Switzerland The Ticino
Dec 20, 2008 | From the kitchen of Rose
I will always remember my first trip to Switzerland but I absolutely can’t remember how many many trips I’ve made since then! For my first trip, I was working on an article on Swiss desserts for the then new magazine Chocolatier together with journalist Fred Ferretti. He was writing the text and I was recreating the recipes. But the budget was only enough for one writer to go to Switzerland for the research so I decided to pay my own way and go as well. I was already half in love with Switzerland having grown up with the tale of Heidi, her love for her grandfather and the alps. I also adored my grandfather whom I lived with for the first 4 years of my life and was bereft when my parents took me from my ‘alps’ (the Atlantic Ocean) to the big city of NY the way Heidi felt when she was taken to Frankfurt. But as I got older my thoughts turned less to Heidi than to chocolate and Switzerland was Mecca. I had to go. And then I had to return and explore every possible area of the country which is divided between French, German, Italian, and Romanche Cantons. Switzerland is a dream to travel through even for people who don’t speak any of these languages. The railroad networks through every major city with speed and reliability and interconnects with trams, cable cars, and buses. The most economical and stress free way to travel through the country is to purchase a Swiss pass www.myswitzlerland.com
This recent trip to Switzerland was a press trip focusing on the Ticino, the Italian most southern region, and the German northeastern region of St. Gallen, Appenzeller and Schaffhausen. It was so filled with experiences, great photos, and information I am compelled to divide them between several postings. But I must begin by saying that as on any trip, what made it most special was the group of extraordinary, fun, interesting, and warmly supportive participants not to mention the terrific new manager of media relations Michelle Kranz. We all so hit it off that even on optional events where we were free to do our own thing we still got together as a group!
The Ticino, a triangle of land surrounded on two sides by Italy, is divided geographically by the Alps. It has 303,000 inhabitants, is half covered by forests, and is the only Canton where Italian is the official language . So it is not surprising that one finds there such a felicitous marriage of Swiss efficiency and Italian romance.
Lugano, an extraordinarily picturesque city on Lake Lugano, surrounded by snow covered alps, has 52,000 inhabitants. We stayed in the luxurious 5 star hotel and spa Principe Leopoldo high above the lake, which is an independent principality. It was built on a mountain rising high above the lake and necessitating a shuttle bus provided by the hotel as the steep winding road was designed for vehicles not pedestrians. Funiculars, however, go up several of the mountains for spectacular views. The town itself has beautiful architecture, shops, markets, and churches which utilize the local marble and stones in quite extraordinary ways.
Our first night at Principe Leopoldo we were treated to a formal multi-course dinner by one of Switzerland’s top chefs Dario Ranza and despite jet-lag we all managed to stay awake enough to enjoy it starting with a stunningly delicious goose liver comfit with lightly spicy pear jam, perfectly prepared medallions of venison, and ending with a lovely chestnut parfait described as “semifreddo ai sapori d’utunno.
The cuisine of the Ticino is as Italian as its language. Never a meal went by without either polenta, risotto, or pasta. One of our favorite dinners was at Grotto Morchino, where we had a prix fixe 20F dinner that included beef with polenta—the best brisket ever—flavorful and juicy, pork with perfectly creamy risotto, rabbit with potato (what! no pasta?) and chestnut torte for dessert. Speaking of dessert, Vanini, which is a local company I visited years ago with Albert Uster, that produces the best glacéed fruit, also has a boutique in Lugano featuring their wonderful desserts and gelato.
Vallombrosa, one of the most appealing hotels in nearby Castelrotto, Malcantone Valley is situated in the vineyard Tenuta Tamborini where we enjoyed a wine tasting and learned that Merlot introduced at Tamborina 100 years ago with root stock from Bordeaux. Concord grapes are derived from the US. Most unusual was white wine that was 50% chardonnay/50% merlot—called bianco. Each room overlooks the vineyard and is decorated differently with lovely art work. It was so calm and cozy I could imagine writing a book there.
The Old Stone Mill Used Only for Demonstrations
The New Stone Mill Now in Use
We also visited the Museo Etnografico of the Muggio Valle, and an ancient mill, Il Mulino di Bruzella, still in operation, that grinds corn into corn meal. One of the specialties, red corn meal, has a more intense flavor than the yellow variety with which we are more familiar.
