Walking Through the Universe

I can't remember when my liking for organizing events and bringing people together started. Probably it was pretty early, when I realized that every time I thought I had found something cool, I felt the need to share it with everyone around me. 


I guess being a Couch Surfer has helped me a lot, too. By hosting people, I got confronted with so many questions and stories that I started exploring my surroundings anew, often realizing for the first time in ages how beautiful Switzerland and especially Zurich are. 


A while ago, I had two couch surfers from the United States and when they asked me about a nice hike for a Sunday afternoon, I recalled a pretty cool little walking tour, called "Planetenweg" (Planet trail), which starts at the Uetliberg train station and goes all along the hilltops until Felsenegg, which is above Adliswil. From there you can take the gondola down and the S4 back to town. The whole walk takes about 1h 20min and leads you through nice meadows with cows on them (sadly they don't have horns, which gives them, although useful, still a pretty dumb look)... What makes this way special is the fact that it is a true to scale miniature of our solar system. You start at the sun which is about 100m away from the train station and you end at Pluto (yay, it's still part of the Planetenweg!) near Felsenegg. So also if you have children visitors, this is definitely something worth doing if the weather is nice yet not too hot and you have a couple of hours to spend.


Unfortunately I have no pictures of the Planetenweg itself, but check out here to find some more information.


I know, there's more to write about and I've been very busy organizing the b-day event lately (and helping others organize events, too), so I'll hopefully soon catch up with a few cool news including pictures :). Hope this one is at least somewhat useful :)


Cheers!

Paintball injuries and bartering review

First of all, the first week of my bartering game was so successful that I somehow managed not to exceed the budget without having to barter. Maybe 30.- is too easy in that case. I should rename the game. But the point is: I saved some money. The funny part about this is: I didn't even have to change that much! Partly because I managed to squeeze all the fun parts in group activities such as barbecues and potluck at my place etc. whereas the aim originally was to avoid bars and restaurants. Turns out it's not only better for the wallet but also offers a great deal of possibilities for being creative. 
(In any case I also thank the kind souls who once or twice invited me to a drink :))


Headaches and bruises
Now about Paintball. The 16 of us made our way to the paintball arena in Unterägeri, here you can find all the necessary information. (if you work in an open office while reading this, you might want to turn the volume down first. It has background sound).

before the bruises

After we got all the protective clothing, the overalls and our gloves on, the fun began. It was my first time in a paintball arena and I was scared to death when I saw with what power those weapons shoot their bullets around!


Nevertheless I did my best (but sucked anyway big time) and I thank the responsible shooter (name known to the author) for waiting until the last game with his multiple headshots that almost knocked me out. (you could have shot on each side of my head so I would have had two horns instead of this awkward lopsided hump! Well, next time, maybe...)

So final balance: Some of us looked like dalmatians, some had just minor bruises, some participants will remember to wear a jockstrap next time, and I got a hump on my forehead. And still I wouldn't have wanted to miss that, not for love or money. 

after the massacre

Thanks many times Markus for organizing this event!

The Burger Quest

There are many ways to find good food in Zürich. The best one is still by exploring all the places yourself. All you need is infinite time, money and space in your stomach.  
(Which, after watching Interstate 60, is not necessarily a worthwile experience. Unfortunately I didn't find an english version of that scene, but only an italian one. I hope you'll get the story anyway. If not, this movie is definitely worth watching.)

What do you think? I used to think that a never full stomach would be cool. Now I'm happy I didn't get the chance to wish that.


The first two Burger Places
Anyway. I'll give you a quick overview about the last two burger episodes of our quest. We actually are working on a scale to evaluate the burgers with equal terms, but so far we haven't yet established it completely. BUT, as I promised some burger information soon, here's the first two.


