Daily Prompt: Ingredients

What’s the one item in your kitchen you can’t possibly cook without? A spice, your grandma’s measuring cup, instant ramen — what’s your magic ingredient, and why?

i do not really have much to add to the last time I did this prompt which was in 2014. Here is a link to this masterpiece for those who are interested:Ingredients

I was talking to Bluebell, the cow that likes to take meals outside in the fresh air, if there was anything she could do without when eating and she assured me that her needs were important, but reduced. Just a field of grass was enough, although she likes her grass in various shapes and sizes. sometimes she takes it freshly grown, very tasty she found and in Winter dehydrated which lacks in juices. . This has its disadvantages it seems. When you relase 20 cows from the barn after a winter of hay, it is like eating fresh peaches from the tree instead of from a tin (human comparison). The fresh grass is tasty, juicy and packed with vitamins together with roughage and fibre to encourage the digestive system. Bluebell said that the problem with the dried grass, known as hay, during the Winter is that it does not encourage the recycling process so well, but fresh grass is really something to be digested and savoured.

No respectable fly wants to make a nest in hay refuse, one of the reasons why you rarely see a fly in Winter, but come Summer the flies are swarming, each one fighting for its own maternity ward in the bovine recycled matter. Oh yes, do not underestimate grass. Of course Bluebell said that some cows have no manners and eat so much grass that the meadow becomes a flat mass of earth with a few remaining stalks. If you do not fight for your place on the meadow you will have to do with the feeding trough. Luckily Farmer Hans has now installed a portable feeding trough on the meadow meaning that the cows can remain outside and munch to their undder’s content.

And now to the human point of view. Of course there are spices and additions that would be necessary when cooking (see my last blog on the subject), but above all it is the love of cooking that counts. This sounds devoted and sacrificial, but without a portion of love in the soup it is not soup but just a plain plate of liquid.

“The soup if far too salty.”

“That must be because I am in love.”

This excuse often works and you will have peace and quiet for the remainder of the meal.

“I think this cow committed kamikaze, the meat is so tough.”

“Think of the people in other countries that never have meat on the table.”

This also works, although if your partner is vegan or vegetarian it will not.

“I have decided that I will no longer eat meat.” This could become a problem. Perhaps you can convince your partner at the table that if we all stopped eating meat, the world would be overrun with chickens, cows, sheep and pigs. Now who wants to share their bedroom with a pig? On the other hand vegetarian meals also have their place on the table, and eating potatoes, carrots and beans means that room is left for the animals on the fields. Life can be so complicated sometimes. Are you with me? Probably not, but I think I lost the thread myself somewhere.

Today’s lunch was served in the local supermarket restaurant. Mrs. Angloswiss deicided she would prefer to dine out than cook a meal today and Mr. Swiss agreed. This evening we will have a cervelat salad which is the national Swiss sausage (contained in skins imported from Brazil because they are the best for the sausage - yes, we Swiss are gourmets when it comes to sausage). Mr. Swiss will prepare this national Swiss dish as he is Swiss and knows how to do it properly. I noticed he bought some radishes, made sure there were eggs in the fridge and checked on the various herbs in the garden. Aromat is always available in our Swiss home, so what could possibly go wrong. And yes, I noticed there were fresh Swiss strawberries available in the supermarket (special price) so I will prepare a dessert of strawberries with whipped cream. The strawberries are now soaking in a sugar syrup in the fridge.

WordPress Daily Prompt: An Ounce of Home

You’re embarking on a yearlong round-the-world adventure, and can take only one small object with you to remind you of home. What do you bring along for the trip?

First of all a small correction. Mrs. Angloswiss does not go tripping off a year without Mr. Swiss. I might fall down and break something, been there and done that and he will pick me up. I might lose something, forget something important: he is my life saver, my second memory. Despite my independence I would not disappear for a year without taking him with me. Generally I do not even go to the supermarket without Mr. Swiss, although there are exceptions.

Having established that fact, and there being two seats first class reserved in the plane for Mr. Swiss and I, we will depart: not forgetting to pack our two WordPress t-shirts – it is called public relations and sponsoring.

We have packed our bags and are ready to go. We make a check and have ensured that our cervela are also in the bag. Just a moment, you do not know what a cervela is? It is the main source of nourishment for a Swiss. Without the cervela a Swiss is lost in a foreign country. You can buy hamburgers everywhere, Mr. MacDonald’s name can be seen from Alaska to Australia and in between. The Italians buy salami in every country, the Spanish have their chorizo and the English their fish and chips, but where do you find a cervela?

There you have the problem, you do not find them on the streets of the world. They are prepared in Switzerland. You can eat them cold or cooked according to your needs. If you take a hike on a Swiss mountain path, or through the forests your rucksack is packed with provisions. Something to drink and something to eat and what could be more suitable than a cervela, the original Swiss sausage. It is not just a sausage, it is a national emblem, even William Tell comes second to a cervelat. They contain a mixture of various meats, mainly pork, but also a little beef to refine the taste. Nothing could be better.

