It's rubbish
I always knew Nespresso would be good for something
Simmentaler Beef
As a native of Scotland I don't like to look farther than the Aberdeen Angus brand, but unfortunately the little black, grass fed cattle of the North East of Scotland are not easy to find these days because of the lingering effects of the BSE crisis in the UK.
In these days of lean bred meat it's also difficult to find something worth cooking and I refuse to go for US hormone stuffed imports.
Luckily, the Swiss Simmental breed is just knocking on the door.
Lunch
All these photos from Venice have been taking with the Canon G11 which has replaced my Leica DLux 3 as an all purpose carry-around digital camera. In fact it's the only digital camera I brought with me. So far I'm very pleased - in operation and usability it suits me very nicely, which for me is the main thing in any camera. No matter how good the picture quality if I can't get along with it I won't get good results
Nibbles
Thought I should make it clear that I did eat something with the previous post.
Wedding reception at Restaurant Acqua, on the Lake
Juice
I spent the first half of today photographing a wedding in Zürich. It was fun, but tiring.
So one or two of these was nice and refreshing
Testun al Barolo
The food items on this blog were intended to be about, well, food, but so far they have been about ..... cheese! And my tastebuds are in such a state that this one is no different.
Well it is a little. Again Italian wine, but this time paired with Italian cheese. Testun is an alpine cheese from Piemonte but unlike the Swiss bergkase I talked about it is made from sheep or goats milk, mixed with cows milk. I'm not sure of the quantities. This particular version is aged in Barolo casks and coated with musk and grape seeds from the self-same Nebbiolo grape.
It blew me of my feet - a fantastic cheese. A semi crumbly texture, sharp, profusion of subtle farm and meadow flavours. Mmmmmmmmmm. Bought from Valentino's in Zürich Hauptbahnhof where they currently have some on offer. Just as well, it's not cheap.
Strangely it reminded me of Stilton, certainly in texture and tang, as presented on RuTDP recently, although the two cheeses are totally different
Update: Peter asked about the wine. He is eagle eyed indeed. It is a Veronese / Veneto wine, quite easy to find, but also rather interesting. More details here - Masi Campofiorin
Sbrinz - Käserei Oggier
This semi-unpronounceable cheese is Switzerlands answer to Parmesan. The name is shrouded in mystery and not a little myth-making but the product almost certainly predates the Italian version.
Production is strictly controlled with an AOC designation. Only cows milk, grass fed in summer, hay in winter, goes into the cheese with the addition of rennet and salt. It is produced and matured in the same locality as the animals, limited to various regions in the traditional heartland of Switzerland, Innerschweiz, the land of the four cantons.
The cheese is available in various stages of maturity and is often used as simple party food or, like parmesan, as an addition to pasta. Fully mature it develops all of the character one expects of a serious cheese. This chunk, from Käserei Oggier, in Willisau is 4 1/2 years old and simply beautiful. Sharpness combined with creaminess and a subtle evocation of alpine meadows.
Further info here:
Goldinger Bergkäse
Did you know that they make cheese in Switzerland? Swiss cheese is a bit of a byword but is also often associated with boring generic types. This is the real thing.
Doesn't look special, does it? This is only one of thousands of Bergkäse - a definition that requires the cheese to be produced from animals that spend a certain amount of time (>70%) in high pastures (alp, or berg) and that the cheese is produced and ripened in the same area.
This one is 9 months old and has a tang and flavour that anyone familiar with the French notion of terroir will recognise and appreciate. It is produced quite nearby in the Zürcher Oberland at Goldingen by Alois Pfister
Quite sharp, nutty and semi hard. I'm currently munching it with a nice glass of Valpolicella (lingering memories of my recent trip to Venice)
Update
After Chuckeroon commented, I realised/remembered that he had posted about the same kind of thing and it's worthwhile looking at this post of his.
And a nice B+W photo to go with it