Korner, the gourmetburger place, got a pretty good score. The restaurant opened its doors about 6 weeks ago and already has a reputation for their burgers. Our group in general came to the conclusion that:

• The burger is extraordinary. Meat quality is very good and the cooking (standard about medium rare) emphasizes the taste very well. Their sauces seem to be nice, although add-ons cost extra, too.
• The side dishes though were a bit disappointing. The fries were overdone and the onion rings were limp and tasteless. The good thing is that they have to be ordered separately, so best thing to do is just to leave them away. 
• Service was nice and correct.
• Price-value is justified, given the special care they invest in the quality and the cooking of the meat (again as long as you don't add side dishes, as they would in my opinion tilt the price value ratio to overpriced). for a decent meal (including sides) you'll end up with about CHF 28-30.-

Conclusion for this place: If you're looking for the best burger in town, period, this one is definitely very high in the ranking. 

The second place we went was Regenbogenbar. Given the fact that they are actually a bar with some added food, their choice of dishes is quite big. But what about the burgers?

• The burger itself is loaded with goodies. Apart from the meat, you get a very well blended mixture of coleslaw, tomato, onions, pickles (if you like them) and sauce. The meat quality, however, doesn't quite match the one in Korner. 
• The sides (fries) are golden and crunchy, and they are included in the basic price. For me personally that's a plus
• The service was - as said, more bar - like but enjoyable
• Price-value is - compared to the other places we've been - very good. You get a meal that will likely stuff you for just a little more than CHF 20.-

That's it for now about the burgers, but we still have a long list of places to check, and I'll keep you posted every now and then. :)

En guete!

Yours, 

Longstocking

Saving Money by Bartering - a Self Test

So I've been checking on my accounts lately and I found out that I've spent way more than I should. (who doesn't?)
And as I don't want to sulk around, I've started working on some ideas. 

• As I'm still working full time, the thought of a side job isn't really appealing. At least the ones that are usually available. So I put this to the side for now.
• I've found some stuff to sell in my cellar, which will probably bring me a buck or two, but that's also not gonna work on the long term. Not only because I'm too lazy to put the effort in selling that stuff over the internet (clean it, take pictures, write a very creative text about it, post it and wait), but also because unfortunately my cellar has limited merchandises to sell. (I could start selling things that aren't even in there yet, and then see how this virtual market will work?)
• I'll walk around with my head bowed from now on, because that increases the chance of finding money. 
• I'll eat at home every now and then. 

And those things all together have a certain guarantee to make my life boring and miserable and lonely.


So, I came up with the following idea. (I tried this before to tease my creativity and to see how far I could get without losing social contacts or miss out on fun.) I'll call it 


The bartering days.

The rules of this "game" are simple. You limit the amount of your own money you're allowed to spend to a pretty low level per day (or per week) and no matter what, no matter when or where, no matter with whom, you mustn't exceed your limit. Which will, and should, of course be a bit tricky. And that's where you can get a bargain or a treat for little money and save me a beer or two a night. 
I'll start this weekend with an amount of 30 francs a day/210 francs a week and I'll offer a certain amount of services to friends and acquaintances in exchange for either money or stuff I need. For example:

• 5 minutes shoulder-/neck-massage: a small beer or CHF 5.-
• 10 minutes shoulder-/neck-massage: a big(5dl) beer or CHF 10.-
• Cook dinner if you bring the ingredients: I get to eat dinner as well
• Proofread german texts: depending on complexity / length
• 30 minutes back massage: CHF 25.- or food of approx. equal value (this would have to be arranged in advance because it's probably something i could only do in public at the rentewiese)

Just ask me about those when you see me next time. I'm also open to further (decent) suggestions :)

Uh, that's going to be a tough challenge. (btw the reason I wrote and published this all is not only to advertise my services but also to force myself to stick to it because now I can't back down. F**k.

Red Solo Cup and Rodeo Challenge!

Aye people! 

Now this is an event you mustn't miss, not just because it actually happens in the "Rote Fabrik" which was literally on fire last week. Also not only because it's the first event, kind of the pilot event of hopefully more and other ones to come, organized by a friend of mine. (No, it's not me. I do actually have some friends.) 