A short train ride from Lugano took us to the castles of Bellinzona, built in Medieval times, which are part of the Unesco World Heritage and were an optional side trip that would have been a pity to miss. So would have been the pasta with chanterelle mushrooms I had for lunch as a half portion, as we were returning to spend the afternoon at the annual Lugano food festival that lined the streets with stands such as this one which specialized in fresh porcini mushrooms in addition to the usual outdoor produce and salumeria markets.
The highlight of the visit to the Ticino was a trip to the Chesnut Path—next posting!
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Karen
02/03/2010 06:04 PM
My grandfather came from Bruzella when he was a little boy. I'm looking for any information I can find about the village and am hoping to go there within the next year. Any info, pix, etc. would be appreciated.
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Rose
01/13/2009 12:56 PM
i thought it was radicchio but it didn't resemble any i had ever seen before!
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Hector
01/13/2009 12:49 PM
Luca's Dad, from Veneto, laughed in dispair when I showed him this photo I took at an open market in Bologna. People can't spell he said:
http://www.hectorwong.com/bonjourITALIA/l66.jpg
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Matthew
01/13/2009 10:28 AM
This took me a bit to figure out because, Barbara, I thought you were referring to the radicchio in the upper left, not what is directly left of zucchini, but this is also radicchio. If you look closely, the label says "Trevisano," which is a type of radicchio--Rossa di Treviso or raddichio trevisano. You have good eyes Barbara W.--I would have never noticed that!
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Barbara Cerullo
01/13/2009 02:52 AM
Radicchio! particula kind of "lettuce" from the Veneto area, can be eaten raw as salad, grilled with grilled cheese, in risotto.....slightly bitter bur very good! Barbara
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Rose
01/03/2009 01:08 PM
i think it's in the squash family but will try to find out for you in a few weeks.
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Barbara W.
01/03/2009 11:52 AM
Lovely post! So enjoyable to read about Switzerland which I've traveled through on train a few times but with only brief stops. What a gorgeous area.
Question: What is the vegetable to the left of the zucchini, in the pic near the bottom, of all the veggies in the market? It is curved, red and white stripes....is it a squash or what? I'm dying to know.
Thanks!
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Beth
12/25/2008 03:23 AM
Rose, thanks for the great story and pics. We were in Locarno and Lugano briefly in '76 on our first trip as grad students, taking a trip there from Italy. Now I've wanted to return to the area for a long time, as one of "my" favorite 17th-century prima donna opera singers married someone who was from Cureglia, family named Caresana, fairly near to Lugano. It's apparently a very popular place for sport. I'm almost ready to bake a variation of the hearth loaf - I don't have the oven down yet - it loses a lot of heat through the door. We'll see. (I'm in Venice working for a few weeks - today and tomorrow are holidays).
Beth
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Julie
12/22/2008 09:16 PM
Rose, your pictures are magnificent! "Swiss efficiency and Italian romance"- I'm definitely putting the Ticino on my wish list of places to go.
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Julie
12/22/2008 09:07 PM
Tina, as Patrincia says, by all means register over on the forum! I'm sure someone will help you out through a PM, without publicly posting the recipe.
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Hector
12/22/2008 10:57 AM
Tina, welcome! glad it is understood. Besides the handfuk of recpes Rose has posted, no recipe posting is more a guide for support than a rule. This on the blog encourages book buying and we know how much we love Rose's book writing and selling.
And we also love even more when skilled bakers like you share on the blog recipe tips, how clever to use the piping bag and more so now to pipe rows and cut. Keep the ideas coming.
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Patrincia
12/22/2008 10:40 AM
Rose - Stunning photos.... I'm with Bill, I want to be you when I grow up. :)
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Patrincia
12/22/2008 10:38 AM
Welcome Tina and Wilhelmina - please join the forum where all your questions/answers can be shared (publically, or through PM if needed).
Here's a link to Rose's discussion forum. You'll have to register and enable your account, but it doesn't take long.
http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/index_ee.php/forums/
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Tina
12/22/2008 09:28 AM
As disappointed as I am I'm sorry that I inadvertantly broke the no recipe sharing rule. This posting is my 2nd one on any sight and as I mentioned I had just come upon the site and didn't see the rules posted.
In the spirit of the season I'll share an idea that I had for the ginger pennies that I was about to try ....I usually put the batter in a pastry bag with just the coupler and painstakingly squeeze out hundreds of dots. (I always double a recipe!) This year I thought I would just line a baking sheet with parchment and run long lines of dough in rows. I was thinking of putting the uniform rows in the freezer for a bit and then cutting the rows of dough into evenly spaced pieces. This would result in lots of uniformly beautiful cookies with lots less "squeezing" (and I could always just keep some in the freezer for an emergency!)
