Foreigners in Switzerland who want to know more about Swiss wines and the vineyards that dot the countryside now have a good resource. Ellen’s Wine World, a free website in English about Swiss wines, launched officially this week.
Writer Ellen Wallace says the site’s mix of wine reviews (250 a year), vineyard profiles, interviews with winemakers, wine and food news and other features is designed to make foreigners fall in love with Swiss wines, just as she has done.
Ellen isn’t simply a fan of good wine. She’s a judge at major international wine competitions including the Mondial des Pinots and the Mondial du Merlot as well as at Switzerland’s national wine competition, the Grand Prix des Vins Suisses. She’s been writing about European wine, often linked to travel and cuisine, since 1982, initially from Paris for Time Magazine, Business Week, the International Herald Tribune (with special sections on Swiss wine) and a number of international travel magazines.
After 20 months of renovation work, representing an investment of 40 million francs, the 4-star Crowne Plaza Geneva has secured its place, once again, as one of the top attractions in Geneva for businessmen, tourists, and local Swiss residents.
Ideally situated just 500m from the airport and Palexpo, 2km from the United Nations, and 3km from the city centre, the Crowne Plaza Geneva has now been completely modernized and extended, with an additional 2 floors offering outstanding views over one of the most dynamic business quarters of Geneva. The new floors were officially unveiled at a series of special launch events held at the hotel last month.
Looking for some menu ideas for Valentine's Day on Thursday, 14th February? We have hand-picked a few in the area that would be delicious and memorable. Remember that tables get booked up relatively fast so unless you want to go for a last-minute pizza then we suggest contacting venues as soon as possible!
This list is compiled by region.
Last year, during the run up to Christmas, we featured a short article listing a few ideas for quick and easy apéritifs, with ingredients sourced from local supermarkets. Here's the list again, with a few new suggestions from our guest bloggers, Rosa Mayland and Hiba Gicoletto.
The emphasis in each case is on simplicity – none of us want to spend hours creating gourmet dishes at this time of year. So read on… and if you have a few ideas of your own, please send them in to us and we will add them to this year's list.
If you still need further inspiration, then why not try out one of the "festive" cookery lessons in the area! Many of the local cookery schools offer classes in the run up to Christmas. Check out pages 482 to 483 of the current edition of Know-it-all passport to find a local school near you!
For cake
2 cups kumquats, stemmed, quartered, seeded as much as possible (if you want to decorate the cake as shown then use about 6 sliced kumquats for this)
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons strong tea
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground or crushed cardamom
1 teaspoons salt
1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup crushed pineapple in its own juice or large banana and some orange juice
For glaze
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 180°C.
- Place quartered kumquats in processor; puree 3 minutes. Measure 1/3 cup puree for glaze; set aside.
- Prepare pan with paper lining or butter and flour.
- Combine flour, tea, baking powder, baking soda, cardamom, and salt in medium bowl; whisk to blend.
- Using electric mixer, blend 1 1/4 cups sugar and oil in large bowl.
- Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, then vanilla, 2/3 cup kumquat puree, and pineapple with juice.
- Gradually add dry ingredients, beating just until blended.
- Put batter in prepared pan.
- Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour.
- Cool 5 minutes in pan on rack.
- Turn cake out; place top side up on rack and cool.
- Place reserved 1/3 cup puree in large bowl. Whisk in butter, powdered sugar, and lemon juice.
- Spread a bit of the glaze over cake and place the decorative slices of kumquats. Let stand until icing sets.
- Then cover with the remaining glaze when cake is cooled.
