The Rambling Epicure

Jun 11 / Jonell Galloway

Switzerland: Best Meat Restaurants and Steakhouses in Geneva

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Switzerland: Best Meat Restaurants and Steakhouses in Geneva

Au Carnivore, French cuisine, 30 place du Bourg-de-Four, 1204 Geneva. Tel. (+41) 022 311 87 58, open 7 days a week.

L’Auberge au Renfort de Sézegnin, French cuisine, 19, route du Creux-du-Loup, 1285 Sézegnin (Athenaz). Tel. (+41) 022 756 12 36.

Bistrot du Boucher, French cuisine, 15, avenue Pictet-de-Rochement, 1207 Geneva. Tel. (+41) 022 736 56 36. Closed Wednesday lunch, Saturday lunch and Sunday.

La Broche, French cuisine, 36, rue du Stand, 1204 Geneva. Tel. (+41) 022 321 22 60. Closed Saturday lunch and Sunday dinner.

Restaurant Café de Paris, French cuisine, 26 rue du Mont-Blanc, 1201 Geneva. Tel. (+41) 022 732 84 50. Open 7 days a week, non-stop from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Restaurant/Café de l’Ecu, French cuisine, 65, route de Rougemont, 1286 Soral. Tel. (+41) 022 756 33 50. Open 7 days a week, non-stop from 8 a.m. to 12 a.m.

L’Entrecôte Couronnée, 5, rue des Pâquis, 1201 Geneva. Tel. (+41) 022 732 84 45.

L’Entrecôte Saint-Jean, French cuisine, 79 boulevard Carl-Vogt, 1205 Geneva. Tel. (+41) 022 321 99 41, Closed Saturday lunch,, Sunday, and Monday.

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Jun 10 / Jonell Galloway

Outdoor Activities in English in Switzerland

Monday, June 10, 2013

Outdoor Activities in English in Switzerland

Yvette Evers grew up camping, hiking and skiing in the Swiss Alps. A Canadian with Dutch roots, her career in international development allowed her to explore mountain areas around the world. Since moving to the Geneva area in 2009 with her husband and two teenage daughters, she also works as a sustainability consultant specializing in tourism. She refers to her work as “slow tourism,” says Know It All.

Yvette is the founder of fraiche air, an outdoor club that fills a gap in the market for global locals who are looking for information about outdoor recreation and tourism in English. The outings in small groups provide a wonderful opportunity to discover new outdoor activities and join an active community of like-minded athletic friends – power walks, hiking, snowshoeing, ski-touring, and family days.

Here’s a recent outing: Slow tourism along the Lavaux vineyard terraces. The first vines in Lavaux were planted in the 12th century, according to Know It All. The area between Lausanne and Vevey is now a UNESCO World Heritage site with stunning views of the Alps and Lac Léman, referred to as Lake Geneva in English.

FraicheAir is located in Geneva. For more information, look on their website at http://www.fraicheair.ch/ or call them at (+41) 79 904 46 22. Visit their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/FraicheAir.

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Jun 10 / Renu-Chhabra

Simple Sustenance: Summer Indulgence — Cardamom-Infused Mango Milkshake

by Renu Chhabra

Ponder well on this point: the pleasant hours of our life are all connected by a more or less tangible link, with some memory of the table.–Charles Pierre Monselet

Summer afternoon and a glass of cold milkshake! Mango milkshake. Something I am always ready for. Why wouldn’t I be? It brings back memories of my childhood — fun and comforting memories.

Growing up in India, summer meant boxes of mangoes showing up in our house throughout the season. Not just one or two varieties, but several of them. Different sizes, tastes, and textures to relish, and we all had our own favorite.

It was the summer fruit to indulge in — messy but syrupy sweet and wonderfully juicy. Most of all, it was fun to sit around the table; and enjoy this tropical fruit and celebrate the season.

And with such abundance pouring in, we were treated with mango ice cream, mango custard, mango salad, and not to forget mango milkshake, the simplest of all for warm summer days. Simple because it can be put together in no time.

Its creamy texture and sunshine yellow color always lifts my spirits. Simply said, it’s a happy reminder of my childhood. Little moments that enable us to travel miles away!

I have accented the mango shake with cardamom in this recipe. Cardamom, as I call the soul of Indian desserts. Just a hint of it makes the recipe sing fragrant notes. A little goes a long way; otherwise it gets bitter. Like we say, “Too much of a good thing can be bad.”

I used honey as sweetener, but you can use sugar or agave to taste. The amount will also depend on the sweetness of the mango.

Food Quote: The Tragedy of the Absence of Hunger, by Amélie Nothomb

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Food Quote: The Tragedy of the Absence of Hunger, by Amélie Nothomb

We have yet to focus on the tragedy that the absence of hunger causes.–Amélie Nothomb, The Life of Hunger, 2006

L’absence de faim est un drame sur lequel nul ne s’est penché.–Amélie Nothomb, La biographie de la faim, 2006

Amélie Nothomb was born in Japan in 1967 to Belgian diplomats. She has had long periods of anorexia, which she swears to have conquered, and truly knows the feeling of hunger.

Her eccentric, complex personality, behavior and dress have made her somewhat of an icon on the French-language literature scene. She publishes one novel every fall in September, drinks champagne while she works, always wears a tall black hat similar to a witch’s hat, and only sleeps four hours a day.

