Breakfast In Burgdorf

I woke up next morning, to discover the beautiful city of Burgdorf outside my window.  The church steeple in the distance, quaint Swiss homes, the sound of a river flowing nearby, the castle walls near the church, pine trees and oak trees, lush green lawns. June is a wonderful time to be in Switzerland. Below me lay a beautiful garden, with apple trees, and berries. Raajesh gave me a tour of their garden. Lettuce, rhubarbs, cherries, apples, raspberries, strawberries, flower beds of roses & poppies, basil, rosemary, oregano, poppies, lavender and many more. It was a delight to wake up to this.

The greenest garden, the brightest flowers, the freshest fruits. Raajesh &Yvonne treated me to the yummiest breakfast of half boiled egg with side of sausages, toast with spreads of cheese, butter, grainy mustard, nutella, homemade jams of kirsch, raspberries, strawberries and rhubarb and some freshly picked berries. A glass of homemade delicious hot caffe latte. It was the heavenliest way to start the day.

I was pleasantly surprised at the pace of my morning- taking my time just inhaling slowly, peacefully, with mouthfuls of yumminess. Could it be- that this is how life should be?  This was a piece of heaven that I got to share with my friends. That I had no such expectation of Switzerland and suddenly I was in love. And did I say thoroughly pampered..

Thank you so much Raajesh and Yvonne.

 

Fondue Creates a Good Mood!

That is the famous saying in Switzerland. Fondue is Switzerland's National dish and was made so by the Swiss Cheese Union. I just read this here and had a big smile spread across my face. Switzerland is synonymous with Alps, Cheese, Chocolates, Watches and of course Swiss Banks. Well Bollywood too, but that is a whole different post. I was lucky to try this national dish at my friends Raajesh and his lovely wife Yvonne's house. These two architects wonderfully spared their long weekend to show me around two Swiss cities- Lucern and Bern. The best guides I must say. Then later invited me to their lovely Swiss Chalet (yes you read that right) to stay the night. Yvonne offered to make me traditional Swiss fondue for dinner. I never really had proper fondue- always some version of it. In America, dipping anything on a long stick in melted edible liquid would be considered fondue. As I always say- I have much much to learn.

Fondue is to be had around a table out of a community pot. Many fun games are played such as if you lose your bread in the cheese- buy a round of drinks for the table or kiss your neighbor.

So here is the real deal. Enjoy! Must try when in Switzerland.

Ingredients:

Fondue Cheese- Moitié-moitié (or half 'n half): Gruyère and Fribourg Vacherin

Minced garlic

White wine

a pinch of nutmeg

Pepper

For dipping:

Warmed bread cut in chunks for dipping

Pickled Gherkins

Onion

Garlic

Sour Kirsch liquor

Some good pepperoni

Some picked baby corn

Drink on the side:

The remaining white wine

Grappa

And some freshly brewed tea. 

In a communal pot or a caquelon (Yvonne had a gorgeous ceramic coated one) throw in some minced garlic, and the fondue cheese. On a low heat, slowly start to break the cheese and let it melt. Stir slowly and continuously as its starts to melt to make sure there are no chunks. Add some white wine to thin its consistency. Also add some herbs or chili flakes for flavor. Yvonne kept it simple.

At the dinner table the caquelon is placed on a spirit lamp so that it does not thicken or burn and slowly stays warm. It is this hot lovely melted cheese that dreams are made of. As you dip your bread using a fondue fork, stir it well in the cheese and do not lose the bread in the cheese. 

A long fondue fork is used to pick the bread and dip it in the cheese. Sour Kirsch makes a strangely bitter but sweet delicious dip to soak the bread in. Its alcohol hits the brains right away. The bread dipped in kirsch dipped in the fondue cheese was the strangest, yet a delicious experience. Slowly got very addictive. It was just warm and creamy and the kirsch was bitter and robust. 

We had shots of Grappa along with our fondue. Raajesh explained that the Grappa helps cut through all the fat and cheese and helps with digestion. Basically, it helps you sleep better. At the bottom you get a lovely crisp, browned layer of the cheese, called  la religieuse (French for the nun), its almost burnt but incredibly delicious like a thin cracker.

Finally green tea- helps keep the cheese liquid that the stomach can digest. 

Yvonne made some lovely dessert next. Frozen raspberries which were picked from their garden, heated into a bubbly red sauce on the stove, served with Vanilla icecream and shavings of dark chocolate. Perfect end to the most perfect day in the Swiss Alps. I wondered how they can stay fit with all this cheese, chocolate and milk. Well if you had to climb mountains everyday your body too would need all this fat.

Important tip:

One must take care not to drink cold water..or one will end up with a lump of cheese in the stomach.

Chai!

