I love medieval villages.  (Murten/Morat, Gruyères, Stein am Rhein and Chur to name a few.)  The more crooked the structures, the more mismatched the bricks and stones and wooden beams, the more I’m fascinated.  Whether in Switzerland, France, Italy or Portugal, I roam up and down the roughly cobbled streets of these labyrinthine villages, ooh-ing and ah-ing at the imposing doors and the seemingly indestructible ironwork.  I could listen for hours to my husband (or his encyclopedic father) share historical tidbits, while I gaze up at the years engraved into the buildings going back well beyond the 15th century.  All I can say is, thank goodness for digital film.  Every blink of the eye is a photo opportunity.

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On my recent ‘Sweet Geneva’ tours, there was certainly a recurring theme.  The window displays of every chocolate shop in town were taken over by soup cauldrons made of chocolate !  Filled with marzipan vegetables and emblazoned with Geneva’s red and yellow coat of arms, you simply couldn’t miss it.  Pots made out of chocolate… in Geneva… that can mean only one thing: la Fête de l’Escalade, bien sûr !

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It’s all just too exciting, so I’ll simply come out and say it: the Salon du Chocolat, the world’s largest event dedicated to chocolate, will be taking place in Switzerland for the first time !  Better yet, it will be here in Zürich (at Messe Zürich) from March 30 to April 1, 2012.  Mark your calendars for a sweet event not to be missed !

And guess what else… I’m helping organize it !!  I’m thrilled to be working again with Salon du Chocolat founders Sylvie Douce and François Jeantet and their team in Paris.  (I worked with them on the New York Chocolate Show when living there several years ago.)  Read the rest of this entry »

Recognizable by its signature snail logo, the Slow Food organization is all about understanding more about the food we eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices impact the rest of the world.  Pretty much, everything that is lost with fast food !  While Slow Food Switzerland has been around since 1993, we just had our first ever Slow Food Market (Il Salone del Buon Gusto / Le Salon du Bon Goût) in Zürich, where local and regional producers connected directly with the public. Taste, discover, discuss and buy.  I had the pleasure of listening to Slow Food founder Carlo Petrini speak (in German, Italian and French !) about the concept of “Retour à la Nature“; the Terra Madre network of food communities, defined by place of origin; as well as how that all meshes with the values of Swiss artisans and consumers.  “Slow Food unites the pleasure of food with responsibility, sustainability and harmony with nature.”

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Sweet Zürich tours go west !

I am taking my sweet tooth to Geneva, to reveal addresses of the city’s most passionate artisans, who will share their craft with us, whether that’s baking and decorating seasonal cakes, or perfecting a ganache and adding some rather nontraditional ingredients to it.  We’ll discover Carouge, the neighborhood south of Geneva’s old town, with a rich history and an Italian flair, and a charm all its own.

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When October rolls around, you may be thinking Halloween and candy corn, pumpkins, falling leaves or a colorful Indian summer.  Me ?  I’m thinking chocolate. Nothing out of the ordinary, but this time, chocolate in Paris. It was my annual pilgrimage to the Salon du Chocolat, a chocolate fair like no other, in its 17th year. Time for a round-up of my favorite tastes at the show… If you were there, be sure to share yours too !

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For those of you who are familiar with bagels, this could be a very divisive post: New York City vs. Montreal. But this is no simple battle of H&H vs. St-Viateur (each city’s most famous bagel maker, respectively), nor is my very favorite bagel from either of those two places. Unfortunately, it’s not from Zürich either, where I live. So on my transatlantic travels, I often bring back bags of bagels in my suitcase. Into the freezer pre-sliced (a must), they toast perfectly and taste almost like fresh. So where do I go for the best bagel ? Great Neck.

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My recent travels found me eating pasta, risotto, polenta and gelato, and listening to the musical sounds of the Italian language.

While your minds may be full of romantic images, like crossing the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, strolling through the Borghese Gardens in Rome, perhaps shopping in Milan or simply eating pasta all day long in Bologna,… I’m not even talking about Italy.  I’m talking about Switzerland.  Yes, Switzerland, the country with a distinctive Italian speaking canton in the South, called Ticino (or Tessin in German), where you often forget you’re actually not in Italy.

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Over the past few years living in Zürich, there have been innumerable “only in Switzerland” moments. Local festivals come to mind, especially Stoos Schwinget, the country’s national sport, where large men dressed in sky blue Edelweiss-clad shirts hold on to each other’s shorts and wrestle to the ground, within a circle of saw dust. (There’s rock throwing contests, alphorn players and yodeling there too.) The hot air balloon festival in Château d’Oex is a must see, the sky filled with enormous, colorful balloons against a breathtaking backdrop of snow-covered Alps. Yet another jaw-dropping visual is White Turf in St. Moritz, when dark, handsome horses race on a frozen lake.  It’s simply spectacular.  And finally, I can now add Alpabfahrt to that list of unforgettable Swiss events. Alpabfahrt ?  Time for Swiss cows to come home; summer vacation on the Alps is over.

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Not a day goes by that I don’t have at least a few squares of dark chocolate.  It’s often one of my old standbys, like Felchlin 65%, Ballenberg with salted pistachios or Lindt with fleur de sel.   But most of the time, I am tasting new brands from Switzerland and all over the world.  With a recent birthday and lots of chocolatey care packages coming my way, my chocolate stash was overflowing – even more so than usual.  That means one thing… time for a new roundup ! Don’t forget to let me know what you’ve been tasting too.

Let’s start with my favorite new find, chocolate bars from Hausammann bakery in Zürich.  They may be known for having the city’s best zopf (arguable, of course), but it’s now my go-to address for chocolate.  Standing on line for bread one day, I noticed a whole array of chocolate bars in the corner with Felchlin’s signature Grand Cru emblem.  I quickly gave up my spot to check it out, and I’m so glad I did.  Using Felchlin’s couverture, Hausammann puts their personal touch on it thereafter – several varieties of milk chocolate with wild berries, caramel or hazelnuts and a few dark bars as well. I of course grabbed the latter, one of which was dark chocolate with vanilla and nougat. A very thick bar, no where near stingy on the nuts and a real homemade feel to it.  Perfect for a sweet afternoon snack.

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