My first Swiss fondue was at a little place called The Melting Pot, in Forest Hills, Queens. All fondue, all the time. And for years this was my idea of Swiss food. But when I met some of my husband's extended family who happen to live in Zug, Switzerland, a beautiful lakeside city not far from Zurich, I decided to find out firsthand how the Swiss eat. I accepted their invitation to visit and eat my way from Zug to Ticino. And the result is my Gourmet Entertains menu, "Magic Meadow," in our May issue.
The couple I visited, Deborah and Tom, originally met in New York when they both worked for a Swiss bank—he is quintessentially Swiss, and she is (as I am) an Italian from Brooklyn. A vegetarian Italian from Brooklyn. Now, Switzerland may be many things, but it's not a vegetable-centric culture. So Deborah, a great home cook, has to be creative, because her husband is a carnivore (who truly knows his way around Swiss wines and cheese). And their children? They eat everything. I knew I was in good hands.
I approached Switzerland as a lot of visitors do, picturing a steaming fondue pot at every meal. And although it's true that Switzerland is Dairyland, and the fondues, with Appenzeller (which I prefer because it doesn't overpower everything) and Emmentaler and Gruyère, are fragrant and gooey and a far cry from the ones I used to eat at The Melting Pot, I learned there's a lot more to Swiss cooking than cheese.
But first I learned a big lesson about Switzerland, when I opened my mouth to say, "I'd like to go to the Italian part of the country," and the reply was, "It's not Italian, it's Swiss." Despite the fact that Switzerland borders France, Italy, and Germany, and the Swiss speak Swiss German, French, and often Italian, there is a distinct Swiss culture and cuisine. So while you may have more delicate sauces in the Valais and more pasta and risotto in Ticino, you're eating Swiss food, not French or Italian food. And don't you forget it, sister.
The second preconception—that everyone shops for fresh meats and produce at small shops and markets—was abandoned the minute I set food in one of the humongous supermarkets near Zug, where they seem to Cryovac every vegetable on the planet and make them taste absolutely delicious, julienned and ready to boil and serve. The beets were amazing. And the meats in the regular supermarket were astounding—sausages of veal, pork, beef, and blood sausage, with spice combinations different from anything I'd tried in Spain or Italy. When you cook up these sausages, they're served with hearty, grainy mustard, and the mustards alone are worth the trip.
One of the best dishes I had was at a tiny restaurant in Zurich, where the owner was also the cook…and the waiter. He served an incredibly simple flour soup (which I later learned originated in Basel). Made from a roux that had some chicken broth and cheese in it, it was brownish white and ugly as sin. But it was amazingly satisfying.
Okay, it's true that in Zurich they like their meat and potatoes. It's heavy food, best eaten in one of the earthier pubs around town or at an upscale pub like Zurich's Kronenhalle, where you can eat your chop while sitting beneath a genuine Chagall or Picasso. But the Swiss really know how to work a potato! You could live on gnocchi and crisp Rösti and french fries and Ofetori (mashed potatoes with butter, cheese, and bacon) and Gschwellti (simply boiled potatoes, skins on, served with butter and cheese). Along with their passion for potatoes, the Swiss are addicted to skiing and hiking and horseback riding. "Everyone does something," Deborah told me, and after eating Rösti six days in a row I could see why. One of the outdoor things the Swiss do for fun is forage when morels are in season and wild asparagus is at its peak. So for my menu, I combined them.
The best meat, in addition to the sausages, was the veal. In Ticino (where creamy risotto is fabulous, and the fish is fresh and more plentiful), we ate veal in medallions and cutlets, versus the thicker cuts you get farther north. But everyone loves Geschnetzeltes, veal sliced thin and sautéed in white wine, onions, and cream. For my Gourmet menu, I took the best of both worlds to create a veal roll with plenty of spinach that is also rich with cheese.
Yes, we're getting to the cheese. And in cheese heaven there is raclette, which is basically a big pool of melted cheese that we call a meal. Raclette cheese or another semihard variety is served with ham or bacon and potatoes, cornichons, and onions. Deborah pulled out a raclette machine from her kitchen cabinet, and then pulled out presliced Raclette cheese. I was shocked. "It's a convenience," she said. "Because we eat it so often." Which leads me to think they must hike about 100 miles a week to burn this stuff off.
Which also leads me to the chocolate. If raclette is heaven, Sprungli chocolate shops are a close second. It's this perfect world where chocolates are lined up in gorgeous displays and it smells so good and the counter people are always smiling. And if you think you've tasted a great champagne truffle before, do yourself a favor and try one of these. The mouthfeel will blow your mind. I never thought I'd say this, but one truffle is enough. It's so perfect and rich and the epitome of chocolate, you eat one and you walk away happy. But that's the Swiss way, perfection in simple things.
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