Portfolio - Special Edition Switzerland

18 Special Edition Switzerland Food Many melted cheese dishes like fondue, macaroni du chalet (macaroni cheese), and croute au fromage (open-face melted cheese sandwich) are popular with tourists and locals alike. Raclette, scraped from a gooey rectangular block onto a plate of potatoes, originated in neighbouring Canton Valais. Malakoffs are fried pillows of cheese allegedly developed by 19th century Swiss mercenary soldiers after returning home from battle at Fort Malakoff during the Crimean War. Vacherin Mont D’or is another cheese from the Romandie that is less seen on restaurant menus and more often served in Swiss homes. The soft whiffy wheels are made from unpasteurized milk from Montbéliarde cows eating fresh grass, then wrapped in a spruce bark hoop. The whole thing is baked in an oven into a bubbly golden delicious mess and served with bread or potatoes. High-quality cheese is available in every Swiss grocery store and usually shrink-wrapped and easy to bring home. It’s the number one thing my visiting friends and family take back home with them because the quality and value is unbeatable here. When seeking out cheese and food shops, don’t be afraid to move away from the lake where you’ll discover local boulangeries, patisseries, fromageries and charcuteries. Another golden rule in Switzerland: moving away from the waterfront promenades always takes you off the tourist track to more authentic spots. While cheese is my favourite Swiss food, Switzerland will forever be more associated with sweeter pleasures, fitting since it invented milk chocolate in the 19th century right here along the shores of Lake Geneva. Out of the many things that separate Switzerland’s two sides of the röstigraben, desserts and sweets are one of the most noticeably different. While French bakers were developing elaborately tiered cakes and pastry for its royal courts for centuries, much of protestant German-Speaking Switzerland was doing the opposite, banning cake and reforming its cuisine, culture and spirituality to be more efficient, more self sufficient and less wasteful. Of course, there are good Swiss German desserts, but for the most part, they are sobering affairs, dry, often sweetened with fruit, and bereft of butter and cream, flavour, and flair. The Romandie is gloriously the opposite. Lausanne, for instance, has no shortage of chocolatiers and sweet shops. Pouly is a popular Lausanne patisserie beloved for its time-and labor-intensive viennoiserie and pastry like petite fours, canelés, religieuse, St Honore, eclairs, and madeleines, which you seldom see on the Swiss German side. Ditto for the multi-branch chain Fleur de Pains which creates mean croissants and petit fours on par with anything in Paris. Excellent chocolate artisans, however, can be found everywhere in Switzerland. However, the ones in the Romandie tend to be more about artfulness instead of tradition. For 50 years, Lausanne’s La Chocolatière has been creating sublime chocolate eggs, silky truffles, fruity aiguillettes, paves, mendiants, and pralines. Durig creates artful organic fairtrade chocolate bark bars, studded jewel-like with colourful flowers, dried fruit, and pink peppercorns. Their delightfully designed moulds for Easter — the height of chocolate design in Switzerland — churn out a variety of bunnies, hens, and eggs. They also produce delightful designs for Christmas and Valentines. In a country divided by so many variables, it is reassuring to know that chocolate is the one thing that brings all Swiss together. Perhaps someday it could do the same for the world. Overnight options abound on the Swiss Riviera BEAU RIVAGE PALACE Lausanne’s iconic Beau Rivage Palace is a Belle Epoque masterpiece of hospitality with white marble and Corinthian columned ballrooms overlooking the city’s leafy Olympic Park. brp.ch HÔTEL DE LA PAIX Located in the heart of Lausanne, this hotel offers stately surroundings and views of the old city from its spacious and quiet rooms. hoteldelapaix.net EUROTEL In the centre of Montreux, the modern Eurotel tower rises 16 floors above the Swiss Riviera. Its balconies offer majestic views of Chateaux Chillon’s turrets and stonework, sparkling Lake Geneva, and the green hills and snow- capped mountains all around you. eurotel-montreux.ch SLEEP TIGHT