From Zürich, we had taken a 4.5 hour train ride to Paris, and after a stop in the countryside for the holidays, it was a 12 hour flight to Singapore, followed by a 2.5 hour flight to Denpasar, Bali.  This was certainly “getting away.”  It was late evening when we arrived, so our first experience with Indonesia was in its sounds and smells, not yet its sights and beautiful landscapes for which it is known.  Staying in a house in the middle of the rice fields in southern Bali, we could only imagine what it would look like the next morning.  A lightning storm all throughout the night offered us an excellent preview.  We tried to catch each flash, as we listened to the sounds of cow bells, exotic birds, animals we had no idea how to identify, Muslim chants far in the distance (at 4am), roosters crowing and scooters whizzing by.

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It’s the day after Christmas, and we’re still finding pieces of wrapping paper in all corners of the house, red and green ribbon and tiny pieces of clementine peel that Papa Noël (Santa Claus) left behind when he visited us here in the French countryside.  It was a Christmas overflowing with traditions – the house full of family coming in from all over Europe, the children running around like mad totally excited about the presents to come, my mother-in-law busy at the stove (and me by her side as Sous Chef), cooking up her annual Christmas Day feast (un délice!), and small dishes of Papillotes, individual wrapped chocolates, to be found in every room of the house.  The Christmas tree decorated, lights hanging outside the house, the fine china dusted off for the family meal, and everyone’s slippers or shoes in front of the fireplace (no stockings here) ready to be filled with presents.  And again, that never-ending supply of Papillotes.  It’s great because for several days, it’s totally normal to grab a chocolate before breakfast, a few on the way to dinner, before going to bed… c’est Noël, it’s Christmas!

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Nothing like one last trip to the market before Christmas time.  No more wreaths to buy, as they’re hanging on all of the doors around town.  Only a bushel here or there of mistletoe – such a difference from a month ago when it first arrived at the market in heaps.  All the little “bonhommes de pain,” cute men made out of bread, have been bought and distributed to children, or gobbled up by their parents.  Chestnuts are all probably sitting by the fireplace, ready for roasting.  But there’s still a plethora of great produce to be had – tons of varieties of apples and root vegetables, plus bright orange clementines coming from Spain that are juicy and sweet as sugar.  There’s also a fabulous array of nuts in their shells (walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds) and delicious dried fruit – dates on the vine from Tunisia, figs stuffed with anise, plump apricots and chewy apple rings.  Perfect for decorating the table and snacking all at once. Read the rest of this story >>

Tonight (Sunday, December 21st) is the first night of Chanukah, the Jewish Festival of Lights.  As is often the case in Jewish history, a miracle happened (the underdog Jewish forces defeated a mighty army), and so today we remember the event and celebrate – with symbolic foods of course.  Chanukah (also “correctly” spelled Hannukah and Hanukkah due to linguistic differences between English and Hebrew) reminds us of the oil that burned for eight days instead of one, and kept the Holy Temple in Israel lit after the Jews defeated the Syrian Greeks.  We therefore light candles on a menorah for eight nights, starting with one candle on the first night, and adding one more each night. On the eighth and final night of Chanukah, all candles are lit.

Chanukah customs involve eating foods fried in oil, especially sufganiot, deep-fried, jelly filled doughnuts.  And no holiday table would be complete without latkes (potato pancakes).  Here in Zürich, it seems like it’s Chanukah on the table every day, lunch and dinner, in every Swiss restaurant you go.  After all, many consider the national dish to be Rösti, which is a side dish of fried grated potatoes.  So does potato latke = Rösti ?

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The snow fell here in Zürich and I went right into the kitchen to bake cookies, an association I have been making since I was a child.  Back then it was just your basic Tollhouse recipe; this time it was my own Banana Macadamia Chocolate Chunk cookies. The snow has stopped falling and the city still looks like it is draped in a clean white sheet.  White every which way you look; it’s beautiful.  Big pillows of meringue top the roofs of houses and royal icing coats the church spires.  

After a walk around the city admiring the wintery – and sugary – scenery, I went back into the kitchen to whip up a bowl of the most snowy white meringue I could.  