But because first of all they do have Red Solo Cups. Which - contrary to popular Swiss people's belief - has got nothing to do with being single (solo) but is the brand name of those ominous cups we didn't find here when we wanted to play beer pong. They are pretty much this:

And that's STILL not the only reason to go there. (No, I'm not bringing up the mechanical bull yet, pssht!). For those who dare swinging their hips, there will be a line dance, and if you would like to practise, just put this one on repeat and clean your living room :) (please DO film yourself and post it in the comments :))

And last but not least, the best reason of all: The mechanical bull. Girls, if you manage to go on like this, you might even win a prize: 

(of course guys who can keep up that long might be rewarded, too ;))
Well... Now if this isn't enough for you, maybe the fact that there's no entry fee until 10pm will change your mind? :) 

Details

Place: Rote Fabrik, Zürich

Date: Friday, May 18th

Time: from 9 pm (no entry fee before 10 pm)

Entry Fee: CHF 15.-

Well then, see you there! Yeehaw! 

Yours sincerely

Longstocking.

The Rhubarb Thing

Rhubarb is a pretty addictive thing. I'm kind of glad it's only available in spring. Otherwise I'd probably eat (or bake) myself to death. I once got a really easy recipe for a Rhubarb cake which seems to be the perfect gourmet killer. (Thank you, mom!). The only annoying thing about it is if you don't have much time and your knife is not sharp as hell, preparing the rhubarb is equally annoying as getting caught in spiderwebs and having to get rid of them. those fibres (talking about the rhubarb again) stick to your knife, your fingers, your hands and just won't get off! 

The rest is easy. I'll post the recipe, whose origins are not known to me, as my mum got the recipe for a friend of hers and you know how it is with mums. they gather and exchange about everything.


So here it goes. You need: 
500g of frehsly cut rhubarb
3 eggs
200g of sugar
1 pack vanilla sugar
100g butter
200g flour
1/2 pack baking powder


Heat the oven to about 180°C (hot air).


Mix it all somehow and done. Too vague? *sigh* okay. You will also need one of those:

Mix the eggs, sugar, vanilla sugar and butter really hard until you get a fluffy bright-yellow mass that tastes delicious (advice: don't taste it; you might want to eat the whole batter).

Stift together the flour and the baking powder and mix it with the batter to create a bigger mass of delicious dough. 

Then, there's two tricks to use:

First: before you mess with the rhubarb pieces, put some flour on them, it will keep the pieces from sinking in during the baking. 

Second: butter and flour the form before pouring the dough in, it will save you from having to piece the cake together again after trying to get it out of it. 

Then mix the rhubarb with the dough and pour it into the form. Bake for about 40 minutes, check, and most of the time you'll need another 10 minutes. I use a little knife and stab the cake (you never know, it could jump out if you weren't careful) in the middle and the more of it's guts are sticking on the blade, the stickier the cake will be. I don't wait until the lame is clean, but it shouldn't be all doughy. 


Caution: Don't lick the blade unless you're experienced with dangerous weapons. (Or if you're a politician. Then it's totally ok if you cut your tongue off.)


After baking get the cake out of the form and let it cool down a little. 


Bon appetit! :)


P.S. you can also bake this cake with all kinds of berries or cherries (not only because it rhymes.) But if you take cherries, remember that unless berries, they have a pretty solid core. Good news is nobody can sue you if they lose teeth when eating your cherry cake as they have to expect something like that when eating it (like fish with bones or olive pits and so on). But if you value your friends, make sure you get rid of the pits first. 

Open Mic, Ocean and a Burger Quest

Holy cow. This Open Mic Night was crowded as hell!


And the best part was that I got the chance to see somebody play the song "Ocean" by John Butler live, just about 5 feet away from me. For those who don't know the piece, check it out here. Amazing, right? And although I have no idea if my blog actually made a difference concerning the amount of performers and listeners at the Open Mic, I'd like to thank every one of them for showing up last night. It looks like we made the difference needed to keep it going for some more time. I'll keep you posted about further events. 


Now, coming to a completely different matter. I got a few quests going on and I want to make them a bit more public. First of all, there's the burger quest. It's already been subject in one of my blogs. I'll keep you posted further on that matter as we're going to try a new place this week. The cool thing about this quest is that we've started with a group of people and now we've got some kind of burger jury together to comment on burger quality, price and also about service and ambiente at the place. You will from now on find them under the label "Burger Quest". 


Apart from that, what can I tell you? I'm kind of sulking about the constant weather change. I've been running around with a cold for days now! (shut up, staying in is not an option.)


