Switzerland vs Spain

The Swiss Plate
Zuppa di verdura della evi – Eve’s Vegetable Soup

Score

Big M

I used lamb shanks instead of veal but would like to try them next time. The combination of ingredients worked well with the lamb. I thought it might be too fatty, but it wasn’t in the end. The turnip makes any soup great as it sweetens the mix up.

little m

A fantastic filling soup. It’s a shame shanks are so trendy and expensive these day. I would like to try the soup with osso bucco.

Comments

The recipe for the soup has been adapted from the Swiss Winter in the Alps cookbook by Manuela Darling-Gansser.

Switzerland vs Togo

The Swiss Plate
Tessiner Rosti
Lindt Intense Orange chocolate

Score
* Big M – 3
Well I balls’d this one up by boiling the potatoes for too long. No Black Sheep Ale to blame this time either. It ended up like pancetta mashed potato! Oh well maybe I have created a new recipe.

* Little m – 4

Comments
There are always a few dishes that are hard to master, and rosti would be one of them. It took me a few attempts before I was happy with the result. First you need to par-boil the potatoes the day before. Then you leave them in the fridge overnight, and squeeze out the excess starch. Lastly to get the really crunchy edge (which I love so much) the temperature of the pan must be just right.

I still have a 50 percent hit rate with poaching eggs.

Of course, Swiss chocolate is my weakness, but I don’t think I could write a whole book about it. However that’s exactly what Isabel Coe has done in “La Dolce Vita: Sweet Dreams and Chocolate Memories “. She has a Swiss Grandmother and an Italian mother, and the book is packed with plenty of delectable chocolate based recipes.