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!