Oh, and now, at like 1am, I suddenly remembered what I was thinking when I started talking about the best places to think. (the ones where you're never able to write your thoughts and ideas down). It's because when running through the day, there's subjects to write about left and right, and when I actually sit down to write something new, it's all blank. Which of course is usually the case when you stare into your screen, wanting to start writing, as you need space to write. Well, I found out that there's some inverted mechanism playing: It's not that I transfer my thoughts to the blog, it's that the blog transfers its blank to me. I think it uses me to post emptiness. *shock*

To be continued... 

Save the Open Mic Night in Zurich

My dear friends, followers and idle readers,


Dis blog entry is about something a little bit more serious. And urgent. So I beg you for once to share this entry to all your friends in and around Zurich. We will probably only get one shot.


For some time now, there has been an Open Mic Night here in Zurich, held twice a month at McGee's Irish Pub. Ryan, the organizer, always did a hell of a job, setting up all the equipment, organizing the whole event, and if you're interested, please have a look at his blog, where you should find all the important information. 


Well, it has come to my ears that this Sunday there might be the last Open Mic Night for good, not only for the summer. Apparently the audience as well as the performers (mostly the performers) have shrunk to a minimum of a few regulars and the odd other person dropping in, which kind of made it more and more frustrating to organize the whole event and put such a huge effort in. 


Now, dear friends, I ask you one single favor. (okay, two...but one is only a click.) If you are a hobby musician, like to play songs, maybe are looking for a band, or just enjoy playing instruments and/or sing, just grab your instrument and maybe one or two mates and show up on


Sunday, May 6th, 7.30pm at McGee's Irish Pub at Bahnhof Wiedikon. 


(sorry Ryan, stole the pic from your blog :))


Usually every player gets a set of 20 minutes to play, you can also just play one song if you like. It's not a competition, it's all about fun.


The other favor, as mentioned above, would be to share this post if you have friends, relatives or acquaintances in and around Zurich who like to play or listen to good music. We need a good outcome this sunday night.


Additional information: oddly enough, there are 4! of the regular players who's birthday falls on the 6th of May. So it will be not only musically a great thing but there should be some cakes (I'll most likely provide a Rhubarb cake) and good party mood. Bring hats, noisemakers and what ever you like if you want!


THANK YOU! 

Best Burgers in Town

What's your best place to think? For me, I'd say, it's always the places where you have the greatest thoughts but are unable to keep them in your mind long enough until you find something to write. The bathtub, for example, if you're too lazy to take (waterproof) pen and (waterproof, like laminated) paper.  Which I actually always am because I'm not abusing a hot bath to work. Hot baths are about relaxing. Otherwise it would be work related and immediately the pressure would start and you'd be blocked again. Worse even, the bath is wasted because you can't enjoy it. 


Or how about dreams. I'm such a genius when dreaming. I think I solved all the mathematical, physical and world problems in one single dream but I can just remember that I did, but not how. 


Well, If only I remembered why I started this blog like that, I might tell you an incredible story, but I don't. Instead I'll go for burgers. 


My friend Alessio invited a bunch of people over to this restaurant called Iroquis, which was supposed to have good and tasty burgers. Being all sporty now that spring is in full bloom, I cycled all around the lake to get there. Quite a treat, after months of tram riding. Although I have to say, probably much to my friend's disappointment, it definitely didn't match the best burgers I've had so far. ( FYI: The burger quest is an eternal game to me, its aim being to find the best burger in town.) There's still no burger like the ones I used to have in Regenbogenbar. Need to try them again sometime soon.


(You might say: sure, of course she'll call the burger of her favorite bar the best one, because it's her favorite bar. Well, if you ever wanted to know why it became my favorite bar in the first place, try the burgers. :).)


This rather short entry is just to remind you that I'm still alive and just very... (sorry: VERY) uncreative concerning subjects to write about because - hey people, I have NO idea whether you prefer vast variety of subjects or rather something special. Well, I guess that's my thing to decide because you'll hopefully still read it. 


Btw: I got that banana cinnamon hot choco..choko...chocko...cacao stick from Austria on easter. It's gross. Don't buy it. Even if the package looks nice. It's no comparison to a swiss hot cho...thing. And sorry for the lack of pictures in this entry. And to conclude this story: I tried to make another chutney, I failed. It's gross, too.

