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Good Food
Cooking with ViggoSwiss Specialties for the Holidays
By Chef Viggo Anderson
Nov 30, 2000 -- I'd like to take you to a country with some of the most wonderful winter foods of all: Switzerland. In the lower Alps near the medieval town of Gruyere, the grass is greener and the air fresher than perhaps anywhere on earth.Harebells, edelweiss and honey-scented clover decorate the undulating meadows, and gentle cows wearing enormous metal bells around their necks meander through the pastures. As they nibble the sweet grass their large heads wag to and fro, filling the still day with a symphony of bells that resounds through the valleys and crags.
It is not so much a question of what the Swiss eat and drink as how they eat and drink that is important. Fondue, probably the most typical dish of Switzerland, reflects a healthy, warming attitude toward life. The dish is undistinguished--simply a piping hot pot of melted cheese into which one dips cubes of bread. But tradition and ritual dictate that the fondue be stirred clockwise; that if a man drops a cube of bread into the pot, he forfeits a bottle of wine; that if a woman loses her bread, she forfeits a kiss.
The meal becomes an occasion. From humble origins deep in the Swiss Alps, a simple communal meal has evolved into a celebration of friends, family, neighbors, who get together to share food, drink and exuberance. In such company, could one want more than a bubbling pot of cheese and a bottle of wine?
So let's make it!
Cheese Fondue
Serves 4
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1-1/4 cup dry white wine
14 oz Gruyere cheese, finely grated
14 oz Emmenthal cheese, finely grated
Freshly grated nutmeg
Freshly ground black pepper
1 small glass kirsch
1tsp cornstarch
French bread
Rub the inside of a fondue pot with the cloves of garlic, leaving garlic in the pot. Add wine, and warm gently over low heat. Add the grated cheese, and stir until the cheese has melted. Season with nutmeg and black pepper.
When completely melted, add kirsch mixed with cornstarch. Stir thoroughly, and transfer pot to the table.
Cut French bread in to 1" cubes, cutting so each cube still has some crust on it.
The pot must sit on a burner in the center of the table so the fondue is kept hot. Each guest has a long-handled fork with which to spear cubes of bread and dip them into the bubbling cheese. Allow fondue to just simmer throughout the meal.
Suggested drinks:
Dry white wine, and a small glass of kirsch.
Cherry Tart
1-1/2 lbs red cherries (fresh or canned)
4 oz butter
1/2 cup of sugar
6 egg yolks
2/3 cup ground almonds
2/3 cup cream
Rind of one lemon
1/4 lb sweet biscuits, finely crushed
Powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 400* F.
If you use fresh cherries do not take out the stones, but warn your guests! Leaving the stones in prevents the cherries from becoming too soft during cooking.
In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar until smooth. Add egg yolks and whisk until foamy. Add almonds, cream, lemon rind and crushed biscuits, and beat well. Grease a 9" baking tin, and add 1/3 of the mixture. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove, and add the cherries to the half-baked dough. Put the remaining dough over the cherries, and return to oven. Reduce temperature to about 350* F and bake for about 50 minutes.
Remove from oven, and allow to cool. Turn out of tin and dust with powdered sugar. Decorate with cherries.
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