Les 5 Portes

French cuisine.

L’Alhambar

American-style Sunday brunch, with mimosas, Bloody Marys. Nice price.

Calm

Saturday and Sunday brunch from 10H00 to 18H00, including scrambled eggs, pancakes, sandwiches, muesli, bread, croissants, brioches, etc. Garden terrace in summer.

Le Cheval Blanc

All-you-can-eat buffet for CHF 22. Buffet includes bread and jam, pastries, birchermuesli, various kinds of eggs, as well as quiches, original mixed salads, cheese and sausage. Also a selection of desserts. Reservation advisable.

Le Cheval Blanc, Place de l’Octroi 15, 1227 Carouge, tel. +41 022 343 61 61 from 11H00 to 15H00 on Sundays.

Vineet Bhatia, the Bombay-born chef who first got a Michelin star at his Chelsea restaurant Rasoi, and another one a few months ago at his Geneva restaurant Rasoi By Vineet in the Mandarin Oriental, is now off to Abu Dhabi, reports Perpetual Traveller Overseas.

Bhatia changed the face of the Indian culinary scene in London, where practically every restaurant served the same old same old, by breaking out of these boring boundaries and changing it into something modern, innovative and competitive. The number of modern Indian and Indian fusion restaurants in London, from budget price to upscale, has increased significantly as a result.

The Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority is sponsoring its annual 15-day culinary get-together of starred chefs from around the world, starting on February 5. The meals will take place in Abu Dhabi’s most prestigious restaurants, with the guest chefs, who have twenty-two Michelin stars in all, working with the resident chefs. It is a real meeting of East and West.

Bhatia will be working with the chefs at Yas Island Rotana, a restaurant serving both North and South Indian cuisine, from 16 to 19 February 2010.

For more information, contact Gourmet Abu Dhabi.

Geneva Christmas lights.

Genève Tourisme is featuring a list of special Christmas and New Year packages in all hotel categories.

It should be noted that not all hotels are participating in the scheme.

The packages include board, breakfast, a CHF 60 shopping voucher for the high-end Globus department store, an audio guide to Geneva, a travel card good for your entire stay, as well as informational material about Geneva.

The packages are for one, two or three nights and can be reserved online. This offer is valid from 18 December 2009 to 4 January 2010.

All photos courtesy of Fiveprime.

Vanilla Vintage owner Dorothy Sidlo just likes old things: dresses, furniture, recipes. Her list is long.

And her list includes old-fashioned but easy fruit cake, which she has just posted on her site, based on a recipe by a Mrs. Fontaine. I thought I’d adapt the recipe for you.

Christmas cake is something you can make well ahead of time, so you can get one Christmas dish behind you already this weekend.

Mrs. Fontaine’s old-fashioned Christmas fruit cake recipe

0.6 kg / 1 ½ pounds sifted all-purpose flour
0.8 kg / 1 ¾ pounds white sugar
6 eggs
2.8 dl / ½ pint milk
2 teaspoons soda
2 grated nutmegs (noix de muscade)
450 g / 1 lb raisins
450 g / 1 lb currants (raisins de Corinthe)
½ pound lemon or orange peel
½ gill / 1/4 pint / 1.2 dl brandy
½ gill / 1/4 pint / 1.2 dl rum
1 teaspoon ground cloves (clous de girofles moulus)
Nuts of your choice

Preheat oven to 165° C / 325° F. Cream the butter and sugar until smooth.  Dissolve soda in a little hot water, then add to milk. Add milk to butter and sugar mixture.

Add spices to sifted flour. Mix well.  Beat egg yolks thoroughly. Beat egg whites, until stiff. Fold yolks into flour, then gently fold in beaten egg whites.

Wash and dry all fruit. Chop lemon or orange peel finely. Mix in a bowl, and lightly flour all fruit. Add to cake mixture.

Grease a large tube pan or several small pans. Pour mixture into pan or pans.

Bake in 165° C / 325° F oven for 1 1/2 hours, or until done.  Test with a clean straw or knife. It is done when it comes out clean.

This recipe originally comes from a certain Mrs. Fontaine, who added: “This recipe has been in my family for 60 years.  It was in my mother’s collection . . .   You can substitute berry juice for the rum or gin, if you are religious.  The cake improves with age.”

Suggestions: why not try half white sugar and half brown to give it a little more character? Don’t go too heavy on the nuts; add just enough to give it a bit of crunch.

Label One offers home delivery of lots of hard-to-find goodies, including Gillardeau oysters (same as those served at the Brasserie Lipp), lobsters and crabs for holidays or special occasions, as well as rib-eye and sirloin steaks, wild fish, and other more common fare.

You can order online and if you order before 15:00 H, it will be delivered the next morning before 9:00 A.M. Delivery is free as of CHF 200, via ExpressPost or air. (My experience of food delivery by the Swiss ExpressPost system, using cold blocks, has always been problem-free.)

Products are packed in insulated bags, along with a cold block that maintains the temperature below 5° C/41° F.

Label One also offers catering of holiday meals, and such favorites as barbecue ribs and pancakes and maple syrup, as well as gift package delivery.

Their toll free number is 0800 LABEL 1 (0800 52235 1).

Who poured the boiling soup on the head of the Savoyard?

Legend has it that a certain Huguenot, Catherine Royaume, who had sought refuge in Geneva after the Saint Bartholomew’s Day massacre, threw a pot of her boiling vegetable soup on the head of a Savoyard soldier as he and his mates were trying to besiege Geneva. This happened during the night of 11-12 December 1602. Ever since, she has been known as the Mère Royaume, or “Mother Royaume.”

Photo courtesy of FotoSearch.

