Switzerland


This post is for any serious bread bakers out there and especially for my friends over at The Fresh Loaf where I post occasionally. It is about the typical rye bread of the Swiss Valais. This wonderful bread has its own AOP status (appellation d’origine protégée), a certification which guarantees that everything used to produce it comes from…

This past weekend thousands of Swiss cows participated in La Poya, the annual ascent to their high summer pastures in the Alps and once again mountain alpage meadows are, to quote that famous song, alive with the sound of music. The music of cowbells and mooing. In the Swiss-Romande, or French-speaking part of Swtizerland, this age-old transhumance procession is cause for celebration after a long winter…

    One of the exciting things about my new home in the Swiss Chablais is the mind-boggling array of world-famous cheese produced all around me. This is where raclette, Switzerland’s most iconic melting cheese comes from and I have recently discovered a beautiful mountain farm I can hike to that produces an excellent version of it. The regions of Emmental, Gruyere, Abondance,…

For the first time in 15 years I don’t have a vegetable garden to tend. Instead I have two small planters filled with some fresh herbs I can’t live without (lovage, parsley, chives, basil and coriander). While I miss Petraia’s amazing orto, to be honest I don’t miss all the work that went with it. The organic produce I can…