Egg whites and sugar.  That’s all meringue is made of, just these two simple ingredients.  Some people add a touch of salt or cornstarch as a stabilizer; this will depend on the freshness of your eggs and if you’re more interested in volume or stability.  If you want volume, go for eggs that are 3-4 days old.  For stability, fresh eggs are best.  Either way, separate your eggs when cold (it’s easier), and then be sure to let the whites come to room temperature before you start whipping, or it will take much longer to get them going. It’s true that there are a lot of “rules” when making meringue, and I do recommend heeding them all to ensure that your egg whites do not stay flat and airless: equipment should be clean as a whistle, not a trace of egg yolk in the bowl, avoid humid days for baking, and a copper bowl is best followed by stainless steel and glass – but not plastic.  Keep these things in mind as well as a basic proportion, and you have carte blanche to play in the kitchen as you please.  I love making meringues for that reason, and also because licking the bowl (and whisk) is one of life’s little pleasures.  

For this time, I went with plain meringues to follow my snowy white theme.  But I’ll be making meringues again, and you can bet there will be a variety of fun mix-ins.  Until then…

Plain Meringues

Preheat oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit (120 degrees Celsuis).

Beat egg whites and salt in a clean bowl for a few minutes until they get frothy.  With mixer on, or whisk in continuous motion, gradually add sugar spoonful by spoonful.  If using whisk, continue for as long as your arm will allow and then call for backup!  (Since my stand mixer sadly does not work in Switzerland, I use a hand mixer with my elbow propped up against the wall and a magazine in front of me!)  You’re looking for stiff peaks – so that when you lift the whisk from the unbaked meringue and turn it upside down, the batter will stand up straight and not flop over (soft peaks).  

Bake for one hour and check to see if they lift easily off of the parchment paper/baking mat.  If they stick, they are not done yet.  When they are, turn the oven off and open the door.  Let the meringues continue to dry out for another hour.

This way they will have a crispy hard shell and stay nice and chewy in the center.

No Christmas market here in Switzerland would be complete without mulled wine (Glühwein in German, vin chaud in French), Raclette (Swiss cheese melted under a grill and scraped off onto a slice of bread), and crêpes.  That’s especially the case at Zürich’s Hauptbahnhof, the city’s main train station, where you’ll find the largest indoor Christmas market in all of Europe.  Both traditional and festive aromas waft up and down the spacious rows – cheese, sausage, gingerbread, anise, sugar, more cheese, and oh that Glühwein.  You are never more than a few stands away from a huge vat of hot, spiced red wine.  Nor are you ever out of view of the Christmas tree near the entrance to the station.

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With snow falling outside and a couple of very ripe bananas in my fruit bowl, there was only one thing to do: bake.  It’s rare that I have the opportunity to bake anything with bananas, as much as I love to.  The problem is: while brown bananas are perfect for baking and throwing in the freezer for smoothies at the ready, I also love to eat them. Some people think “ew” (beurk) when they see real brown bananas.  I see sweet, as all the starch has turned to sugar.  So if I can resist not eating them, then that means it’s time to turn the oven on.

Ever since I was a child, I have always associated snow outside with baking chocolate chip cookies inside. Classic chocolate chip cookies, using the recipe on the back of the Tollhouse chocolate chip bag.  But those bananas were very tempting, as was the thought of smelling fresh baked banana bread.  So, what did I do? I compromised, with a banana cookie.  I used both white and whole wheat flour, mashed banana and chopped semisweet chocolate.  I am (usually) a purist when it comes to my cookies – no nuts.  But then I thought of the great combination of banana and macadamia nuts, and I couldn’t resist trying it out.  After a few batches and playing with the recipe, it worked.  

Now all the bananas are gone and the snow has stopped falling.  It’s time to go back to the market for a new batch of yellow bananas; I’m sure by the time they are good and brown, it will be snowing again.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 degrees Celsius).  Whisk together flours, salt and baking soda in a small bowl; set aside.

Cream together butter and sugars until pale and fluffy.  Mix in egg and vanilla.  Blend in mashed banana.  Gradually add flour mixture; mix until just combined.  Stir in chocolate and macadamia nuts, make sure they are well dispersed. 

