Eating in the Swiss Alps, Part 2

Arosa, a mountain resort town in the easternmost canton of Switzerland, Graubünden, is popular in both the summer and winter for recreation. Last winter, I spent a weekend there with friends for a couple days of skiing and some really great mountain food! The first meal pictured below is of alpler magronen, also known as aelpler makkaroni; as I mentioned in part 1, this traditional Swiss mountain food is a macaroni and cheese-like dish consisting of pasta, potato, bacon/ham, and cheese served with a side of apple sauce. I enjoyed this incredible, hearty dish at Carmenna-Hütte on the side of the mountain.

On our second day of skiing, we stopped into another mountain-side restaurant, Alpenblick, where I ate half of a rotisserie chicken that was cooking right outside on the restaurants deck. This was quite possibly the best rotisserie chicken I have ever eaten. This was a locally raised chicken, roasted with fresh rosemary and served with a delicious salad of lambs lettuce and shredded carrots, fennel and roasted beets. I also had a couple glasses of jagertee (jaeger-tay), a delicious blend of hot, black tea and rum with some other tasty spices - the name is slightly misleading, there is no Jaegermeister in this drink. This was a perfect warming drink that I actually prefer to glühwein, another favorite winter drink of mine popular in Germany. Glühwein is hot, mulled wine.

Enjoy the pictures!

Eating in the Swiss Alps, Part 1

My real job takes me to a lot of places and one of my favorites is Switzerland. On one trip to the country I spent a weekend in the Alps for some skiing, some fun, and a lot of great food. On what was my first foray into the Swiss Alps I visited Melchsee-Frutt and Andermatt. Pictures of the beautiful mountains and delicious food follow below. Mountain food in Switzerland is simple, satisfying, and sustaining, but most importantly it's delicious! On this trip I learned about rösti and Älpler Magronen, a delicious Swiss macaroni and cheese-like dish consisting of pasta, potatoes, ham or bacon, cheese, and onions. The version I ate at the top of Andermatt was good (see below), but on a later trip up into the Alps in Arosa I would have what may go down as the best Alpler Magronen of all time. More on my trip to Arosa in another post. For now, enjoy my visit to Melchsee-Frutt and Andermatt.

Melchsee-Frutt

Kalbsbratwurst mit Zwiebelsauce und ein butter-rösti
[Veal sausage with onion sauce and buttered potatoes]
Gasthof Waldhaus Stöckalp - Melchsee-Frutt

Apfelstrudel [Apple Strudel]

Andermatt

Älpler Magronen high up on Andermatt

Snacking in Switzerland

Pretzels are very common in Switzerland where they are usually sliced horizontally, slathered with butter, and sold under the name butterbrezel. I do love a good butterbrezel, especially when it also has salami on it. One of my favorite places in Luzern (Lucerne) Switzerland for a buttered pretzel with salami is Brezelkönig. They also sell pretzel baguettes with an assortment of meats, cheeses, and vegetables, and frankfurters sold on pretzel buns of course! Whenever I travel to Luzern, I usually buy a tomato, mozzarella and pesto baguette right when I get off the train from Zurich. For mid day and weekend snacks, I go for the butterbrezel with salami.

Brezelkönig's pretzels are soft and salty and the butter is fresh and sweet. The salty salami offers a nice contrast to the rich butter which is why I love this pretzel! If you speak any German, check out http://www.brezelkoenig.ch/ or just stop into one of their many locations in Luzern the next time you are there; I know I will.

The Best Sushi in...Switzerland?!

I'm talking about Kaiten Sushi Bar in the new city neighborhood of Lucerne. To be fair the only city in Switzerland I have spent any significant amount of time in is Lucerne, and, this is the only place I have eaten sushi. But, this sushi is seriously good and it's fun. The sushi is served on small, color-coded plates that you help yourself to from small sailboats cruising around the sushi bar. Enjoy these pictures and the next time you are in Lucerne, eat at Kaiten. They also have a take away location a few blocks away. In three trips to Lucerne I have eaten here five times, it's good!

Kaiten Sushi Bar
Kauffmannweg 16
6003 Luzern, Switzerland
Ph. 041 210 42 40

The Sushi Boats Sail Around the Bar

Crab and Seaweed Salad

Yellowtail, Salmon and Tuna Sashimi

Rainbow Roll

Spicy Tuna Roll