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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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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I have to admit, I didn’t mind going to school when I was younger. I even loved taking notes, which I still do.  But I doubt I was asking for homework, like I recently did here in Zürich. What kind of class was this, you wonder… Chocolate, but of course. It was actually a class on chocolate and wine, even if my focus was certainly on the former. Our instructors taught us all about the cacao bean and the grape, what they consider two of the most fascinating products on earth.

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It’s starting to get real exciting at the markets here in Zürich.  We’ve already had a few tastes of summer, and berries are making their first appearances, mostly coming from Spain and Italy.  Best of all, rhubarb is now in the spotlight !  I noticed the long, green-topped, ruby stalks at the Coop (local supermarket) a few weeks ago, but as they were grown in hot-houses (and who knows where), I waited ever so patiently for the local crop to show.  Swiss rhubarb is now at every stand at the markets and I can hardly resist buying some each time I go.  Those bright stalks stick out of my market bag like a French baguette, and I hurry home to turn them into a quick pot of jam, or chop them up and throw them into the oven hiding beneath a mountain of buttery crumble topping.

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I went to Rome.  And I visited the Colosseum, the Pantheon, the Forum, Campidoglio and Campo dei Fiori.  But I know what you’ve all been asking.  What and where did I eat ?!

Even though my lists only had addresses for gelato, chocolate, torrone, pastries and breads, remember, I wasn’t alone on this trip.  So I did sort of have to eat some savory.  And hey, it’s Italy… land of pasta, pizza, prosciutto, mozzarella and more.  I was okay with that.

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It’s not that I’ve been keeping it a secret from you.  I simply never mentioned one of my all-time favorite restaurants in Zürich.  It’s where I have a monthly lunch date with a friend.  It’s where my mom asks to go for lunch as soon as she arrives at the airport here.  It’s where I take friends who are visiting, as well as my carnivorous husband.  It’s Hiltl, Europe’s oldest vegetarian restaurant, since 1898.

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I hope 2011 has gotten off to a sweet start for everyone! It is certain to be full of new discoveries and adventures for me, with travels near and far.  We’ll be home in Zürich, bouncing around Switzerland and going beyond the borders to wherever the train may take us.  Perhaps heading to more exotic destinations too.  And let’s not forget all the adventures in the kitchen. Many food bloggers have been compiling their “best of” lists and sharing their favorite travel and food experiences of 2010, which naturally got me thinking too. It’s fun to browse through photos of past trips and recall memorable tastes that demand to be recreated.

What are your travel and food highlights from the past year? Here are some of mine…

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It was back in July of 2009, with the excitement of a child, that I announced the sweet news that Zürich would have its very own Ladurée boutique. I nearly jumped out of my seat when I found out, being a loyal fan for over a decade. So you can just imagine how high I jumped at the opportunity to actually translate the new Ladurée cookbook! But first, back to the story we go…

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They say “everything is better with Coke.” For me, everything is better with chocolate.  And dates.  That’s how I ended up baking not just tahini shortbread, but tahini chocolate shortbread… and tahini date shortbread.  Both irresistible, especially the latter.
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