Secret Swiss treats

MILLIE: Karla and I were houseguests of Franklin and Susan Bertschy for most of our recent sejour (stay) in Switzerland. My friend Susan planned and managed our itinerary for the rest of our stay, which included a day trip to Zermatt, Geneva, and nearby Montreux and Vevey. Early on, I told Susan my must-haves while in Switzerland and these were undoubtedly all food items: Swiss air-dried beef, cheese fondue, raclette and Malakoffs!

She drove us through the vineyards of Canton de Vaud as we looked for a caveau or wine cellar that was open so Karla could experience tasting Swiss wines in real wine cellars. But unfortunately, the cellars were only open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, so we drove around the scenic area through Epesse, Dezaley and St. Saphorin, which all sounded familiar to me as these were Swiss wines I was familiar with.          

It was a fine day and we drove by the Route de Corniche and stopped for lunch at Le Deck. The view of the lake was fantastic, with snow-capped mountains beyond.

Karla ordered filets de perches while Susan and I ordered trout fillets with fresh chanterelle mushrooms, which was utterly divine.

The next day, we were again lucky to have good weather and because I was clamoring to eat some Malakoffs, Susan did some quick research.

Malakoffs are a typical Vaudois dish made of cheese and bread, fried golden brown.  Although unique to the region, not very many people know about it, as compared to other Swiss delights like cheese fondue and raclette. The first time I ever tried Malakoffs was when I was working as an apprentice at the Beau-Rivage Hotel in Geneva and there was this hole in the wall I would pass on the way to work that had a hand-written sign, “Malakoffs,” so it intrigued me. It was delicious puffy cheese croutes, but I could never find it anywhere else.  I’m glad Susan found a tiny hotel in Luins, Hotel de l’Union, and we stopped for a simple lunch of green salad with vinaigrette dressing, croute de Vinzel with exquisite creamy morel mushrooms and the much-awaited, all-you-could-eat heavenly Malakoffs! Karla and I had our fill of this cheesy delight, but Susan stopped after the first.

KARLA: I’ve been eating Malakoffs for as long as I can remember. It’s one of my favorite items on The Plaza’s cocktail menu but the thing is, it has to be eaten as soon as it is cooked for one to truly appreciate it. Cheese oozes out as you bite or cut through it if cooked properly. Since this is deep-fried, the bread gives a nice crunch at the bottom. Just for contrast, they serve cornichon pickles and pickled pearl onions to go with this dish.  It is a very traditional dish but only a few places offer it.

For dessert, Tita Susan took us around and decided to bring us to this place she calls, “The Chocolate House.” She says that she brings all her guests there, which made us all the more curious. It is actually called Tristan, an artisanal chocolatier at the Place de l’Ancienne Eglise. As soon as we walked in, what a discovery! We didn’t even need dessert since they had tasting bowls with chocolates on display and you can just try whatever you want. For a whole five minutes, I think we all lost track that we were there together and just started trying out the different flavors and stuffing our mouths with the ones we liked best. Tita Susan kept asking me what I wanted and I couldn’t even answer her because there were too many varieties to try. We enjoyed so much that we wanted to interview Tristan. Unfortunately, he was not in the shop at that time.

At Tristan Carbonatto’s Chocolate shop, you will find thin sheets of chocolate called Feuillantines. He has several varieties of these but my favorites are the Feuillantine green tea in white chocolate, vanilla in white chocolate, sesame in milk chocolate and Tasmanian pepper in white chocolate. Mom liked the Feuillantine Espelette. Piment d’ Espelette is a variety of chili pepper, which Tita Susan said is commonly used in cooking. I also liked the white chocolate with salt from the Swiss Alps, which was stationed near the counter. And so I just kept reaching into the bowl while waiting for mom and Tita Susan. So interesting how Tristan uses special ingredients and the best quality from all over the world to make his chocolates so unique. Such imagination and passion for chocolates!  For the peppers alone, he sourced different kinds: one from Tasmania, pepper Tilfda from Nepal and Kempot pepper from Cambodia. I also wanted to buy a bottle of Childhood dream milk, which is a spreadable cream made of lightly toasted Piedmont hazelnuts and milk chocolate. I imagine it to have a fresher, richer and nuttier flavor than Nutella. I decided otherwise because there was no way I could finish it in a couple of days and it wouldn’t be as fresh if I brought it home to my cousin Benjo. We must have stayed in the shop for a good 15 minutes just trying out all the varieties before we could decide what to buy.

The whole operation is like a family affair. Tristan’s dad also assists in the production of the chocolate goodies. He is in charge of the nuts and deliveries, while his sister, Sophie Anne, is in charge of decorating the shop window. All chocolates are always freshly made from fresh cream and pure cocoa butter without any preservatives. Therefore it is best for it to be consumed within 10 days and kept from heat and refrigerators. Due to the freshness of the product, the chocolate orders must all be packaged and delivered within 24 hours. With the number of orders that they get via telephone and online, I wonder how Tristan and his team are able to keep up.

These wonderful, hidden Swiss finds are definitely worth the time and effort. Thanks to Tita Susan, who drove us around and led us to finding these Swiss secrets only a local would know about.

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Le Deck is located at the Le Baron Tavernier Hôtel & Restaurant in Route de la Corniche, 1070 Chexbres, Switzerland. Call +41 21 926 60 00 for reservations.

For Malakoffs, visit  Hôtel-Restaurant de l’Union at Route de Saint-Vincent 2, 1183 Bursins, Switzerland. For reservations, call +41 21 824 12 04.

For artisan chocolate, check out Tristan Carbonatto Chocolatier located at CH-1172 Villars-Bougy. For telephone orders, call +41 (0) 21 807 21 25.

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Send e-mail to milliereyes.foodforthought@gmail.com and karla@swizzlemobilebar.com. Find us on Facebook and read articles you might have missed: Food for Thought by Millie & Karla Reyes.