Swiss Rӧsti

Hello everybody

As you can see, the blogs are slowly coming in again, and there is more to come, especially about Philippines. But right now I am just burning to give you a recipe. A very, very simple recipe I made when I was now in Switzerland. It is a national dish made out of Potatoes. It is the famous Rӧsti.

There are two ways on how to make a really good Rӧsti one is with pre-cooked potatoes and the other one is with raw potatoes. Both ways give you an excellent result, but you need to take care of this dish to have really good results. I usually make the Rӧsti with raw potatoes but like both ways the same.

Just a short story about the Rӧsti. In Switzerland are two main types of Rӧsti, the one made in Zurich (where I am from) and the one in Berne. Both counties say that they are doing the original and there is a constant quarrel about whose is the original one. I don’t really care but I want to tell you the difference. The one from Zurich you have to add Onions and Bacon to the potatoes and for the one from Berne Bacon and onions........get the hint? They are actually both the same and don’t forget, we don’t have potatoes since such a long time in Switzerland. The potato came to Switzerland about the same time the rest of Europe introduced this Central American Tuber......

But now to the recipe, don’t forget, it is such an easy dish to prepare, but you need to give it time and love!

1500 G Potatoes

150 G Butter clarified Peel the potatoes and let them cool down completely

200 G Onions Grate them in a Rösti grater

100 G Bacon, smoked Cut onions in a fine julienne

Salt, pepper Cut bacon in a fine julienne

Saute onions and bacon in the butter
Add the potatoes, mix everything carefully
Season to taste
Press the potatoes slightly down
Fry the Rösti on slow heat till golden brown, about 15 minutes
Turn the Rösti and fry the other side till golden brown

Serves 10 people

Flying KLM again

Amsterdam Airport is one of the great airports; good shopping and plenty of restaurants. I have raved about this airport before and still think it is a great one. I walked just briefly through it as I had not too much time till my next flight and yes, the flight on KLM was exactly as I hexpected it. I had a great flight last time and again this time I was pampered. Plenty of leg room in the tourist class, movies were the latest and the food.....was great again

The presentation of the food was already great, modern, simple and then of course the taste, I have to say, was superb. The dessert tasted like home made, everything was fresh, the bread rolls were warm and crispy, but soft inside, what a treat! Yes I like flying KLM they are way up on my favourite and I can only recommend them. (No I am not getting paid to say that, I really like them)

I think on the food side it very much depends from where one flies and not just with which airline. On some airports they are not so good in cooking (like Washington) and some are great ( Amsterdam, Cape Town, Singapore) so even when the airline has specific guidlines, I think it istill very much depends from where one starts the journey.

So finally the flying is over again, at least for the next ten days before going to Philippines, I know I will enjoy my time here in South Africa, always have and I can't wait to see my boys again.

Flying Air France, the holiday begins

OK, it is a while ago, but I still need to tell you how my vacation started.

I was supposed to fly in the evening with Delta from Washington to Amsterdam and then with KLM to Cape Town.Unfortunately the first flight was already delayed by the time I checked in, so the lady at the counter looked for a new connection and luckily found one immediately, flying with Air France to Paris, then change planes and then I would still be able to catch the original flight to Cape Town.

I needed someone to accompany me to the plane in Washington as time for a normal check in was too tight. Did you know that this way within 10 minutes I was from the check in counter to actually sitting in the plane? I do like to shop a bit at airports, or at least look around a bit and usually have plenty of time to do so, so this time I missed out on it, please don't ask me how the airport in Washington is, I have no idea!

The flight was OK, the on board entertainment system didn't work for the first 2 hours and then the movies weren't new, what a bummer. The highlight of the first flight was a glass of Canard Duchene Champagne....yes the rest was not that exciting, service was friendly but food was bad.I have to say bad even so I don't like to be negative. I had a lovely sounding "Beef Parmentier" which is usually a tender beef stew with potatoes. What we got served is a tiny layer of mince meat topped with mash potatoes made out of powder, I could not eat it so the only thing what I did on the flight was sleeping.

The Airport in Paris (Charles de Gaulle) is very good, easy to find everything a bit weak in shops where I was but by good chance I met Cem, an Assistant Maitre'd from Mercury, he was actually on the same flight like me, but we didn't see each other. He was now on the way to Montpellier in the same part of the airport, so we had a cup of coffee together for about half an hour before we parted again to catch our flights. Was really nice to see him again and catch up a little bit.

The next Air France Flight was really good, just a short jump to Amsterdam, had a quick snack and we were ready for landing again. Overall I have to say that I was not overly impressed with Air France, very little leg space, disappointing movies, service friendly but not wowing me away, I am glad the next flight is KLM, I hope it is as good as last time.

Online again

Hello everybody

Just a very quick one to say that I am back online. I have a new laptop as the old one was beyond repair, lucky it was still under warranty.

There are plenty of notes and recipes waiting, so stay tuned I will start writing very soon with all the travel experiences, new foods and recipes

Glad to be back