flavors for the hot months.  It might be wise to avoid the 90 degree days to buy and taste these chocolates, but don’t wait too long, they might already be off the shelves.

Lindt introduced its Summer Edition chocolate bars, and you can’t miss them in Zürich’s supermarkets, out on display on fake beds of ice.  All the bars have two things in common – when you open the traditional packaging, you find 18 individual mini squares, rather than one big bar to break up yourself.  That’s one thing.  The other is that they’re all delectable and a welcome addition to the typical summer treats.  Furthermore, Lindt recommends that you eat them straight out of the fridge, avoiding those sticky fingers and messy faces.

I am a dark chocolate person, as will surely be repeated on this blog many a time.  I can do milk chocolate, especially if it comes in the form of Pralus’ Mélisse bar or the original Toblerone, which will always hold a place near and dear to my heart.  But as for white chocolate, I just don’t do it.  It’s technically not chocolate anyway, no cocoa liquor at all, only cocoa butter and other assorted fats.  That said, when I saw Strawberry-Rhubarb as one of Lindt’s summer flavors, I immediately grabbed it, adoring this combination in jams, tarts and just about anything at all.  But when I realized it was white chocolate, I had to struggle to keep it in my cart.  I did, and figured I might as well add another white chocolate bar while I was at it, so Stracciatella joined the mix.  Lindt makes an excellent creamy white chocolate, it has to be said.  Stracciatella had little bits of chocolate and crisped rice, while the Strawberry-Rhubarb squares had tiny strawberry crispies and according to the ingredient list, rhubarb powder.  I mostly enjoyed the texture, creamy on the outside and these little crispy surprises on the inside.  But I quickly put them aside to try another of the line, the Passion-Orange, these crispies being blood orange flavored and the powder passionfruit.  All in a dark chocolate shell.  Superb.  Easy to pop these little guys like whoppers, you have been warned.

Another chocolate company with a limited edition line of chocolate bars this summer is Dolfin, from Belgium.  I am already saddened at the thought that I won’t be able to buy their Douceurs de Verger (Sweetness from the Orchard) or Souvenirs d’Eté (Memories of Summer) whenever I please.   Both chocolates are made only in a mini version of 30g, while Dolfin’s well-known line of 19 bars is 70g.  

Four thin rectangles snap loudly when broken, just like a perfectly tempered chocolate should, these being 60% cocoa.  The first bar manages to bring images of a summer orchard, without leaving behind its flavors and aromas – bits of apple, peach and apricot went into these bars, along with vanilla and a surprise ingredient: rooibos tea.  Superbly subtle and perfectly blended, it was delicious.  As was the other bar, titled Apple Crumble.  You get an immediate punch of apple, dominated by cinnamon, and supporting stars: hazelnuts, cane sugar and vanilla rounding it all out.

These bars are sure to be eaten so fast, you’ll even be sad there’s no melted bits to lick off your fingers. Afterall, that’s part of the fun of eating chocolate in the summertime.  

There is something about visiting food markets in Europe that just gets me all happy and giggly.  I could easily spend hours walking around, gazing at the different colored fruits and vegetables, reading the signs, which – depending on my travels – are often in different languages and showing prices in different currencies.  It’s this sense of what is foreign and new, yet what is so familiar at the same time.  Having lived in Paris and still returning quite often, I know the markets pretty well there, so while blending in like a local at times, I also stick out like a tourist with my camera in hand, as I ogle the gorgeous displays of produce.  When I first moved to Zürich, one thing I did right away was search out the local market.  A place I would get to know very quickly.  But I still stick out like a tourist!

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Life does not always run in a nice, straight line. There are also bends, curves and the occasional obstacle to negotiate.

Or so they say at the Rhätische Bahn, the network of trains that includes the Bernina Express, the only way to cross the Alps from north to south by railway. Traveling on some of the world’s most beautiful railway routes, its panorama train cars have tall vertical windows, so that looking in any direction assures you of a spectacular view. It’s simply a photographer’s heaven (aside from the reflections of fellow passengers off the glass). The trains are unique, not only with their observation coaches, but also in that they can reach elevations and inclines that normal trains can not.

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It’s a lucky day in China, the 8th day of the 8th month of the 8th year in the 21st century, as Beijing hosts the 29th Olympic games of the modern world.  And so, as a nod to today’s opening ceremonies, a quick trip back to… Greece.  I don’t mean thousands and thousands of years ago, necessarily.  I’m actually referring to the summer of 2006, when Olivier and I spent 4 months traveling the world.  And it all started in the Peloponnese.

The very first stop we made was in Olympia.  It was powerful to stand on the very ground where the Olympics all began.  So with that, a quick history lesson…

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