I just came across these pictures going through my filing boxes and thought some of you out there would probably enjoy seeing them.

Ein Fotograf wurde zum Abendessen mit Freunden eingeladen und nahm ein paar Bilder mit, um der Gastgeberin zu zeigen. “Diese  fotos sind sehr gut!”  kommentierte sie.“Du musst ja eine gute Kamera haben.”

Am Ende des Abends dankte der Fotograf der Gastgeberin auf dem Weg nach draußen und sagte: “Das war wirklich ein köstliches Essen! Sie müssen ja sehr gute Töpfe haben.”😜😄

was invited to dinner with friends and took along a few pictures to show the hostess. “These are very good!” she commented.

“You must have a good camera.”At the end of the evening, the photographer thanked the hostess on the way out and said, “That was really a delicious meal! You must have very good pots.”😁

Fermentation converts the simple sugars in the grains and barley into alcohol. People have been brewing beer for around 6,000 years. It is thought the Sumerians discovered the fermentation process, perhaps when a piece of bread or grain became wet and began to ferment.

The oldest written recipe in the world,

recorded 4,000 years ago in Mesopotamia, is for beer. The ancient Greek physician Hippocrates recommended beer as a Greek tranquilizer. Today, the average American or Swiss adult drinks 21.7 to 23 gallons of beer each year. In Switzerland, between registered, unregistered, and private, there are 8000 breweries for a population of 8 million.

Pennsylvania has had more breweries than any other state, including the oldest active brewery in the United States, Yuengling Brewery, in Pottsville. Worldwide, Belgium has the most brands of beer – 400+ – and the Czechs drink the most, an average of more than 42 gallons per adult each yearand then there is a BANANA BEER in Central Africa!

of bananas that grow on bushes that can reach 30 feet in height in one year. (THERE ARE NO BANANA TREES!) In the US alone, 96 percent of all households purchase bananas at least once a month, with an average American eating 28 pounds of bananas each year!

We don’t know the actual per capita consumption, but they make and sell BANANA BEER in Eastern Africa

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In Deutsch

Es gibt 500 Sorten

von Bananen, die auf Büschen wachsen, die in einem Jahr eine Höhe von 30 Fuß erreichen können. (ES GIBT KEINE BANANENBÄUME!) Allein in den USA kaufen 96 Prozent aller Haushalte mindestens einmal im Monat Bananen, wobei ein durchschnittlicher Amerikaner jedes Jahr 28 Pfund Bananen isst!

Wir kennen den tatsächlichen Pro-Kopf-Verbrauch nicht, aber sie produzieren und verkaufen wirklich auch BANANENBIER in Ostafrika

The world, I am sure, will never agree upon the exact origins of the word “bistro!” The most often quoted explanation is that bistro! bistro! is what the Russian solder shouted as they made for the cafes after seizing Paris in 1815. However, since the word really did not enter the French language until 1884, other explanations are more plausible. Some suggest the word comes from “bistrouille” or “bistouille”, which in the north of France refers to a mixture of coffee and eau-de-vie, or to a poor quality eau-de-vie, both drinks one might find in a “Bistro”. Going one step further, we have the verb “bistrouiller”, which refers to the preparation of an ersatz wine made with water, alcohol, and other products, which of course might be passed off as wine in a low-quality “bistro”.

Whatever its origins, everyone agrees that whether it’s a café, a small simple unpretentious restaurant, or simply a place to enjoy a glass of wine and a simple yet hearty sandwich, or burger, a bistro is a place for good times with friends.

Most simply a bistro is a small neighborhood restaurant serving home-style substantial fare for lunch and dinner

The chinaware is almost always thick and plain white,

the tables are covered with sheets of white, crinkle-edged paper, the floor peppered with sawdust. The menu – often an illegible mimeographed sheet encased in clear plastic- is brief and changes infrequently, save perhaps for the ritual plat-du-jour. if this is Tuesday they must be serving crab cakes.

