Jul 15

Gastronomic Surprises in Switzerland

Many of the restaurants that cater to tourists in Switzerland have similar menus, consisting of raclette, cheese fondue, rösti (the Swiss equivalent of hash browns), schnitzel, pizza, pasta, and burgers. We were fortunate to find places that broke the mold on our travels. Here’s what we found, town by town.

Mürren. Our hotel served burritos and curry in addition to the usual suspects. Julian discovered that the Jungfrau Hotel had a Malaysian restaurant. We went there on our last night, and it was excellent. The restaurant served halal meat and vegetarian items as well. We had beef and chicken satays and a noodle dish.

Morcote. Most of the restaurants in town were Italian. One restaurant served a mixed grain polenta with corn and buckwheat. I didn’t expect to see buckwheat in any form in Europe.

Lucerne. My blood fish sauce level was getting perilously low after a week and a half. Fortunately, Julian found a Southeast Asian restaurant near our hotel, Khoua Vientiane (the website doesn’t work, alas). The proprietor was a character. The restaurant was doing great business, both takeout and eat in. The following night we went to a Japanese restaurant in the train station and were disappointed. The yakisoba noodles we ordered were far too salty.

With luck, we’ll find more interesting places on the last legs of our trip.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2024/07/15/gastronomic-surprises-in-switzerland/

Jul 15

Ciao di Morcote

Stop #3 on the Swiss tour was Morcote, a small town hugging Lake Lugano in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland. Unlike our earlier stop, the town wasn’t mobbed with tourists. We rented an apartment above the downtown strip. The number of stairs to reach the front door with our luggage, then the flight up to the apartment, nearly sent me running out of town screaming. Fortunately, the apartment and our host more than made up for the inconvenience to my knees.

Morcote is exhibit A on why not to rent a car in Switzerland. Parking spaces are limited. If you think you’re going to drive up in front of the hotel and leave your car there, think again. The main drag through Morcote is one lane wide in spots, which makes getting a bus or large vehicle through town challenging. In addition, the sidewalk ends shortly after the main downtown arcade does.

Julian did some uphill walks without me. First he went to Scherren Park, which contains numerous sculptures and gardens. The night after he went there, a thunderstorm caused heavy damage to the plantings. We were unable to go in the next day. He also went up to visit two churches on the hill near the park.

On our last full day in Morcote we took the boat to Lugano, the largest city on the lake. It was also more crowded with tourists. We went into a department store to cool down, and I wound up buying a sweater and a pair of pants. Needless to say, I probably won’t wear the former until October.

We’d go back to Morcote again. It has most of the attributes we like in a European village: Not overrun with tourists, friendly people, and good food. Maybe next time we’ll stay longer and explore more of the nearby villages.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2024/07/15/ciao-di-morcote/

Jul 12

Mingling with the Masses in Mürren

Mürren was our second stop in Switzerland. We walked around town briefly on our last trip to Switzerland 13 years ago. I didn’t think it was a huge town at the time. I didn’t detect that many tourists. Times have changed. As with Venice last year, I heard more English spoken. We also saw many Asians and observant Muslims (judging by the number of hijab-clad women) in town.

Our hotel in Mürren was the Alpina, five minutes from the train station. Our room was small and on the second floor. (In Europe, the ground floor is designated as floor zero.) This did not make my knees very happy. The hotel employees were friendly and helpful. Many of them were from Portugal. The food was excellent. We took a walk around town and found the gondola station to Schilthorn, our first side trip.

Schilthorn has a rotating restaurant and visitor center. Its main claim to fame is that a James Bond film, “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service“, was filmed here. (Don’t remember it? It was the only film that starred George Lazenby as 007. Telly Savalas was the villain, and Diana Rigg was Bond’s love interest.) We had the breakfast buffet in the restaurant – excellent. Julian walked around the observation deck and took photos. The visitor center has an exhibit devoted to the movie.

After we got back to Mürren, we took a gondola to Allmendhubel for lunch, We started out on a hike on the Mountain View Trail from Allmendhubel, which was billed in the guidebooks as an easy walk. My knees thought otherwise. Root- and rock-hopping aren’t as easy as they used to be. We had to proceed very slowly, and managed to catch the last train to Mürren from Grutschalp.

