When the sun beckons us outside, it incites us to eat fresh produce and nothing is more beautiful than a farmer’s market with all the spectacular colors! Just have a look at the vibrant assortment on a stand at Sion's Friday morning market pictured above if you don’t believe me.
In the Wednesday morning Rive market in Geneva, one item of interest was an Italian cheese, Asiago, which is made in the region of Vicenza and Trento. It is an unpasteurized, hard cheese, that tastes of butter. The friendly vendor offered a sliver for us to try and we were sold. I was curious about the size, color, and shape of the wheel which looks like a black car tire! Apparently there are lots of other types of Asiago but this one was semi-hard with misshaped holes. Beautiful.
Another Italian produce that attracted my eye was the radicchio, an endive type lettuce with long, red, thin leaves. It is slightly bitter but in a salad it did just the trick.
As the seasons change, so does the selection. Locally grown vine-ripened tomotoes, grapes, apples, and pumpkins are in season now. Have you tried Etivaz cheese in the Spring before? The taste is outstanding. How about trying dandilion greens (dent-de-lion) for a salad with crispy bacon in the Spring? Of course, the cardon genevoise makes it appearance around Christmastime and stands selling wonderful gingerbread make it all worth it!
If you are in the mood for some fresh produce here is a reminder of other farmer’s markets in your area.
After two editions disrupted by the pandemic, the Caves Ouvertes Vaudoises 2022 are finally getting back to their traditional Whitsunday event. On 4-5 June 2022, more than 200 winegrowers are waiting for you over another long weekend that promises to be very colorful throughout the canton. A unique opportunity to taste the latest vintage just out of the cellar and to discover the extraordinary richness of Vaud's vineyards. Thanks to the partnership with Vaud Promotion, the latter will be able to offer a selection of VAUD+ certified local products to their guests if they wish.
Post tenebras lux*!
After the darkness, the light! Saturday, 21 May 2022, is the return of the Open Cellar Day in the Geneva countryside where more than 70 wineries invite you to discover their wines in a warm and convivial way!
Quality on the agenda
Geneva, the third largest wine-producing canton in Switzerland, enjoys a special situation with its three specific regions:
- Le Mandement,
- The regions between "Arve and Rhône" (Lully, Bernex, Soral, etc.)
- The regions between "Arve and Lake" (Jussy, Anières, Gy, etc.)
On Saturday, 21 May 2022, more than seventy wineries of the canton will welcome the population in order to present the astonishing 2021 vintage and the vintages aged in barrels of the excellent 2020. This day of discoveries will also be an opportunity to take a magnificent walk in the Geneva countryside, to pass from village to village and to discover these three regions, each of which has its own character.
When we found out about this amazing entrepreneurial develpment for migrants and refugees, we needed to know more and have caught up with Hélène Bayeux, Executive Director IFPD (Fondation Internationale pour la Population et le Développement), to hear how it all started.
She explains: As the Director of the IFPD foundation that focuses on social entrepreneurship and micro-business for the most vulnerable abroad, it appeared important to me to also reveal the talents of migrants and refugees in Switzerland and create the conditions of success of their businesses. In partnership with the local institutions (EVAM, Hospice General) that support migrants in Lausanne and Geneva, we have launched Alter Start to help those in precarious situations. We empower our project holders to use their competencies developed in their home countries to establish a microenterprise to reduce their dependence on social aid.
Within the first two years, we recognized that 40% of our project holders were motivated to create a micro-business linked to the food industry yet they faced several obstacles including access to a professional kitchen and training by a professional chef. We launched the catering Alter Star Food to support the practical and professionalization of their activities as a springboard and platform reuniting these projects with access to clients, administration support, and most importantly, training and supervision by a professional chef Jerome Binder, in a professional kitchen.
Have you been working on this idea forever, or was it something that came to you recently?
The idea was floating around for a while and made itself apparent during the 30th celebration of the IFPD foundation at the Le Rosey. For that event, we engaged the chef who worked with our project holders, and they all worked together as a team serving a cocktail dînatoire. The team spirit, the mix of flavours, and the positive feedback from the 400+ guests convinced us that this is the direction we need to go.
Chic et Choc', the Rallye du Chocolat© is coming to Geneva on Saturday, October 2nd for its 7th edition; the first one took place in Geneva in 2015.
This year, 14 chocolate makers from Geneva will be present and will compete with each other on the theme "Grué and two flavors". If you have never heard the term grué, then don't worry... you are not the only one. It is the French word for cocoa nibs... the shells of the cocoa beans that are ground and sifted after processing the cocoa beans. It has a bitter flavor and a crunchy texture that adds a little "something" to chocolate recipes.
Gourmets of all ages are invited to stroll through the city and push open the doors of the chocolate shops to discover these cocoa treasures as well as the clues needed to reconstruct the mystery sentence that will allow them to participate in the contest. A contest will determine the winners who will receive chocolate gifts and the coveted "ChoConnaisseurs" diploma. The public is also invited to elect their favorite chocolatiers, while a jury of experts awards the Jury Prize to the best chocolatier of the Rally.
Lise Luka, the organizer of this festival, explains, "Gone are the days of gloom and doom, replaced by good humor and delight. Originally we created this rallye to celebrate World Cocoa and Chocolate Day. Now the Rallye raises public awareness of sustainable development in the cocoa and chocolate sector by offering tastings of chocolate creations made by talented chocolatiers."
If you are interested in volunteering to assist on the day, then please go through the website to sign-up. Volunteers the opportunity to be in contact with the chocolatiers or to have responsibilities in the organization of the Rally, all in a playful and warm atmosphere. They also receive a free passport and chocolate gifts.
The Rallye du Chocolat is an event for all gourmets. Lise told us, "With the creation of a chocolate specially for the event, we participate in maintaining a high quality of chocolate. In addition, we contribute to raising awareness among the public and professionals about the relations of producer and consumer countries with the cocoa day each October, 1st. We look forward to meeting with the public on October 2."