Chai! Garam Garam! Close your eyes and think about it. Its raining, lush green all around and a steaming hot cup of tea. I read this post called Ginger a few days back and as I sat behind my glass walls in Goregaon, with the rain beating down hard, I craved for a hot cup of 'cutting chai' rich with ginger.

This weekend mom, dad and I took time away from this mad city and drove up to Lonavala. We stayed at a friend's bungalow up a hill in Khandala. Just at the turn of the hill was this little chai stand. This woman and her daughter with big smiles were boiling up a large pot of tea. "I want mine without sugar". She smiled and said ok. She took some ginger and smashed it and some lemon grass and chopped it. In a big pot she boiled some tea leaves, and threw in the ginger, lemongrass and some chai masala (cardamom), and boiled and stirred adding some milk and stirred it some more. Then poured the hot, fresh, without sugar tea in the tiny glass glasses that are made specially for all the little chai stands all over the country. Millions of them - Im sure are made.

BLISS. It was raining and we stood under the plastic covers of her little tea stall as she carried on making aloo vadas for her customers. Yes- hot tea with spicy vada pav. The perfect combination in all this rain, fog and mist. Ginger. I sipped on this slightly spicy, sweetly aromatic with the delicacy of the lemongrass leaves in the tea. Ginger. I peeled away and found this rich, verdant, fertile land all around me.

Soul of Water


I constantly flow
and of mysterious depths glow.
Silent – a power I know
stopped – powerful I grow.


I don a colour
every hour
when it is light
and can be darker than the night.


In passing, I change
desert into verdant range
in being the elixir
for everything living.


I was born,
to bear life on
rise, ebb, freeze, thaw; be
the very soul of life.

                                                                             -by Anand Vishwanadha

This gorgeous poem was shared by the poet himself. Do check out his book Moving On.

Anand is a poet, photographer and an avid motorcyclist who loves to travel the far ends of this country. He is also the author of the book Moving On- a collection of poems and writes a really cool blog.

When in AMSTERDAM..

You do as the Amsterdammers do...
Of course - how could the Amsterdam experience be complete without an evening spent in one of the coffee shops. Really the Amsterdam cafes serve alot more than just coffee. After an entire day of museuming that included the Vangogh Museum, the Rijksmuseum- with amazing traditional Dutch Art, the De Nieuwe Kirk- which had a fantastic World Photo exhibit , the Foam Museum- strange but housed in a canal home which was a treat to explore, Irene and I dragged our tired legs to a cafe off the street of Leidsestraat.
Here are some images of the street. Some really cool shops- clothing, coffee, the Amsterdam Shoe, as strange food store, a fruit store with Thai fruits that I love, a Starbucks- yes I know its almost exotic and a very cute post card shop.

the coolest door knob- like from Labyrinth

Cereal

the Amsterdam shoe store

All sizes

The cute little object store

Paraplu- Im the purple one. 

We finally decided to rest our tired legs. Walked into a cafe, purchased a 14 Euro ball of Marijuana, where Irene proceeded to roll a joint. A first one for her and me in many many years (not sure how uncool or cool I sound here). The bartender was mighty impressed with her thin, long joint rolling skills. I was just happy to be there - to share this evening with her.

The chandelier above us

Our stash

Rolling tightly

The lovely matchbox

Long thin and elegant

I was thrilled to know that you could smoke your joint and walk around outside. We did just that.  We walked around high, happy, giggly. The colors enhanced or maybe they always are. I did not feel as tizzy as Irene did but I did feel very spirited, happy, a bit numb the realization that it was my last evening with my dear friend. It was almost dark- a day well spent in Amsterdam. Tomorrow I fly to Berlin to fly to Zurich. I just wanted to soak it all.

Beautiful canal home

Irene

Crazy diva snails

Lego head

Beautiful signage

Exquisite detail in the glass window.

Not sure what it says- lovely fly motif brand

Strange fantastic graffiti

The sweet little cafe

Coen

Philip

Irene

Schuim

Me

The lovely Irene. I miss you much.

Found the cafe where Irene's brother Philip and his friend Coen were hanging at. It was a nice streetside cafe with cheap beer. It was my last evening with Irene. God knows when I will see her again. A simple gesture on my part led to a lifetime of friendship. I hope to see her soon maybe in India or some other part of the world.

There is another little place I discovered - again thanks to Irene. Its a little postcard shop on Leidsestraat. I picked some really lovely postcards and conversed shortly with the guy behind the counter. A little exchange on the blog and I think I have ended up making one of the sweetest pen friends ever. He too writes a fantastic blog called He Died For My Grins on religious specifically Christian imagery and I am stunned with the amount of 'material' there is on the web. But then again- I should not be. Actually the blog is quite hilarious and will cause involuntary giggles. Thanks Lucas for writing in..

Postcards that are more like a momento.