The next two days were spent recuperating and visiting Gimmelwald and Lauterbrunnen. The former is a tiny town just below Mürren. The locals sell homemade cheeses, eggs, and other farmstead items on the honor system. The latter is the main access point to Mürren, Wengen, and other cities in the Bernese Oberland. As you can imagine, it was clogged with tourists. The following day we went to Bern, the Swiss capital. Bern has arcades of shops large and small. I bought some tea at one store and had a nice conversation with its clerk, a Vietnamese woman.

Our last attempt at hiking was the Panorama Walk from Männlichen to Kleine Scheidegg. We learned before we were about to board the gondola that the trail was closed due to landslide risk. We wandered around Männlichen. On this day it was Julian’s turn to suffer an injury. He fell while taking pictures and sprained his dominant wrist. We were able to get ice for him to put on the wrist at the Männlichen cafeteria and when we got back to the hotel.

Will we return to Mürren again? Probably not until my knees are made of titanium.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2024/07/12/mingling-with-the-masses-in-murren/

Jul 11

Riding the Rails in Switzerland

We’ve been to Switzerland three times over the years. We rented a car the first time, for the “if it’s Tuesday, it must be Belgium” grand tour of western Europe. The second time, we stayed in a car-less town and bought train tickets as needed. This time we invested in Swiss Travel Passes. These get us on trains, buses, gondolas, funiculars, and boats all over the country. For some privately-run attractions, we get discounts. We have two reasons for riding the rails.

The Swiss mass transit system is superb. It puts Amtrak and local transit systems in the US to shame. Trains, gondolas, or funiculars serve even small towns in the mountains. The trains leave on schedule. If you have to transfer from one train to another, you often don’t have to wait long for your connection. Train stations and the infrastructure are well maintained. It’s easy to plan our trip itineraries on the Swiss Rail website. Not only does it give times, it gives you maps to get to your transfer.

Renting a car doesn’t always make sense in Switzerland. Many of the picturesque towns in the Bernese Oberland don’t allow cars except for official vehicles. In addition, you’ll pay extra for a rental car that has automatic transmission. The thought of driving a manual transmission car on steep mountain roads could give anyone pause. I never learned to drive manual transmission, which meant that Julian was stuck driving on most of our trips. You may have a hard time finding a rental car that will accommodate your luggage AND can negotiate the narrow mountain roads. (See two earlier posts, Ciao d’Italia and The Purple People Eater.)

So far we’ve had an easy time getting from point to point. With luck, this will continue.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2024/07/11/riding-the-rails-in-switzerland/

Jul 07

First Night in Switzerland – Zurich

Our first stay in Switzerland was in Zurich, mostly to beat back jet lag. Transferring several trains while sleep-deprived is a recipe for winding up in the Swiss equivalent of Podunk at 3 in the morning.

Zurich is a banking capital of Switzerland. It also contains the Swiss equivalent of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The railway station is in the center of town, surrounded by hotels, shops, and restaurants. The city covers a good bit of space by European standards. It took us nearly an hour to get from the airport to the railway station. It’s not a particularly pretty city like Paris or San Sebastian, but more of a business hub.

Our crash pad for Zurich was the Hotel Marta, about a 15-minute walk from the train station. The room was nice and quiet, although small. This is common in Europe – most hotel rooms are small by American standards. We’re rarely in the hotel rooms when we travel except to sleep, so size isn’t an issue.

Zurich’s train station is quite large, similar to the ones in Paris and Amsterdam. It contains shops and restaurants as well. We did a reconnaissance mission to find the platform where we’d catch the train to Interlaken the next day. Navigating was easy, and the signage was good. Once we found the platform, we grabbed dinner at an upscale pub, walked back to the hotel, and promptly crashed.

After breakfast at the Hotel, we schlepped our baggage to the train station for the first leg of our trip to Mürren.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2024/07/07/first-night-in-switzerland-zurich/

Jul 06

Hurry Up and Wait – And Wait Some More

This year’s vacation is to Switzerland and Prague. Julian has a thing for mountains, especially the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland. He made most of our reservations well in advance, including flights on Icelandair. We’d never flown this airline before, but friends have had a good experience with it.

