Tales of cheese and chocolate.

This blog post is not so much about culinary creations as culinary experiences.  What do you think of when you think of Switzerland?  Fresh air, mountains, army knives, banking or designer watches?  My first thoughts are of cheese and chocolate, and I was really looking forward to my first visit...

I had not been abroad for eight years (the last time was my honeymoon) when my friend invited me to Switzerland for her wedding. I was keen to find out more about food and drink in this beautiful country.  On the day I arrived in the village of Moiry, in the canton of Vaud,  there was a  houseful of guests.  Family and friends came and went all day long, enjoying pizza, pasta, salad, Swiss wine, coffee, chocolates, chat and each other’s company. We also enjoyed sachertorte brought back by my friend from a recent visit to Vienna. I really enjoyed the wine and wondered why I had never had Swiss wine before.  On doing some research, only 2% of it is exported, I think they like to keep it all for themselves, it was certainly very delicious.

The following morning,  we breakfasted on fresh bread with jams and marmalade, fruit juice and lovely coffee.  I’m usually a tea person in the mornings but decided to embrace change, as I was feeling very continental, I was told the Swiss only drink tea if they are ill.  After helping with preparations for my friend’s civil ceremony (a small family only event), and lunching on leftovers, the wedding party departed and I was left to my own devices for the rest of the day with another friend who was staying at the house but also not going to the civil ceremony.  

We borrowed bikes and headed for La Sarraz, two villages away and where we had got off the train the day before, on a mission to buy mint for the Pimm’s to be served at the big wedding party the following day.  After a stroll round the Co-op,  we found the mint (the last pack available) and picked up some fish and vegetables for dinner later.  Chocolate for my children was also purchased, as I’d promised to bring them some back.  I took a photo of some strangely dyed eggs, which I think were pre-hardboiled. The bike ride back to Moiry was uphill all the way, the sun had come out with a vengeance and we certainly broke out into a sweat, but made it back easily – passing cows with bells, goats and even some nuns en route.

After some chill-out time, and a walk through the village and into the forest, we returned to cook dinner.  The fish we had bought was pangasius, which I hadn’t heard of before.  I googled it and wished I hadn’t as there are some very scaremongering websites claiming it is unsustainable and could even make you ill due to dodgy aquaculture practices.  After some research I decided the good reviews outweighed the bad, and pan fried it with dill and served it on a bed of ribboned courettes and carrots with cherry tomatoes, accompanied by crusty bread.  I would say it wasn’t the tastiest fish in the world and I probably wouldn’t buy it again but it was ok, and we didn’t have any ill effects.

On Saturday morning we were up quite early as preparations had to be made for the big wedding party to be held at a Chalet, about forty minutes’ drive away, higher up in the mountains.  The wedding ceremony was to be held in a clearing in the pastureland, in a home-made “church” with the “aisle” and seating made out of hay and hay bales, and at the front an archway of pieces of wood, decorated with flowers.  The reception meal and party was to be held in a (very clean) barn area, which was also decorated.

When all was as it should be we had some lunch before it was time to get changed.  I had a “croque” of ham on bread with mustard, covered with melted cheese and what looked like paprika on the top.  I was informed that often the bread is quite stale so they soak it in wine first, although they hadn’t this time.  It was accompanied by gherkins and small pickled onions, which later I found to be a common accompaniment to savoury food, and very delicious.  I love gherkins! After this we went to a small hotel about ten minutes’ drive away where I would be staying overnight to get changed, and returned to the chalet for the ceremony and reception.

The ceremony was very unusual, combining a rock & roll theme with music, poetry and readings in both French and English (this was the French-speaking part of Switzerland).  It included what was what was termed the wine ceremony.  The guests had each written on a card a good wish for the happy couple and the two youngest bridesmaids collected these in a basket while music played.  The cards were sealed up in a wooden box containing a large bottle of red wine, the idea being that in five years’ time all would be invited back to drink the wine while the couple read the messages from their wedding day.  At this point the bride and groom drank wine out of two large trophies, which were then offered to the rest of the adult congregation as more music played. Next came the exchange of vows and rings, and they were declared married!  The bride and groom walked back up the aisle together to the strains of “You are the one for me, for me, for me, formidable” by Charles Aznavour. 

Afterwards there was photography (brief) and then the guests headed off to the chalet for aperitifs of Pimm’s or Swiss wine, accompanied by bread, breasaola (Italian air dried salted beef) and the usual gherkins and pickled onions.   When it was time to eat, each guest picked out their name card, which were pegged to string outside the barn and matched it to their place inside.  I was on the Jimi Hendrix table, with lots of people I knew and some I had just met.  Wine and conversation flowed, and as we waited for the starter there was a game of “Mr & Mrs” where the newlyweds sat on high stools at the front with placards with “ME/MOI” and “HIM/HER” on them, when asked questions by the guests they used the placards to display their answers, to much hilarity! Sugar cubes were also distributed to the guests, with a piece of coloured paper on which to write a message to the newly married couple, and some ribbon.  Each guest wrapped their sugar cube in their message and tied the ribbon round to make a tiny “present”.  The next day these were presented to the couple in a tin to take home, the idea being that every time they had sugar in their coffee they would find a message.

 

The starter was a salad buffet, with green leaves, assorted shredded cabbage and carrot salad with a choice of three dressings.  Each table was called to the buffet in turn when a song by the rock band of their table was played.  The main course was served to the table.  Roast pork with a delicious gravy reminiscent of the IKEA meatball gravy only much, much nicer; accompanied by garden vegetables and a creamy potato bake.  After all had eaten, a second helping was offered.  Before dessert, speeches were made by bride, groom, and bride’s father, some in both languages and some in just French. Dessert was meringues with fruit and double cream, and very scrumptious.  Before, during and after dessert, a live band played, a disco followed and there was much dancing and general merriment into the early hours.