Using a small ice cream scoop if you have one (makes for same size cookies and even baking), drop dough onto baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between cookies ? they will spread.  Bake for 12-14 minutes, depending if you like them soft and chewy or more firm and crispy around the edges.  

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

What’s at the market now, you ask?  Mistletoe, mistletoe, and more mistletoe!

Approaching the Bürkliplatz Markt here in Zürich, you can see from afar that there’s something new and different at the market.  Big green bushels have taken over all of the stands.  With Christmas only two weeks away, the market has been real busy in the mornings, not many people leaving without a mistletoe branch in hand. Read the rest of this story >>

It would be the perfect holiday gift, if I could only stop nibbling at it in my kitchen.  I just made an extra crispy, wholesome and very colorful batch of granola.  There are so many benefits to making your own granola, aside from the delicious aromas in the kitchen.  You get to decide exactly what goes in it.  If you don’t like almonds, there will be no almonds.  If you love raisins, go ahead and throw a few extra handfuls in!  But even more important than that, you get to snack on it right after it comes out of the oven, when it’s still warm and getting crispier by the minute.
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I would love to say that I have tasted every kugelhopf in Colmar, and thus can assure you of where you’ll find the very best.  But I’ve still got my work cut out for me.  There’s an awful lot of kugelhopf around, in just about every pastry shop window in town!

In Colmar’s historical center, while you stroll up and down the winding cobblestone streets, admiring the architecture of the old wooden houses and their colorful facades, you can also pop into any number of shops to pick up some kitschy Alsatian souvenirs, as well as earthenware molds in assorted shapes, sizes and colors.  You’ll pass boulangeries and patisseries with bretzels hanging on wooden sticks on the counter, linzer tartes, aniseed cookies… and oh those kugelhopf.

With impeccable rows of kugelhopf, mini kugelhopf (above), langhopf and other assorted goodies in the window, it’s no wonder there are always people ogling in front of Patisserie Gilg.  I recommend actually going in to get a closer look, for a taste or two, and especially for a lively discussion with the friendly people behind the counter. The day I was there, it was Nicolas and Karine, always smiling and ready to share information about the history behind the Gilg family (3rd generation now), each and every gorgeous pastry and individual chocolate, or the difference between the Alsatian specialities, kugelhopf and langhopf.  Here’s your answer: the langhopf, while made of the same yeast dough as the kugelhopf and baked in an earthenware mould, only elongated, also has hazelnuts, walnuts, cinnamon and is covered in cinnamon sugar.   

It all started in 1936, when Paul Gilg took over his siblings’ pastry shop in the Alsatian town of Munster.  His grandson Thierry now carries on the tradition, with a second address in Colmar, maintaining the high standards of quality set forth by his grandfather.  The Colmar shop is bright and modern inside, and recipes follow a mix of tradition and innovation.  The Cube is one of Paul Gilg’s creations, and still a popular item, made with milk chocolate, chocolate cream and hazelnuts. Thierry Gilg became a member of Relais Desserts International with his own creation, Jade: milk chocolate mousse infused with Matcha tea and a soft almond biscuit.  

And then there are the chocolates: ganaches, pralines and caramels – each an excellent play on flavor and texture.  I asked Nicolas to tell me about the chocolates, thinking I would get a few to try.  But with all of his irresistible descriptions, I ended up with almost every one, including Le Petit Munster.  No, it’s not a chocolate with cheese in it, but it still has a strong flavor.  It’s made with Marc de Gewurztraminer, the Alsatian Eaux-de-vie that some compare to an Italian grappa.  

I love that you can buy a box of these Petit Munster chocolates in a classic round, wooden cheese box.  I think I might have to go to the Munster shop for a box – a perfect gift item with a bit of fun to it.  I can already see my French mother-in-law thrilled at the idea of cheese brought back from Alsace – only for her face to light up when she sees chocolates inside!  Oh, and while I’m there, I suppose I can pick up another kugelhopf or two… for me.

Patisserie Gilg

http://www.patisserie-gilg.com/