By jkichton
Nothing extremely interesting has happened in the past week since my last blog post. As of now, I am deep within my program's routine: go to school, go to lunch, go to French, do a little exploring (either in the grocery store or around town), go home. Our weeks are more packed with lectures and site visits than sardines in a can. So, as a method of relaxation, this week’s blog post I am dedicating to one of the closest things in my heart: food.
Chocolate
Swiss chocolate is all the rage here, probably because it is a cheap way to get $20 out of a tourist’s wallet and into your hands. Every street I turn on and BAM there you find a Chocolat Patisserie. In these little chocolate shops you find the most darling, artful little sweets. Decorated and displayed with a sense of grandeur and glamour, the chocolates seem too beautiful to eat. They are usually made in-house (or so they say) and have so many types of chocolates, that you really should just invest and buy the medium sized box that fits 15 pieces. But they don’t just stop here, oh no! They often have macarons, little gateaux, croissants, and of course coffee. If you’re really willing to treat yo’self, then ditch the shop and go straight for a chocolate making factory!
Cheese
France is rumored to have as many cheeses as there are days. And with it being a literal 12 minute drive from here, some of their cheeses spill into the area of Switzerland that I am in. A few nights ago, I was telling my host mom that I missed having dessert and had a real sweet tooth. “Dessert?” she said. “Why that’s cheese!” You guessed it, after dinner she came out of the kitchen with a plate of cheeses and some toasted bread. I was hesitant because I am not a fan of soft cheeses, and both of the cheeses she presented were soft. The first was Bleu cheese straight from France. It even had the blue holes scattered across the wedge! WARNING: Do not smell cheese before you eat it. When I picked it up, I was immediately attacked by the stench of ammonia, and the cheese wasn’t even near my face! This influenced my perception of the cheese and the whole time I was eating the measly little pinch that I spread on my toast I tried not to gag. The next cheese was Reblochon which had only 10% of the ammonia stench as Bleu, and tasted like a very watered down version of Brie (even though I was told it was nothing like Brie). Fun fact, the “Swiss cheese” that Americans use on their pastrami sandies is actually just Emmental cheese!
Chips
No Lays, Pringles, or Cheetos here! However, what tickles me is that their most popular chip flavor is Paprika! Paprika chips here are more popular than Lays Classic chips in America. Their red, plastic bag with flowers and peppers sprouting up around the orange-colored chip is easily recognizable anywhere. In the grocery store, they have their own section of bags upon bags of them. For good reason though; they are addicting! Just enough flavor with just enough of the classic chip you know and love. Think of barbeque chips, then take 10% of their flavor and you have Paprika chips. Lays, if you’re reading this, please bring this to America!!!
Cream
Ice-cream that is. (I wanted to stick with all “C” foods). In Switzerland, there is no ice cream. Only gelato. I know, I know, gelato has more milk and less cream compared to ice cream which, combined with less churning than ice cream, makes it denser. For me, I have tasted or felt no difference. But maybe that just means I am eating cheap gelato? Well, that can’t be it either since I paid $4.50 for the smallest bowl of gelato at Manu. I wouldn’t normally pay that much but I had a hankering for gelato and Manu was the first place we found during our mandatory two hour lunch break. Additionally, there was a sign in their window that said Manu was voted “Premier champion Suisse de glaces artisanales”. They did have some pretty interesting flavors! I got orange chocolate and popcorn. A weird mixture, but I honestly just picked the two flavors that looked the coolest.
As you can tell, my taste-buds and stomach are going on a whirlwind adventure here in Switzerland. Wish us luck!