swiss

(The 10 year anniversary of JustHungry is at the end of this month. To commemorate this pretty big birthday for the site, I'm highlighting some of my favorite posts from the archives. This recipe is for an authentic Swiss cheese fondue. It was my late mother in law Martha's recipe. It's perfect for a chilly evening. Originally published on December 26, 2008, one year after Martha passed away.)

Martha passed away on the 26th of December, 2007. When she was still healthy, we shared many a pot of cheese fondue with her during the cold winter months. Her fondue was without question, the best I've ever had anywhere. So in her memory, we made a proper cheese fondue.

I've already posted Martha's fondue recipe 5 years ago (she was still making them then), but since it was one of the very early posts here on Just Hungry, it has no relevant picture to accompany the recipe or anything. To rectify that, here again is Martha's proper Swiss fondue, with many photos and detailed instructions.

(This item is only of interest if you live in Switzerland, specifically in the Zürich area. Everyone else, just move along.)

The 100 Japanese foods list is done. Plus, you know, Swiss breast milk.

I spent the last couple of weeks surrounded by chocolate bars. Oh, the temptation.

Today, you will be encountering many lame (and perhaps a handful of not-lame) April Fools' Day jokes. But there really is none better, than the Swiss Spaghetti Harvest.

I know I keep bringing it up every year on this day, but it really is that good.

Here's a fairly acceptable YouTube version:

A couple of years ago, I wrote about our visit to a most unusual Zürich restaurant, the blindekuh, where sighted people can experience what it's like to dine in total darkness. Yesterday it was announced that the founder of the chain Stefan Zappa, was honored as the Swiss Social Entrepreneur of the Year.

According to the story, "The "Blind-Liecht" charitable foundation was set up in December 1998 by Zappa, a partially sighted psychologist, with help from three other blind people."

It's still the most unusual restaurant experience I've ever had. If you have a chance to visit Zürich, I'd highly recommend a visit there if you want a dinner you'll never forget. There is a blindekuh restaurant (it seems it's officially spelled in lowercase) in Basel also.

We received a PR release the other day from LeShop, Migros' home food delivery web site, that they are no longer going to be selling traditionally raised (with the _gavage_ method of force-feeding) foie gras to German speaking Switzerland. This didn't come about because of government legislation, but apparently was a decision made by Migros, following the results of customer surveys which were overwhelmingly against gavage.

I realize that compared to a lot of other food blogs, I don't get that personal on this blog most of the time. I just wanted to mention though that posting may slow down a bit for a while. I know that I've promised some articles such as one on pressure cooking, and I had planned some festive Christmas-y recipes and such. However, yesterday we heard that Max's mother Martha, who is in a nursing home, has suddenly taken a turn for the worse. So, it will be a rather somber Christmas around here.

My pressure cooker actually used to belong to Martha, until she went into the home a couple of years ago. Except for replacing the rubber gasket, it's as good as the day she bought it more than 20 years ago. She used it all the time, mainly for steaming potatoes, but for a few other things too. I hope to put those recipes up here in due course.

In the meantime, here is her authentic Swiss cheese fondue recipe, which is the absolute best I've ever had. A cheese fondue with crusty bread was always one of our favorite meals to have together.

Here's another bit of food related shopping news for my fellow Swiss residents, expat or not. I recently got an email about a new site called The Cheese Club. They are still in pre-launch mode - the official launch is scheduled for February. One thing that makes they quite interesting is that they are run by an English and Swiss couple and will be selling British cheeses, as well as Swiss and Spanish cheeses. As far as I know, British cheeses aren't that widely available here in Switzerland (Jelmoli has a limited selection, at least in Zürich) so this could be good news for a lot of people. (There really is no substitute for a good Stilton, for example.)

Although they haven't officially opened yet, they are already selling a cheese tasting pack, which includes wedges of blue Stilton and Wensleydale, for 69 CHF. They guarantee delivery by December 21st. Could be a great gift for your favorite homesick Brit!

• The Cheese Club

A reader emailed me asking, how people celebrate Christmas in Japan.

My answer to that is ... "Not very well." But I get to pick and choose.