We left Seattle on July 2 to Keflavik Airport, outside Reykjavik. It took 1/2 hour after we arrived to have someone behind the Icelandair check-in desks. Fortunately, it staffed all of the desks so the line moved quicker than usual. The flight was full, as one would expect in post-pandemic days. My long legs suffered on the short distance between seats. I normally don’t sleep much on flights, but this one was particularly unconducive to slumber. I remained vigilant to make sure the person in the seat ahead of me didn’t recline and finish off my kneecaps. To kill time, I finished a short novel. Julian had the window seat and had a better sleep experience, but not by much.

Keflavik Airport is a work in progress. Most of the gates don’t have attached jetways yet, so passengers board a shuttle bus to reach their planes. This must be a hot mess in winter, especially with passengers who can’t climb gangplanks. We landed and sprinted to the gate for the Zurich flight. It was boarding, so we hopped on the bus. The flight took off almost on time, with the seats less than half full. Miracle of miracles, we didn’t have anyone behind us so we could recline our seat backs with impunity.

Twenty minutes after we were airborne, the pilot announced that we were going back to Keflavik due to a technical issue with the plane. The airline had to scramble to fix or find a new plane and crew. Meanwhile, we were shuttled back to the airport and given very little information other than was what was on the monitors in the terminal. We were stuck at a gate with minimal seating. The flight was supposed to leave at 9:15 – didn’t happen. We finally got to board the shuttle an hour or so later. I was irked that the airline did nothing to make up for the inconvenience. The least they could have done was offer free food on the flight. (Icelandair doesn’t offer free meals, even on trans-Atlantic flights.) Luckily, we made it to Zurich without incident.

Stay tuned for updates on our exploits.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2024/07/06/hurry-up-and-wait-and-wait-some-more/

Jan 09

Saturday in Little Saigon

We haven’t been to the Little Saigon neighborhood of Seattle since before the pandemic. Today’s trip down there was to check out the Italian ingredients at Big John’s Pacific Food Importers. You may ask (as my sister did), why would you look for Italian ingredients in a Vietnamese enclave? Simple. Little Saigon is at the northern edge of what was called Garlic Gulch, where many Italian groceries and restaurants used to be. The last Italian grocery and bakery, Remo Boracchini’s, closed in 2020. Big John’s recently moved to Little Saigon from a neighborhood south of the stadiums. Some of the prices at Big John’s are high, but it has great specials on wine.

After we bought a few provisions at Big John’s, we walked to Hello Em Coffee to check it out. This shop is located in a building with the Friends of Little Saigon. It also shares space with Little Saigon Creative, which sells jewelry and crafts made by local Asian artists. Julian ordered a Vietnamese iced coffee, while I had a hot coffee/condensed milk drink. This is about the only way I can drink coffee, with enough sugar or chocolate to tamp down the taste. Hello Em was selling its original coffee roaster. I gently steered Julian out of the store before he got any ideas.

Once caffeinated, we checked out two Asian grocery stores in the neighborhood. Hau Hau had a large selection of produce, whereas Lams was heavy on the seafood. We didn’t buy anything at either, but I took the picture below to send to my durian-crazy nephew. This was a not-so-subtle hint to his parents that they don’t have to travel to Malaysia to get fresh durian, just to Seattle.

The weather cooperated until just before we got home, when it started pouring. All in all, a good foodie stroll.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2024/01/09/saturday-in-little-saigon/

Jan 04

Artificial Intelligence in the Kitchen

Artificial Intelligence (AI) seems to be everywhere these days. Students use it to craft term papers with varying degrees of success. Hospitals are trying to get in on the action to diagnose patients and write progress notes. We wondered how AI would do in the kitchen.

Julian’s been messing around with Chat GPT and Microsoft Copilot. He had the latter create a few “works of art”; for example, an astronaut playing an accordion while on a space walk. Then he suggested that we see how AI can handle recipe creation. “Give me a list of ingredients.” I proposed ground lamb, dates, olives, and couscous. We received the following in response;

It looked feasible, so I gave it a try last night. The recipe was straightforward. We had all of the ingredients on hand. And it was okay.

