Well, I’m afraid this was just common-or-garden green asparagus grown in Spain. It was really good–sweet and tender, if a little pricey at 400g for 5€. The only white cooked in this house is from Baden-Württemberg (life-long prejudice of OH). I’d like to try the Cojonudos, though…I’d just have to hide it!
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This deep-freeze week calls for food that would be at home on a winter, rather than an Easter-week, menu. We’ve had far more snow than forecast. Butternut squash soup made with stock made from (mostly) root vegetables is topped with shards of bacon and a touch of milk froth. The smooth and cozy soup benefits from the contrast of a crisp salad of shaved celery, fennel, and little gem lettuce, with a few cherry tomatoes. The slaw-like tangle is topped with chunks of Roquefort and chopped fragrant toasted hazelnuts from our tree, but first it’s tossed with a tart dressing (shallot, chardonnay vinegar, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, 2/3 olive oil to 1/3 hazelnut oil, and a touch of honey). It makes a nice contrast to the comforting soup, and OH will never know quite how many vegetables this meal conceals. It’s good that OH’s old Alpine rescue crew is coming for some ski fun–by early next week we are told to expect temperatures over 20C!
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This would be good for Karfreitag lunch or dinner–a pithivier-ish recipe which is not traditional, because it’s supposed to be made with white fish, but I use salmon and prawns. Diced leek and fennel are sautéed and bound in a white-wine creamy béchamel with fresh dill. Big chunks of fish nestle in, and buttery mashed potatoes top it. For the table, there were a few emerging flowers under the snow.
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Oh nice..
Yesterday was panfried salmon coated in nixtamalised cornflour, done with a nice and crispy outside but flaky inside, then curry noodles and a salad.
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for me it was ravioli filled with smoked roasted black garlic and Taleggio cheese on a cream and champagne foam
at a restaurant, of course. My cooking quota of the day was filled with a couple of fried eggs in EVOO. 
Yet, today we are talking serious stakes; Garlic, mint & rosemary (and naturally, HONEY) roasted lamb shanks …
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I think lamb shanks are seriously underrated–they are my favourite part of the lamb! When we slaughtered, they were the first bit (aside from brains) that I claimed. My rogan josh recipe needs to be made; I need to visit the lamb lady near our DE office and see if she has shanks from new lambs.
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They are not under-rated - they are so damn expensive here. 25 CHF a piece at least.
I used to cook and eat them regularly in the UK where the butcher considered them a cheap cut.
I would pit my rogan josh against anybodys any day…
Seens I have to do a trip to Landsberg and the turkish butcher.
Really? They’re a fraction of that here and quite easy to get hold of.
Geneva; they’re on offer in our nearest french supermarket at the moment for €27 a kilo, €28.60 per kilo from Picard freezer centre. Never dared check the price in a swiss butchers.
Not really that cheap as you’re looking at around fifteen francs each if you buy one per person.
…sad Slammer noises…
It was one of those cold evenings, the day had been sunny but a cold wind was blowing, the kind that chills to the bone.
I sat infront of the square, (cant really say: "sat infront of the box these days) wrapped in a blankie with my feet on a hot waterbottle
That kind of evening where tea doesnt cut it but a cup of OXO is just the right thing.
Only to find my carefully husbanded little box of original english oxo cubes has been invaden by some litte beetle, nowhere else mind you just the cubes looking like miniarure ant farms.
At least somebody got enjoyment out of them.
Awwww…next time keep them in the fridge. They must contain some starch that attracts beetles/weevils.
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We have them on offer here at 17.95 a kilo so not bad at all really.
Wonder why there’s such a difference between regions?
Just checked in the nearest Migros with a butchers counter and they didn’t have any. The butcher nearby said that when he does have them in they’d be around thirty-five francs a kilo.
Something else going on my shopping list next time I’m up your way!!!
Swiss-Germans are pretty fussy eaters and seem to have a limited palate of flavours and textures of food.
Anything out of the ordinary (for Swiss-Germans) is considered a rarity and so a premium price is placed on it by retailers due to lack of economies of scale and just because they can.
As an example, I remember a time here before parsnips were available. They they appeared and were marketed as premium rare produce with a price to match.
Now they are accepted they are less than 2 CHF a bag.
The food on the French side of Switzerland has much more variety and the people are more adventurous.
It’s getting better here - slowly.
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Same here on the other side of the röstigraben. Also plentiful and not extortionately priced. Opted for the leg of lamb for Sunday roast, though.
We did too.
We have some lamb shanks in the freezer though.
I asked Google. Seems to align more or less with what I wrote:
Reasons for the Pricing Difference:
- Proximity to France: The French side has easier, faster logistics for importing meat from France, where lamb is typically cheaper than in Switzerland.
- Cultural Consumption Habits: Lamb is more commonly featured in French-Swiss cuisine, leading to a more competitive and fluid market for it, whereas it may be considered a specialty item in certain German-Swiss areas.
- Price Differentiation: Retailers on the German side sometimes operate with higher margins or are better at charging higher prices due to the higher purchasing power of that region.
The prices in the german part are shocking - day before yesterday, i bought 8 pieces of (spanish) white asparagas for chf 4. Today, at my local coop, 10x spanish white asparagus for chf 12!
I will admit that the swiss asparagus available later in the season, tastes better to me (more flavor and texture) …
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I find the seasonal produce ‘Miini Region’ (?) pretty good quality. We like the local asparagus, too, but more so the green variety.
Thurgau strawbs are another favourite in our house.
Often you just need to know when and where to look for seasonal stuff. We know the staff in our local Coop to chat to, so they are useful to tap for what’s coming in.