And ever since, 12 December has been a day of celebration, referred to as the Escalade, which means literally “climbing,” as in rock climbing. In 1602, Geneva was surrounded by high stone ramparts and circled by several concentric high stone walls, so the poor guy who had the boiling soup poured over his head already had a hard day of climbing behind him.

Ingredients in La Mère Royaume’s cast iron cauldron

Geneva was quite a different place then. According to the food La Cocagne cooperative, people ate vegetable soup at every meal, so there was always a big iron cauldron or marmite on the fire. The vegetables changed according to the season, and on special occasions or Sundays, the more fortunate threw a piece of meat into the pot. Times were often hard after the arrival of the Huguenots and other Protestants, so the Genevois started importing rice from Italy and lentils from all over to help fill all the refugee bellies.

The vegetable soup of a cold December in 1602 was quite different from any vegetable soup we would eat today. It was not a velouté or a bouillon with a few drops of truffle oil. There was no fresh green asparagus imported from Peru.

Read more…

If you didn’t have time to make your Christmas puddings last winter, there is still a solution: order luxury puddings online. Yes, you still have time!

Figgys Puddings makes high-quality Christmas puddings using only the best ingredients. They come in lovely ceramic bowls.

They ship overseas, but do not list the date for last order. In any case, it would be wise to order as soon as possible.

Figgys Christmas puddings use only top quality natural ingredients.

Harrods offers luxury Christmas puddings and brandy butter, with a delivery time of 5 to 7 days to Switzerland.

Fortnum and Mason in Picadilly in London also offers a wide variety of Christmas puddings and cakes, including chocolate-flavored ones, as well as mince pies. The puddings come in lovely ceramic bowls you’ll want to keep.

Rum and cognac butters are also available. For Switzerland, orders must be in by midday, Monday December 14.

Le 3 Rive Gauche, Grand Rue 3, 1204 Geneva

This reliable bistro is a real gem in the midst of the vieille ville, which is in dire need of more good but affordable restaurants.

It is beautifully decorated, the servers are pleasant, fast and efficient, and the food is reliably good. They offer a daily lunch special for CHF 20 or a 2-course daily menu for CHF 32.

After our conference on the history of Geneva today at the Société de Lecture, we hopped down the street and had a plat du jour, which consisted of a thick, perfectly cooked slab of salmon trout, steamed potatoes cooked to perfection, and steamed spinach.

They also have great baguette, which is another thing that is hard to find in local restaurants. Definitely an address to save in your telephone memory.

Opening hours: Monday through Friday, 12:00 to 14:00 and from 18:30 to 22:30. Tel. +41 022 810 29 29. Site. (Please note that the hours listed on the site are not correct.)

L’Office, rue Richer 3, 75009 Paris

Refined, modern, light cuisine for around 30 euros a head for a 3-course meal. Red bell pepper velouté with foie gras, duo of sea bass and scallops with a frothy, light cream sauce, and a to-die-for chocolate moelleux. Can purchase foie gras, onion jam, and other homemade goodies to take home with you. Short but sweet wine list.

Opening hours: closed Sundays and Mondays. Open for lunch on Thursday and Friday from mid-day – 2.30pm. Open for dinner from Tuesday – Saturday from 8 – 10.30pm. Tel. +33 01 47 70 67 31.  Metro Cadet (line 7) or Bonne Nouvelle (lines 8 & 9).

Le Soupçon, place du Bourg-de-Four 8, 1204 Geneva

Modern, light cuisine. Best steak tartare and homemade shoe-string French fries/chips in Geneva. Of late, the chef has been more inventive than ever, but his creative tricks are not always a success. Wide selection of wines by the glass, rather in the style of a wine bar.

Opening hours: closed Sundays. Open for lunch Monday through Saturday 12:00 PM to 14:00 PM and for dinner 19:00 H to 22:00 PM. Tel. +41 022 318 37 37. Parking St Antoine, tram/bus stop Rive (lines 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, 12, 16, 17, 20, 33, 36, A, E and G). Site.

Counterpoint: Suggested to two friends that we have lunch there today, and they both immediately said that it was a victim of its own success and flatly refused to go.

La Famiglia, rue du Faubourg Poissonnière 71, 75009 Paris

The pizza crust is reliably good. Steer clearly away from meat dishes, which are heavy and old fashioned. We ordered the antipasti, which didn’t have much to do with true Italian antipasti, apart from the oil-laden, over-salted eggplant/aubergines. The owner strongly recommended the daily special, spaghetti alle vongole, and practically forced us to order it. The 8 or 10 clams were fresh enough and edible, but the pasta was so salty that we just left it. Good place for a pizza, but don’t venture any farther afield. The owner is a friendly, pleasant guy, but nice is just not enough when it comes to what’s on my plate.

Opening hours: closed Sundays. Open for lunch Monday through Saturday 12:00 PM to 14:00 PM and for dinner 19:00 H to 22:00/22:30 PM. Tel. +33 022 318 37 37. Métro Poissonière.

The American International Women’s Club will be sponsoring a Thanksgiving Day lunch at the Royal Savoy Hotel in Lausanne from 11:30 A.M. to 14:00 P.M. on Thursday, 26 November 2009.

The luncheon starts with a cocktail and wine party, offered by the club. The menu includes pumpkin soup with cheese straws, turkey stuffed with chestnuts, cranberry sauce, sweet potato gratin, French green beans, and apple tart with pecans and ice cream.

The price is CHF 60 for members, and CHF 70 for non-members.

You must register IMMEDIATELY, by e-mailing: registration@aiwc-lausanne.org.

Students from the International School of Lausanne will perform during this annual event, and the Community Services Committee will be holding a supply drive for the benefit of the Terres des Hommes federation to support children in need.

Map.