Everything Crystal Clear?

For once something to do outside of Zurich. If you happen to have like half a day off and don't know what to do, there's a pretty cool glass factory called Glasi Hergiswil, obviously situated in Hergiswil at the Lake of Lucerne (which is, in case you didn't know, worth a trip itself) 



The factory gives you the opportunity to play with glass, find out about its properties and uses and why it's an incredibly cool material. If you're heat resistant you can even go and blow your own glass bowl! The whole exhibition and watching area in the factory is free, the only things that cost are the glass museum (CHF 7.-), making your own glass bowl (CHF 15.-) and the worth-every-cent glass labyrinth (CHF 5.-). Christian and me spent like 20 minutes in there and took funny and mystical pictures of an army of ourselves. Look:

The following day I went into my kitchen and discovered that somehow there was a bunch of ants making their way into my kitchen through the window. (I don't know if it's a good thing that my chutneys got famous in ant colonies...?) Of course, that caused a whole afternoon of spring cleaning. I think the following technique is pretty effective: Grab a big bag and instead of wanting to clean the room, you set the aim to fill the bag... Worked with my wardrobe, too. I wonder now if I should announce a girls-night clothes-swap party or give it to charity ... ?


The ants seem to have vanished now that I have set a trap for them. The only downside of this whole thing is now that the rest of my apartment compared to the kitchen looks like...

Guess that means 'nuff said, gimme that damn cleaning cloth. And a dust mask, if you're at it.

Summer Games in Zurich Part 1: Boules

Zurich has a lot of places and groups that offer great activities during summer. This post will be dedicated to the game "Boules". There's tons of names for variations of the game, like Bocce, Pétanque, Boccia, bowls, and probably some more but just so we get each other right: If I'm referring to metal balls or so, I'm not talking about crown jewels here. 


First, as usual, something about the history of this sport. uh, wait. that's second. First I need to make certain you know what it actually is. If you know Helvetiaplatz or also Lindenhof Platz in Zurich (more to that later), you might have seen a scene like this:

(I honestly don't know if it is a rule to wear a beret during the game or if this is just a way of the french to say "beh, voila, moi pétanque. bleh.")


You might also have noticed the round objects on the floor (commonly known as "balls" or "bowls"). Traditionally they are made of some heavy metal (meh, no Black Sabbath...). To play, you need two of them per person and one small ball, usually called Jack (or as the french say "cochonnet"). Quickly said, the aim of the game is to throw your balls (every player, also girls, usually have two of them) as close as possible to the Jack. It's also allowed to hit some other player's balls to get them further away from the aim.
(I don't want to explain the rules in detail here because whoever you're going to play with, I'm sure they do have their own rules. Let them explain the way they play it first. If you want to be well informed and start your own game, click here)


Generally, Boules is a really easygoing tranquil game (again, unless you hit the wrong balls) and can easily keep some old guys busy for a whole afternoon. It's a good way to have some business discussions, too. (If you disagree, just throw the balls at your partner's head.)


Boules originated in the ancient Roman Empire. That's enough about history so far. 


The best places to observe real Boule players in Zurich are as mentioned first of all the schoolyard next to Helvetiaplatz as well as (more rare, though) Lindenhofplatz close to Bahnhofstrasse. 


This is a gentlemen's sport. So if you play it...

Pear and Ginger, Rimini and Asparagus P

About a week ago I bought 10 pears because I wanted to try another chutney, one that I didn't have a recipe to. My plan was to create a chutney that contains the same spices and therefore tastes a bit like my fabulous "Upside-Down Pear and Ginger Cake". (The recipe is somewhat secret but then it isn't because it's from a cook book. But a secret cook book.)

And I found out: Chutneys are fun. I just threw in what I thought could match the taste and let it simmer for a few hours... And now i got (only) two twist off glasses full of something that seems to be pretty close to what I expected. I just have no Idea what to eat it with. I guess when opening one of the glasses I'll also scatter some walnuts over the served amount because that's part of the cake and it would go well with it. 