Our version of the above recipe.

As with any recipe, a little tweaking was required. Two cups of dried couscous makes a BOATLOAD of couscous. I stuck to our usual proportion of 3/4 cup couscous to 1 cup boiling water. Upon tasting it, Julian thought it needed more dates. The recipe didn’t specify the size or amount of onion needed, so I used about 2/3 of a large yellow onion. The dish had the potential to be salty if you didn’t use low-sodium chicken broth. Moral of story: a little natural intelligence is needed to make AI work.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2024/01/04/artificial-intelligence-in-the-kitchen/

Dec 30

The Cult of Sky Flakes

Behold, the Sky Flakes cracker. To the uninitiated, it looks like a standard-issue saltine. Not to my coworkers. Sky Flakes have risen to the level of a cult.

Who knew that a modest cracker could inspire such devotion?

Sky Flakes are made in the Philippines and available in the US online or at Asian groceries in places with large Filipino populations. Unlike American-made saltines, Sky Flakes are made with palm and coconut oils, which are more available there than soybean oil. The upside from this recovering dietitian: Less hydrogenated fat, since palm and coconut oils are quite saturated to begin with. The downside from same: It’s saturated fat. Sky Flakes also don’t have salt sprinkled on top, like American saltines.

The cult of Sky Flakes began in my department when Eva was hired. Even though we had three other Filipinos in our group at the time, Eva was the one who brought in tins of crackers and told us to help ourselves. Never being ones to turn down free food, we did. Sky Flakes got us through long days of meetings and data abstractions. One of my coworkers practically lived on Sky Flakes several years ago.

Last week we had a holiday potluck at work. Our manager brought a tub of Sky Flakes. Since we had several new people in the group, they needed to be initiated into the cult. The initiation was a success. I fully expect that Asian grocery stores in the area will have a run on these crackers very soon.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2023/12/30/the-cult-of-sky-flakes/

Dec 02

A Trip to Post-Pandemic Portland

We visited Portland for the first time since the pandemic last week. We had three missions:

A visit to Powell’s Books, one of the P’s of Portland that I blogged about previously. Sadly, Pok Pok and Paley’s Place are no more, victims of the Covid-19 plague.

A visit to a couple Julian knew from Ithaca days who live west of Portland.

A trip to Clive Coffee for Julian. This is where he bought his espresso machine on our last trip south of the border.

We arrived in town Sunday evening and set up camp in a hotel on the northern end of the 23rd Avenue NW shopping strip. The next morning we set out for the Hawthorne Avenue branch of Powell’s. The store was larger than I remembered, and carried more general titles other than cookbooks. I bought Christmas presents for my sister’s grandkids (if you think I’m going to divulge what I bought them, forget about it) and only two cookbooks for me. Julian found two used books, one by Carl Sagan and a photography of Paris book.

My cookbook purchases.

We drove back to the hotel, stashed our purchases, and perused the 23rd Avenue strip. Kornblatt’s Deli has been replaced by another bagel shop. Kitchen Kaboodle is still alive and well. We also found Boulangerie St. Honoré. This place is an amazing ode to flour, sugar, yeast, and butter. We had breakfast there the next morning and got treats to take to our friends west of Portland.

Breads and rolls at Boulangerie St. Honoré. Photo courtesy of Julian.
One of the pastry cases. Photo courtesy of Julian.

We had a great time catching up with our friends. They moved to Silicon Valley after Ithaca, then moved north to be near their older daughter and her family. We had sandwiches for lunch, followed by pastries. Two of the pastries we brought are on the left of the middle and lowest shelves of the photo above. We also got a chocolate brioche and a blueberry danish. All were well received.

We stopped at Clive Coffee on our way out of town. Julian bought another frothing pitcher and ordered two accessories for his espresso machine. Installing those should keep him occupied for an hour or two, in addition to the tweaking required to re-optimize the espresso pull. Tea preparation is much more simple.

Permanent link to this article: http://ediblethoughts.com/2023/12/02/a-trip-to-post-pandemic-portland/

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