Well that was my plan and maybe someone will give it a try. Now I have to search my brain to remember if anyone I know has a copy I can borrow...New York is a big city so I'll just have to start making some calls!
Happy holidays, Tina Hammond
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Hector
12/22/2008 01:53 AM
it breaks my heart honestly that you have lost Rose's recipes. I have explained this in detail, and let me try again:
under 'ZERO' circumstances we are to post any of Rose's recipes on this blog. book writing and publishing is a monumental effort and the blog is threatened to be shut down if the blog becomes a media to share book recipes.
I hope you understand, we shouldn't do a thing that can upset the book printing industry.
I have been in your shoes, recipe less, book in parts, and the only quick solution will be to visit a local bookstore or library or to keep a second copy of the book, used copies are found for about $5!
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Tina
12/21/2008 11:38 PM
It's 12:00 on Sunday night and I've spent the day baking cookies for Christmas. I was about to bake Ginger Pennies which is a dear friends favorite but I couldn't find the page from my RLB Christmas Cookie Book...I couldn't find the page because most of them have fallen out of the book and I have laminated a few that I use all the time...the ginger pennies at the top of that list. I googled "Rose Levy Beranbaum and ginger cookies" and I came upon this sight but no recipe. Then I started to read the posts, I saw that some one was in the same boat and was looking for the chocolate Phantoms (which I DO have the recipe for!) So here it is in hopes that some one will send me the ginger penny recipe....My book was a gift from my daughter when she was 10....she's 26 now! I've been asking for a new copy for years and she promised me one for Christmas but had to order it on line as she couldn't find it in the city...I can't wait for my new copy which will come after Christmas so PLEASE send the recipe if you have it..
Thanks... Here then the Phantoms
1 1/2 cups whole macadamia nuts
8 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
2T unsalted butter
3T flour (one ounce)
1/4 t baking powder
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar (3.5 ounces)
1t vanilla
1 1/3 cups chocolate chips
melt chocolate...you know how
whisk flour and baking powder in small bowl
beat eggs, sugar, and vanilla until well blended (at least 15 seconds)
add melted chocolate mixture and beat on low just until combined
Add flour mixture and beat on low just until combined
With rubber spatula fold in chocolate chips and nuts
drop small mounds from two teaspoons on to parchment. (make them small about 1 inch wide and mound as high as possible)
leave about 1 1/2 inches between mounds.
Bake at 350 for 6 min. then rotate cookie sheets top to bottom and back to front and bake 3 to 4 more minutes until the tops are dry . cool completely and then peel off.
I hope this helps. I wasn't as exacting as Rose in the directions because I'm a slow typist but since you've made them before I didn't think you'd need a lot of explanation.
I just need the ingredients and measurement for the ginger pennies. Merry Christmas!
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Bill
12/21/2008 03:10 PM
Thanks for the posting and the beautiful beautiful photos. I do, I do, I do want to be you when I grow up. And speaking of Switzerland...I made the Taste of Heaven the day before yesterday (Zuger Kirschtorte). I posted some photos on the forum. Yum! I loved it...some people found it a tad on the alcoholic side...lol...can you imagine?...what could be better than a cake and cocktail rolled into one lol (just kidding). It is an amazing combination of textures and completely delicious. Thanks again for all your fabulous recipies. This one is definitely a keeper (I think I will make it again for christmas).
Wishing you Happy Holidays filled with love!
Bill
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wilhelmina margalis
12/21/2008 08:23 AM
Am about to make my Christmas cookies from my favorite cookie book, Rose's (of course). My book is in sad shape with all the pages loose from using every Christmas and I am in a panic, our favorite, the chocolate macadamia Phantoms pages are missing. My whole family has searched and I am hoping someone can post it to me in time to make for Christmas. These are our all time favorites! Pretty please to someone with all the pages!
Wilhelmina
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Hector
12/20/2008 11:48 AM
awesome posting and feeling 'home sick!' luca was born in the most northern town in italy named Torrebelvicino, and his parents backyard is one small river across the alps! each xmas the boy scouts climb it and light a cross on xmas eve with oil lamps while sleeping there thru the night so on xmas day they bring back the cross! (I am sure the meaning is deeper!) I shall join one year and come back to the Swiss side of the mountain.
Luca is there now, try tossing a paper airplane over the alps to say hello!
Have them ship a luggage full of porcini please........
Happy Holidays, it is great to be on the old world during these.
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Switzerland Part Two--Ticino & The Chestnut Path
Press Trip Departure