Rimini Bar
Completely different subject now. Last night I went to the season start of Rimini Bar with some friends. For those who are new to Zurich, or haven't heard of it yet, it's a bar that opens only in summer because it's all outside. And of course only when it's nice. Usually it's being announced on their website as well as their facebook page, so if you're not sure whether the weather will allow it to be open, just check one of those pages. 


(Disclaimer: The following text is meant as a purely scientific matter and therefore I refrain from any accusation of being disgusting.)


What is it about asparagus?
... And how on earth did we end up discussing asparagus pee? Well, it's asparagus season. So it must have something to do with that. And I found out that I was fundamentally wrong about something. First of all, there's about half the population on this planet that doesn't know this issue, and it is because they are MISSING a gene that produces an enzyme that splits the chemicals so they stink. This makes me wonder. If they are missing a gene, I assume that there has to be a replacement gene for that. And I think they can make themselves invisible. I've rarely ever met a person who doesn't know the issue, and if half the population belongs to this group, WHERE THE HELL are they?? 

(Come on, it's Friday!)

Potluck and French History

Last night I was invited to a potluck dinner. A term rather unknown by the Swiss (that's why I'll explain it, mainly because I didn't know what it meant, although my audience is probably wiser than I am), a potluck dinner is a gathering of people where each person brings a dish made by themselves for everybody to share. I wondered why people would call that potluck, because hearing the word and its meaning, the first thing that came to my mind was a kind of russian roulette with food. (Which probably is the case in many a potluck dinner occasion. Be careful about what you try!)


Apparently (according to my friend Wikipedia), the word origins in the 16th century england but meant rather "food provided for an unexpected or uninvited guest, the luck of the pot". And then, the Americans picked up the word (probably errorously referring to the word "potlatch") and used it in the sense of "communal meal, where guests bring their own food"; sometime in the 19th or 20th century. Although the Irish apparently already used it as a term to describe a meal with no particular menu where everybody brought a dish. It originates in the time when Irish women gathered to cook dinner and they had only one pot; so they brought their ingredients (whatever they had to bring that day) and threw them together. Surprise!
Suddenly I can imagine how they invented Irish Stew... 


And for lack of a better second subject, I'm going to bring up a fun fact about the day:
On April 25th in 1792, exactly 220 years ago, the french officer Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle composed in Strasbourg the "Chant de guerre pour l'armée du Rhin" (roughly translated: War-song for the army of the Rhine), which became the French national anthem in 1795, better known today as "the Marseillaise". (It lost its status under Napoleon but was reestablished in 1830.)


And I even found a picture of de Lisle singing it. (I wonder if he sang it reeeeeeally slowly or if the painter was extremely fast...either way, they did a good job!)

The piece was originally dedicated to the governor of Strasbourg, Graf Luckner, and to this day, it is played daily at 12.05pm on the market square of his birthplace, Cham in der Oberpfalz. And below is Graf Luckner. (hm... Maybe he should have sung a song, too, so the painter wouldn't have been able to paint all those wrinkles?)

Allons enfants de la patrie... *sing* and au revoir for now!

A Whisky Store and a Dog in a Glass

There's so many incredible places in Zurich. As already mentioned, on Saturday we didn't only go to the Markthalle, but after some shopping, we ended up in one of the most amazing Whisky stores I've ever seen. 
Cramped between the old-town buildings, next to Hotel Otter, lies Glen Fahrn, which contains for sure one of the biggest selection of Whiskys and Whiskeys. (Fun fact: I learned in Ireland, that the appellation Whisk(e)y is derived from the irish word which means water. (Hello, vodka.) If you're interested in the difference between the terms Whisky and Whiskey; check wikipedia here.

So if you ever need a good quality Whisk(e)y or you need a good advice or suggestion, Glen Fahrn is definitely worth a visit; don't hesitate to ask the shopkeeper about details; they are very well informed.


So, that was that. On Sunday, we checked out Babu; an absolutely gorgeous place for brunch, lunch or some afternoon coffee. It's spacious and cosy yet very busy on certain days, so you might want to reserve a table in advance if you don't feel like waiting up to half an hour in those times...


I'm almost sad to finish this post without some stupid or witty remark; guess I'll have to make up for that soon. 