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Jun 9 / Jonell Galloway

Indian Curry Through Foreign Eyes, Part 1: Hannah Glasse’s 18th-century Curry Recipe

by Laura Kelley

I have long been fascinated by concepts of “I and other”, or the many ways we separate what is familiar (self) from what is not familiar (non-self). By defining what is not self, we are in fact defining self. One can hear small children do this when misclassified by gender; most adamantly declare that they are not members of the opposite sex. “I and other” are also evident in beautiful symbolic ways when considering the movement of ideas and beliefs through societies. The newly introduced idea is at first foreign, complete with unfamiliar trappings. As the idea flows through society and is adopted, the foreign elements are shed and replaced by the familiar.

Depictions of Buddha: Caucasian and Asian

One place to see this is operation is at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, which houses an expansive collection of Asian art. As Buddhism moves out of India and across Asia, first to the west and then the east, early iconography clearly depicts Buddha as Caucasian (Gandahara style), even when the work is from the Himalayas, Burma or Western China. As time passes, and Buddhist ideas are adopted across the east, however, religious iconography begins to depict a wide variety of races and ethnicities. Noses become smaller, epicanthic lids are added as the face changes from Caucasian to Asian. Expressions usually remain contemplative and serene, but the varying shapes of the faces are evidence of the triumph of the ideas across space and time.

The “I and other” concept is also of interest in historical cookery, especially when one group is attempting to recreate the cuisine of another. I’ve been looking at early recipes for Indian curry written by non-Indians. So far, I have a small collection of English and American recipes from the 18th and 19th centuries that show curry powders and recipes developing from recipes that merely reminiscent as Indian in the eighteenth century to those that are nearly indistinguishable from modern recipes broken out by geographical region by the end of the nineteenth. The earliest amongst them (so far) is a recipe from Hannah Glasse’s The Art of Cookery made Plain and Easy, first published in 1747.

The Art of Cookery, 1774

Club Prosper Montagné’s List of Top Restaurants and Food Shops in Geneva, Switzerland

Saturday, June 8, 2013

Club Prosper Montagné’s List of Top Restaurants and Food Shops in Geneva, Switzerland

The Club Prosper Montagné‘s list of the top restaurants and food shops in Geneva is in alphabetical order. There is no point system, so I’ll list them in the same way.

More Cookbooks than Sense describes Prosper Montagné as follows: “…Prosper Montagné, best described as the Thomas Keller of his day. Along with his (slightly older) contemporary Auguste Escoffier, he was one of the superstars of fin de siecle gastronomy. While not quite as revolutionary as the Big E (think of Escoffier as the Ferran Adria of the age), Montagne was no slouch, cooking his way around some of the biggest kitchens in France, notably the venerable Pavillon Ledoyen (currently Christian Le Squer’s three-star lair).

“Anyhow to cut a long story short, after many decades behind the range Montagne decided to kick back a little and starting writing books. This culminated in the 1938 publication of Larousse Gastronomique, co-authored with a Dr Gottschalk and published by Larousse, leading purveyors of encyclopedias and other doorstops.

“What Escoffier did for French cookery in practice, Montagne did for French cookery in print. Larousse was a staggering confection of history, dishes and recipes. The heart of the book is its coverage of French cuisine – from humble to haute. Montagne systematically went through every French region, dish, and garnish in the classic repertoire. He also provides pen-pictures of famous chefs and personalities, and added articles on history and on many notable ingredients (guess what, foie gras and truffles have some of the longest entries).”

Culinary Travel: Jonell Eats her Way through Paris in June, a Photo Essay

Friday, June 7, 2013

There’s no better time to eat your way through Paris than in June. It is abundant with local fresh fruits and vegetables, sunshine and flowers. It’s a sensual experience that one must experience at least once in a lifetime.

This slide show gives you a glimpse of just how beautiful and sensual it is. Enjoy.

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Jun 6 / Jonell Galloway

Culinary Travel: Jonell Takes a Jaunt to Petite France in Strasbourg, a photo essay

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Culinary Travel: Jonell Takes a Jaunt to Petite France in Strasbourg

Husband Peter and I recently took a jaunt to Strasbourg with our German “family”, the Joerchels, to eat in a cozy little bistro in the heart of Petite France, the canal district of Strasbourg. Here’s a sample of the architecture and atmosphere of Petite France.

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Jun 6 / Jonell Galloway

Food Art: The Incredible Sensuality of Lemons and Pomegranates, painting by Gerard van Honsthorst

Gerard van Honsthorst was born in Utrecht in the Netherlands in 1590, the son of a textile painter and tapestry cartoonist. Like many Dutch painters of his day, he studied in Italy, where he became known as Gherardo delle Notti, or “Gerard of the Night Scenes,” because his figures often depicted dark figures in the night.

Van Honsthorst was apprenticed to Abraham Bloemaert, the most celebrated master in Utrecht, with whom he probably made the trip to Italy between 1610 and 1615. During his stay in Italy, Van Honthorst was influenced by Caravaggio, who was at his height. He copied his technique and spread it in the Netherlands. His school is referred to as the Utrecht caravaggists.

The main body of his work consists of commissions for religious paintings, many from his Italian period, such as The Beheading of St. John the Baptist (S. Maria delle Scala, Rome), Christ Before the High Priest (c. 1617, National Gallery, London), and the Supper Party (1620, Uffizi, Florence), all nocturnal scenes.

Van Honsthorst was appointed dean of the Utrecht painter’s guild in 1625 and remained in office for many years. Van Honthorst’s fame soon spread, and in 1628 he was invited to work in London at the court of King Charles I, but returned in less than a year.

He married Sophia Coopmans in 1622 and died a rich man in 1656.