In bistros,

people do not whisper, they shout, and diners are not on a first-name basis with the harried waitress wrapped in a frilly white apron. In bistros, you might not even get to choose what you eat and drink. The “patron”, or owner, may usurp that right. And in bistros, you will often find yourself chatting across tables with perfect strangers, friends, actors, famous personalities sharing their platter of  French fries or paté while you wait for yours to come sizzling from the kitchen at the end of the room.

In days past,

in Paris in particular, the bistro served as an extension of the family room. Apartment kitchens were small (in fact almost nonexistent), and many Parisians took all their meals at their local café-style bistro. In some cases, they even stored their own napkins there.

Bistro cuisine

is French home cooking at its best, which we have adapted to American and Swiss palates by infusing, adding, or changing ingredients according to the availabilities of the local markets. What we love the most about cooking and eating bistro food is its sense of generosity, of wholeness, of copiousness, simply good food, reasonable prices (maybe not anymore!) good portions, and no foofoo or gimmicks!!

Bon Apetit!

your blogging friend Ulrich Koepf

Für viele ist dies eine vertraute Routine –

und zeigt Gewohnheiten auf, die zu einem globalen Problem der Lebensmittelverschwendung beitragen. Laut einem neuen Bericht der Vereinten Nationen muss dies besser gemessen werden, damit es wirksam angegangen werden kann.

Der U.N.-Bericht schätzt, dass 17% der weltweit jährlich produzierten Lebensmittel verschwendet werden. Das sind 1,03 Milliarden Tonnen Lebensmittel.

Die Verschwendung ist weitaus größer als in früheren Berichten angegeben, obwohl direkte Vergleiche aufgrund unterschiedlicher Methoden und des Mangels an starken Daten aus vielen Ländern schwierig sind.

“Eine verbesserte Messung kann zu einem verbesserten Management führen”, sagte Brian Roe, ein Forscher für Lebensmittelabfälle an der Ohio State University, der nicht an dem Bericht beteiligt war.

Das Süsse kommt zum Schluss: Ein feines Dessert mit Schweizer Rahm oder Quark ist die Krönung eines jeden Menüs im Herbst bis Winter.


Swiss Vermicelle

VERMICELLES

Chestnut Puree with Cherry Brandy

Für 4 Personen
Vermicelles-Presse oder Passe-vite

4,5 dl Milch
600 g geschälte Kastanien (ca. 1 kg Kastanien mit Schale)
3 dl Wasser
6 EL Zucker
½ Vanillestängel, ausgeschabtes Mark
2 EL Kirsch, nach Belieben
4-8 Meringues
Rahm, steif geschlagen
Zubereitung
1. Milch aufkochen. Geschälte Kastanien beifügen und auf kleiner Stufe kochen. Kochzeiten: Frische Kastanien: 40-50 Minuten. Tiefgekühlte Kastanien: 10-20 Minuten.
2. Masse fein pürieren und auskühlen lassen.
3. Wasser, Zucker, Vanillemark ca. 15 Minuten einkochen, bis die Masse sirupartig ist.
4. Heissen Sirup zum Kastanienpüree geben und gut mischen. Nach Belieben Kirsch darunterrühren. Die Masse soll weich und streichfähig sein.
5. Je 1 oder 2 Meringues auf vier Tellern anrichten. Kastanienpüree durch die Vermicelles-Presse oder durch das Passevite direkt auf die Meringues dressieren.
6. Mit Rahm garnieren und sofort servieren.
Die Kastanienmasse kann am Vortag zubereitet werden. Bis zur Verwendung kühl stellen.
Die Kastanienmasse kann ca. 12 Monate tiefgekühlt werden.
Jetzt noch weitere 8’000 Rezepte entdecken.
www.swissmilk.ch/rezepte