The next morning I woke at 9.15am and after a quick wash and brush up, checked out of the hotel and went back to the chalet for breakfast, which was almost over but not quite!  Coffee, bread, two cheeses (gruyere and a creamy brie-like cheese), and jam were enjoyed al fresco.  After the clearing up was completed and some goodbyes had been said to those who were heading for home, we returned to Moiry for a restful day as some of us felt a little delicate!

We had a late lunch (cooked by my friend) of pasta with a creamy sauce of onions, bacon and gruyere, known as macaroni cheese d’alpage (only it was rigatoni!) but affectionately known to the family as “stinky pasta”!! Most of the day was spent sitting on the sunny balcony with coffee and little chocolates, or napping and the evening meal was a simple affair of bread, cheese (including a fabulous soft cheese with walnuts) and Swiss red wine.  I was also offered a sneaky meringue with cream as my friend began preparations for the next day’s dessert, a tart made with raisinee a “vin cuit” or cooked wine.  She explained to me what raisinee is, here is an explanation I found on the internet:

The “vin cuit” is a kind of very thick syrup, made out of fallen apples and/or pears that cannot be sold or eaten raw…  A second-life is given to them: they are crushed, so that their juice is extracted. This juice is then cooked for so long that it reduces and becomes thick and syrupy, like a kind of molasses.  To produce 1 kilo of raisinée, at least 10 kilos of juice is needed. The mixture has to be stirred carefully in a cauldron with a wooden spoon, over an open wood fire and it should not be left unattended because when overcooked the juice becomes bitter.

I was told that it needs to be stirred for twenty four hours and that villagers would take turns to stir it through the night. An early night followed, as tomorrow I was to be introduced to the delights of raclette!  Something I had heard about and eagerly anticipated…

I was up quite early and after a breakfast of hazelnut yoghurt, bread and jam with coffee, I helped with the preparations for the raclette party and barbecue that was to happen at lunchtime, thirty adults and many children had been invited, so there was much to do.  The garden was decorated with lanterns and the wedding flowers, bunting and table decorations, triangular sun canopies were put up to give some shade to the three large tables with benches either side,  and the tarte raisinee and a tarte a la crème were cooked.  Drinks were organised – Swiss beer, Swiss wine, coffee and Pimm’s for the grown-ups and iced tea and sprite for the children (the sprite was cooled in the “fountain” – which was really the cow watering trough just across the road), plus lots of water as it was quite a hot and sunny day. Crisps and snacks were put on the table; there was a sort of savoury croissant-like pastry stuffed with minced meat, and a baguette stuffed with a mixture of egg, ham and gherkins.  Many people brought assorted salads and the kitchen resembled a patisserie as there were SIX tartes of various kinds and two kinds of homemade biscuits (some tasted like they had caraway seeds in and the others were light and melt-in-the-mouth, a bit like trifle sponges only nicer).

In the corner of the garden there was a round table with the raclette “apparatus” on it.  Raclette is both the name of the cheese and the dish with which it is made.  The whole cheeses are about 6kg in weight and nearly one and a half of these were consumed at the party.  “Racler” means “to scrape” and the aim of the apparatus is to heat the cut surface of the cheese, melting it so that it can be scraped off and eaten with a variety of things, traditionally boiled potatoes and the now very familiar pickled onions and gherkins.  Raclette was one of those foods that I ended up having to eat with my eyes shut to fully appreciate the flavour! Each of the three half cheeses at the party had a subtly different flavour, and all were completely and utterly delicious.  There was a long queue and two men had the full time job of serving the raclette, although they were relieved later so that they could eat some.

There was also a barbecue happening at the same time, with the smell of sizzling marinated pork steaks and Swiss sausages floating through the air mingled with the smell of the cooking cheese.  The pork was very tasty, and so were the sausages.  There were two sorts, a white fat sausage called Kalbsbratwurst and another longer, thinner spicier one reminiscent of chorizo.  I only had a small piece of each though as I had to save room for the tartes.

There were two tartes a la crème, one made by my friend with puff pastry, and a similar one made by someone else with short pastry.  There was the tarte raisinee, a linzertorte (with jam and a sponge like base), an apricot tart and one made with hazelnuts drizzled with icing. I had to try a little piece of each for research purposes!  The tarte raisinee and the puff pastry tarte a la crème were the winners in my book, but all were delicious.

All too soon it was time to say goodbye, leave the party and leave Switzerland.  I was sad to go but really looking forward to seeing my family again.  The journey to the airport was easy, we arrived in plenty of time to buy large amounts of chocolate to take home to my friends and family, and get ideas for future macaroon flavours from a shop at the airport.  All went smoothly, we took off early, and I said goodbye to Geneva, looking out of the plane window as the lights twinkled in the darkness like diamonds on a Swiss watch.

During my time in Switzerland I met lots of new people from all over the world and enjoyed talking to them about their food experiences and their likes and dislikes.  I always find that even if people don’t like to cook, they usually have an opinion on food and cooking which makes for good conversation. And plenty of food and drink also makes for a great wedding!

So - what do I love about Switzerland?  Fresh air, cleanliness and lack of litter, friendliness of local people, the food (especially the cheese) and the wine.  The few minus points I could come up with are that everything is very expensive; and the noise of the cow bells does get to you after a while… every cow has a bell, and there are a lot of cows…

I'm planning to make a Swiss roll this weekend, and I wondered if Swiss rolls actually have anything to do with Switzerland.  It turns out that the origins of the term Swiss roll are unclear and the cake originated in Central Europe, but not in Switzerland as the name would suggest.  So now you know.

Thank you for reading,  Caroline x