Oh, wait. There's at least something funny. Today I had to do some dull work; and as a non-coffee drinker, well, it wasn't the most pleasant thing to do. 


For a new business mailing, we had printed all those coasters. And because we wanted them to look authentic, we had to stain some real glass rings on them, which - as we found out - unfortunately didn't work with beer. (no excuse for drinking during work, then :(...) Nor did it with cola. So, sadly, I've spent half of my workday in the bitter fumes of nespresso *blörk*... But I guess the results were worth it. :)

Doing some brainwashed handiwork like this one has a meditative touch to it. And it's kind of artsy, too! Right? And for all my work, in the end i was rewarded with what seems like a Terrier in my coffee glass. 

Rickrolling, a History Lesson and...

The weekend has been quite eventful so far. Friday night, I met my english forum friends at Talacker, and, totally at random, we all got rickrolled. more information here. (For those who are to lazy to click the link; it means being confronted with the song "Never gonna give you up" by Rick Astley when you don't expect it, for example by clicking on a link that promises something completely different.) 

 (Talacker)

On Saturday, Christian and me made our way through some gems of Zurich, discovering gems within the gems. (Uh-huh?)

There was, first of all, the Markthalle at Viadukt, where we found all sorts of spices and a very friendly and helpful shop assistant at the pie stand. Now we got almost all the ingredients for our cocktail bitters together. 

(Btw: D-day for the creation of the bitters is set to next Wednesday, as we're still missing the most important ingredient, the "Feinsprit"; basically a very high class vodka, consisting of about 96% alcohol...(OM NOM NOM NOM *hicks*))

While looking up webpages to link to the blog, i found out that the project "Viadukt" itself has a pretty interesting story in the history of Zurich and so I decided to give you a summary. 

Built in 1894, it replaced the old and rather obstructive train-dams, which blocked any further expansion plans of the city and therefore had to be removed. And of course, in order not to make trains just fall down because there's a dam missing, they needed to build something less suffocating but still stable. And luckily, somebody came up with the brilliant and very ancient idea of building viaducts instead of massive dams and they managed to exchange those constructions so quickly that the trains didn't even realize they were running on different surfaces. Problem solved.

Source

The first businesses already established themselves in and around the construction, such as various quarrymen as well as a tropical fruit merchant.In 1980, the SBB wanted to enlarge the viaduct by 1-2 tracks to get a higher frequency in their train traffic. Unfortunately this would have meant for the people living around the viaduct that the trains would run past their houses at a distance of only 3 meters (which is about 9-10 feet). Naturally they started protesting. Under the name "Verrückt das Viadükt"(move the viaduct), they collected signatures and succeeded. 

The two resulting projects from this story are the Viadukt, which is a gathering of fancy cafes, independant shops and decent restaurants, and the Durchmesserlinie, the underground train station still being built underneath Zurich HB. 

(to be continued...)

The Herbal Mystery

As mentioned earlier, I'm on my sidequest to gather some herbs. So last night, I went to this nature pharmacy to ask for them. For some unknown reasons I ended up talking about dry skin and walked out with some skin oil. Talking about ADD...


Nevermind, I managed to get the information I needed. The friendly sales assistant reminded me of a place I've known for ages but had totally forgotten about for some reason. There is, luckily, still a place in Zurich that knows all about herbs, teas, tinctures and potions. The Berg-Apotheke at Stauffacher runs a selection of over 2'000 diffrerent herbs and spices from all over the world, for example Indian Ayurveda (haha, I spelt it right without peeking) herbs or Chinese ... uh ... Everything herbs. And spices. I guess in China they don't really make a difference between food and medicine. At least in ancient China. But that's ok, because the Berg-Apotheke seems to be an ancient place, too. So i figured that if there was a place to find gentian root, sarsaparilla and horehound, that would be it. 

Stepping into the store, i had to rub my eyes.
(D'oh...those %&$#?@ chilies!) 

To give you an idea about the Berg-Apotheke:

And amazingly, they got literally every single one of the ingredients I needed!

Now I guess this weekend once again I will discover new flavors and be part of a pretty impressive creation :). Rhubarb Bitter. How cool's that! Well, it's Friday, so I guess the only thing left to do after completing my little side quest, is to go out! I'll keep you posted about the processes here.