For 4 people

Vermicelles press or passport-vite

4.5 dl milk
600 g of peeled chestnuts (about 1 kg of chestnuts including peel)
3 dl of water
6 tbsp of sugar
½ vanilla stalk, scraped out marrow
2 tbsp cherry brandy, or as desired
4-8 Meringues
Cream whipped stiff
Preparation
1. Boil the milk. Add the peeled chestnuts and cook on low heat. Cooking time: Fresh chestnuts: 40-50 minutes. Frozen chestnuts: 10-20 minutes.
2. Finely mash the mixture and allow it to cool.
3. Boil water, sugar, and vanilla for about 15 minutes until the mixture is syrupy.
4. Add the syrup to the chestnut puree and mix well. Stir the cherry as desired. The mass should be soft and spreadable.
5. Place one or two meringues on four plates. Puree the chestnuts through the Vermicelles press or through the Passevite directly on the Meringues.
6. Garnish with cream and serve immediately.
The chestnut mass can be prepared the day before. Cool until refrigerated.
The chestnut mass can be frozen for about 12 months.
Find out more than 8,000 recipes.
http://www.swissmilk.ch/rezepte

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Where it All Started

I was born in the Canton of Argovia in the Nord of Switzerland, one of the food items I grew up with is a dish called Schnitz und Drunder, a rough translation would be Sections and Stuff, it is a one-pot dish consisting of potatoes, bacon, dehydrated pear, and apple sections.
During my childhood when times were rough and we couldn’t afford to buy meat my mother came up with a shortcut to this dish by using leftover bread slices toasted in butter and then she added steamed apple sections to it and mixed it all up. It always did the job by filling our bellies!
For dessert there was Carrot Cake Argovia style, this carrot cake derives from the name “Rüebliland” ( carrot land) since in the 19th century the people living in the region around the capital of Aarau, where I was born, mainly cultivated turnips.

The Diversity of Foods

Should you be traveling through the French-speaking regions of Switzerland you will note the influence of neighboring France, especially the Alsace region.
My friend Patrick Calvetti and his family own  Restaurant de la Croix d’Or in the village of Orbe, situated between the Lake of Neuchatel and Lac Leman (Lausanne); his weekly specialties feature such items as; Ramequin which consists of slices of Whitebread overbaked with regional cheeses, the taste and flavor is derived from a tasty seasoned egg & milk mixture poured over the whole dish before baking. The Saucisson en Croûte is a well-seasoned pork sausage, poached in a broth with seasoning, leeks, and white wine, it’s then wrapped in a pizza or pastry dough and baked for about 30 minutes, mustard is then added to the broth and thickened with egg yolks to be served as a sauce with the sausage.
From the Canton of Neuchatel comes Jacquerie Neuchateloise this is a one-pot dish consisting of Sauerkraut (choucroute) bacon, seasonings, and white wine from the Neuchatel vineyards served with chicken breast. The slowly cooked sauerkraut with the bacon and white wine, thickened by adding a grated fresh potato is then served with chicken breast braised in white wine, a sauce is made by adding garlic, butter, anchovies cream, and parsley, and then served together with the sauerkraut and bacon.

Federal Council’s Favorite Dessert

Personally one of my favorite foods in Switzerland is local fish from the lakes all across Switzerland such as Egli filet (Perch), sautéed in butter with toasted almonds, lemon, and parsley served with steamed potatoes and wilted garlicky spinach. Yum yum!
My favorite dessert in the world originated in my home Canton of Argovia, it’s called “Bundesrat Schaffner Torte” It was created for a Federal Council by the name of Schaffner back in 1961 when the small community of Graenichen organized a reception for the newly elected Federal Council Schaffner from Graenichen.
For this special occasion, the baker/confectioner Ernst Wolleb created this special dessert.
The cake consists of multiple layers of Merengue, cream, and sponge.
When I tasted this cake the first time it almost blew my mind, the texture was absolutely amazing, light, fluffy, and not too sweet, it was like having angels dancing on your tongue!
The cake is still today a popular dessert in most parts of Switzerland but is sold under a different name and in my opinion not quite like the original.
Of course let’s not forget the prime cuts of Swiss beef, veal, lamb, and chicken all bred in Switzerland! and the famous Vermicelles dessert!

Should you be interested in any of the recipes from this article please send me an email and I will be happy to provide them for you.

Bon Appetite, Buen Provecho, Guten Appetite, Buon Appetito

Ulrich Koepf your Blogging Friend
uliandnaz@gmail.com
Ulrich’s Food and Travel Blogs