Switzerland has its own AOCs!

Published by Sunday, February 27, 2011 Permalink 0

by Jonell Galloway

When it comes to wine and food, a name is not just a name

Switzerland has had AOCs for a while now, but on 14 January 2010, the Swiss federal agriculture office, OFAG, published an official bulletin containing a list of approximately 800 appellations of origin and geographical indications, roughly the equivalent of the French Appellations d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC). These were voted in in the context of a reciprocal agreement with the EU, and are to be protected and respected throughout the EU.

GruyereAOC-Switzerland-the rambling epicure-jonell galloway-genevalunch-cheese

Continue Reading…

Never miss a post
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please enter all required fields
Correct invalid entries

The Rambling Epicure Voices

Published by Monday, February 7, 2011 Permalink 0

Food writer, Culinary Chemistry, The Rambling EpicureJenn Oliver writes our column Culinary Chemistry. She has a Ph.D. in science, where she explains the scientific aspects of what really goes on when you cook (the next Harold McGee?). She’s been running a gluten-free blog, Jenn Cuisine, since 2008 and her kitchen is more like a laboratory than a kitchen. She’s focuses her chemical calculations and experiments on figuring out how to make traditionally glutinous food gluten-free.

Esmaa Self writes the Wild Woman on Feral Acres column. She lives on a small farm in Colorado where she employs organic and sustainable methods to grow fruits, vegetables and herbs, raise chickens, bees and fish and where she routinely turns out imaginative, healthy, guilt-free meals from scratch. One of her numerous blogs recounts her farming adventures: Backyard Eggs. She also writes novels and contributes to numerous organic farming and green publications, and runs a sustainable living site, Homeostasis.

Simon de Swaan is Food and Beverage Director at the Four Seasons hotel in New York City. He studied at the Culinary Institute of America and has an incredible collection of antique cookbooks and books about food and eating, from which he often posts interesting and unusual quotes. In his column Simon Says, he gives us daily food quotes from his tomes.

Jean-Philippe de Tonnac is an essayist, editor and journalist. He directed the special editions of the Nouvel Observateur for almost ten years and and has published twenty books. As preparation for publication of his Universal Dictionary of Bread (Dictionnaire universel du pain, Bouquins Laffont, 2010), he obtained a baker’s certificate (CAP) at the Ecole de Boulangerie et Pâtisserie de Paris in 2007, and traveled worldwide to countries where bread held a particular cultural significance.

Continue Reading…

Never miss a post
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please enter all required fields
Correct invalid entries

Great Chef Series: Philippe Chevrier’s Recipe for Mixed Berry Crisp

Published by Friday, February 4, 2011 Permalink 0
by Jonell Galloway, recipe translated and adapted with authorization of Domaine de Châteauvieux

Michelin star chef Philippe Chevrier’s recipe for mixed-berry crisp with nougat and caramelized pecan ice cream

Philippe Chevrier is head chef and owner of Domaine de Châteauvieux in Satigny, right in the middle of the vineyards just outside Geneva. His restaurant has two Michelin stars and a 19/20 rating in the GaultMillau restaurant guide. Geneva gourmets have had a soft spot for him for a long time now and his restaurant is the institution of fine dining in this city.

Chevrier posts a recipe a month on his site, and this is an adaptation of this month’s. Admittedly, it is a recipe for experienced cooks and people who really like to bake or who have a real sweet tooth. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be motivated enough to get through all the steps.

Continue Reading…

Never miss a post
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please enter all required fields
Correct invalid entries

On the Chocolate Trail: Yes, there are chocolate spies, but I am not one of them

Published by Thursday, February 3, 2011 Permalink 0

by Christina Daub

 

 

 

 

 

I am seventeen, in Zurich waiting for a train to Kilchberg, a welcome break from the grinding German language drills that march me through my summer mornings. Kilchberg, literal translation: mountain of freshwater whitefish and the site of Thomas Mann’s grave, but these could be not be further from my mind.

I am going on my first chocolate factory tour, the Lindt Swiss chocolate factory, where you can sample the goods and I can hardly breathe.

Continue Reading…

Never miss a post
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please enter all required fields
Correct invalid entries

The Swiss have a Food Pyramid too!

Published by Friday, January 28, 2011 Permalink 0

by Jonell Galloway

The Americans aren’t the only ones who have a Food Pyramid!

In our 9 May 2009 post A fun, interactive guide for teaching your children good eating habits, we referred only to the American food pyramid, because the US has a pyramid specifically aimed at children. But the Swiss have a food pyramid too!

Swiss food pyramid.

The Swiss food pyramid, published on 30 July 2007, is for the general population, and has quite a different slant from the new American pyramid that came out earlier this year (literally, because the new American one is vertical, while the Swiss one is horizontal, but the content also differs).

Continue Reading…

Never miss a post
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please enter all required fields
Correct invalid entries

Switzerland: Indelicato, A Hidden Corner of Sicily in the Heart of Geneva

Published by Sunday, December 5, 2010 Permalink 0

Indelicato: A Hidden Corner of Sicily in the Heart of Pâquis

The Indelicato fine food and wine shop is a Geneva institution.  Everyone in Pâquis knows Marguerite and Rosario, and the locals affectionately refer to Marguerite as “Mama”.

Continue Reading…

Never miss a post
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please enter all required fields
Correct invalid entries

Final Countdown to Valentine’s Day: Take Your Pick!

Published by Sunday, December 5, 2010 Permalink 0

Final countdown to Valentine’s Day: take your pick!

For the last week or so, I’ve had Valentine’s on the brain. I’ve been posting restaurants offering special Valentine’s meals, chocolate shops making all sorts of beautiful Valentine’s chocolates, as well as hotels offering Valentine’s packages on the Swiss Foodies Twitter account.

Photo courtesy of Salvatore Vuono.

Continue Reading…

Never miss a post
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please enter all required fields
Correct invalid entries

Switzerland: Trendiest Night Spots in Lausanne

Published by Sunday, December 5, 2010 Permalink 0

Check out the trendiest night spots in Lausanne!

The Bleu Lézard, one of Lausanne’s hottest spots for good music.

Never miss a post
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please enter all required fields
Correct invalid entries

Swiss’expo Agricultural Show: Fun for Whole Family

Published by Sunday, December 5, 2010 Permalink 0


Swiss’expo agricultural show: fun for whole family

by Jonell Galloway

If you’re looking for greener pastures, this weekend is the time. Swiss’expo, the “largest farm” in Switzerland, opened 14 January 2010 and will continue until the 17th.

Lovely the cow.

Continue Reading…

Never miss a post
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please enter all required fields
Correct invalid entries

Fine Wines give Geneva a Great Evening

Published by Sunday, December 5, 2010 Permalink 0


Kickoff of Switzerland’s spring wine tastings: Berthaudin at the Beau Rivage

Massaya comes from a long line of winemakers, and has expanded the family business into a distributorship of wines of a quality that only someone “born in the vines” could put together.

His spring wine tasting Tuesday 5 May at the Geneva Beau Rivage hotel offered a well-balanced collection of hand-picked wines from all over the world, including the sought-after Lebanese wine Massaya.

Berthaudin: Geneva and Vaud wines, and it’s a family affair

Claude Berthaudin.

Continue Reading…

Never miss a post
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please enter all required fields
Correct invalid entries

UA-21892701-1