Sugar explosion

Whoa. Okay. Breathe..


Note to self: if warming up sugar, don't put water in the same pan. The crystal figure looked impressive, though. Damn, should have taken a pic. I might just do it again and... maybe not.


So I'm trying this mango passion fruit chutney, which sounds amazing but first of all the recipe is FULL of traps. Apart from that mean sugar deathtrap, there are the mangoes. It says: "Peel the mangoes and pit them." 


Right. 


Seriously, who invented those mango pits? They are like stuck axes in wet wood. And I guess I know how the guys felt who tried to get King Arthur's sword out of the rock. I somehow managed to scrap some of the edible away, carefully focusing on not cutting my fingers, because mangoes tend to become extremely slippery when being attacked by a knife.


After that, I enjoyed a ginger bear. But had to kill it soon...

...in order to create this: (there are A LOT of chilies in there. I just hope I'm not going to scratch my eyes in the next like... 24 hours.)

So, 20-30 minutes later...

Success! It's pretty spicy but oh this is goood!

Darn. just scratched my eye.

(Now if anybody wants to try the recipe, you can find it here, although it's in German. And if you try it, remember the traps.)

Chutneys, Bitters and Mystical Fruits Part 2

After the successful fabrication of my first chutney, i felt as if I was becoming a witch. 


Actually, there's nothing magical about the feeling but if I think about it, I guess if I would continue making chutney, I'd get a hump on my back from beding over the pot and savouring the complementing scents. And there's the stirring. When making chutney, at a certain point it's all about stirring, or you will burn it. Guilty of killing your own chutney by neglect. 


You don't want that to happen. Really.


Anyway. So leaving the chutney part aside for a moment, as I mentioned previously, there are other people getting involved in kitchen magic in spring. (What is it about magic here? No magic involved!)


Almost simultaneously to my newly discovered hobbyhorse, my better half Christian suddenly discovered his 2012 exploring area. Being a cocktail fanatic, there is always the issue of cocktail bitters. Don't frown, they are important for good cocktails. I mean, there has to be a reason to those recipes that ask for sarsaparilla, horehound or grains of paradise. Being non-native english speaking, I had of course to look them up. 


Here's what I found:
sarsaparilla - Sarsaparille
horehound - Andorn
grains of paradise - Paradieskorn


aha.


Well, but I take pride in my abilities to find things. So after some more things I had a rough idea about how those things are also called in german, which didn't make it any easier for me to figure out where to get them. Some of them are (or were) even used as drugs. Thus, I guess it can't do any harm if I ask in a drug-store ... 


... to be continued ...

Chutneys, Bitters and Mystical Fruits Part 1

I don't know what it is about spring, but apart from people falling in love, I also notice a rising enthusiasm in me and my surroundings to conquer the battlefields of the kitchen again.


This year, my exploring area was set when I went to get lunch in a vegetarian restaurant and indulged myself in a bite of mango chutney. Sweet, spicy, slightly warm, and a jam-like texture with mango chunks...yum!


Just like that, my aim was set. Chutney it is, then.


While looking for interesting chutneys to start with, I stumbled over all sorts of funny ingredients. Which meant for me that my quest of making chutney just became a treasure hunt. And it made me think of my gamer's past, when playing Zelda and having to decide whether to go for the side quests in order to complete the game to perfection or leave it and finish with whatever I got.


I take pride in my cooking skills. (much more so than in the game, I still haven't solved those riddles. Which makes me think of this ...)


And, well, the first chutney I was going to make, a strawberry-chili-chutney, included tasmanian pepper and honey vinegar. (Unwillingly, a picture of Taz and Winnie the Pooh dancing through a strawberry field flashes through my mind...) True story: the pepper was easier to find than the vinegar! (I found it in the food factory of Jelmoli, while apparently Coop has it in their fine food section, too.)


As for the honey vinegar, I'm still trying to find a practical solution, since it is part of many an interesting chutney. Meanwhile, I got a condiment from Coop (probs only available in bigger stores) and my better half found some of the precious (pricy) fluid in Globus downstairs. Hooray, and I made it!