You are hungry on your walk? Take the cervela, remove the skin and eat it. No other preparation is necessary, although a little mustard may be added to refine the taste. This eaten together with bread completes the meal. It might be that you prefer something warm, something grilled, a Swiss bar-b-que, no problem with your cervela. Peel it, cut a cross at each end with your Swiss army knife of course, and stick it on a twig. Twigs lay everywhere in the Swiss landscape, just waiting for the opportunity to pierce a cervela. Whilst the Swiss wife is preparing the food the men are building a fire: just a small fire with more twigs. When the wood is glowing and the heat intense you hold the cervela by the stick over the fire. Oh the delights of a grilled cervela. I would add it has saved many the life of a Swiss soldier camping in the cold of the Swiss alps. I am almost certain that each Swiss soldier carries a pair of cervela with him when on an exercise. It is a question of survival.

There was once Swiss crisis, the country came almost to standstill, the future of the Swiss nation was threatened. It was discussed in the government – no joke.The main import market for cervela skins was Brasil. It seems their cows produced the best quality. Brazilian skins were the only product versatile enough to provide a top quality gourmet experience when eating the sausage both raw and cooked.This was, of course, a national secret kept away from the knowledge of the Swiss until there was a suspicion that Brasilian cows might be victims of the mad cow disease and import of such was banned by the EU.

Scientists in Switzerland began to search for a solution. They formed a task force to develop a substitute. It seemed there was none and the Swiss cervelat was condemned to extinction. Many a Swiss retired in the evening fearing whether he could survive the next day without a cervela. However, the problem was solved by imports from Uruguay, Argentina and Praguayand the Swiss cervela was rescued.

My younger son worked for a few years in Brussels, Belgium, for the Swiss government and what did he take with him after every holiday spent at home? Yes, at least two pairs of cervela, it was a question of survival. Even the gourmet food of the European metropole could not compete with a cervela.

And so when Mr. Swiss and I depart for a year, we will take a few pairs of Swiss cervela with us, hoping that we can organise further 24 hour express deliveries of the Swiss cervela via such organisations as DHL, UPS and TNT to ensure that we will remain in good health during our journey.

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The Swiss are worried

Well, the title is a bit dramatic, but if the worse comes to worse, then Switzerland will be confronted with one of its biggest problems. Even the gnomes in the Swiss Banks cannot help this time. Whilst the Swiss chocolate is being churned out, and the Emmentaler and Gruyère cheese is being sold over the world, an Swiss institution to every day life is being threatened.

It is called the "cervelat" which I will not and cannot interpret. It is a Swiss sausage. Not just a sausage, but it can been eaten raw, fried (the ends should be cut crosswise), made into a salad (mixed with tomato, cucumber, or whatever) and if you are clever you can slice it in a way that it resembles a slice of meat, to be fried. What could be more versatile. I remember my early days of family life, when Swiss mother-in-law showed me tips and tricks of the Swiss cuisine. The cervelat was ever present. If you couldn't get to the shops for some reason or other and had a pair cervelat in the fridge, then the days food was saved. Skin them and fry them. You can even cut them into slices, or just prod them with a fork. Five minutes on each side in the frying pan with some fat and they were ready. Served together with what you like - pasta, potato, rice - you name it, the cervelat fits.

If Swiss family go for a hike in the mountains, you take a rücksack with you. What fits better in the rücksack than a few pair of cervelat. If you are feeling adventurous, and find a clearing in a forest, you collect some twigs. A fire is lit and the cervelat is threaded onto a twig laying around. Again 5-10 minutes held over the open flame and you already have your Swiss home-made b-b-q. This is no joke, when the kids were small we often went on a day's walk and stopped somewhere for our "lunch". If you don't feel like setting part of the woods on fire, you can eat them as they come. Just peel them and together with bread they supply a full meal out in the open.

Every country has something that you miss when you go on holiday or have to live abroad. I remember on my first trips home to London from Switzerland I always filled up my luggage with english biscuits, Cadbury Milk Flakes (still my favourite today although I have to leave the sweet stuff out), some irish pork sausages. Americans may take their favourite peanut butter on holiday with them - these days they can get hamburger everywhere, or perhaps their favourite pop tart. What did my son do when he landed at Geneva Airport before boarding the train home a week ago, he bought a cervelat at the airport to help him on the way. Aromat used to be the thing for every Swiss to take with him, but even that can now be bought worldwide.

So why are the Swiss trembling and worried about their cervelat. Actually Mr. Swiss told me about it (who else?). Apparently the skins for the Swiss Cervelat are not Swiss but are imported from Brasil. Apparently the Brasilian gut is suitable because of its thickness (32-34 mm). Other countries cannot supply this size. For example Argentinia gut contains too much fat, and would be too thick. This would mean that the cervelat would increase somewhat in weight and the packing material would have to be enlarged. Using artificial gut is also not a solution. Although it is used on most sausages these days, it would increase the price of the cervelat considerably. I forgot to mention that for one Swiss franc twenty cents it is a very reasonable sausage. It seems that the EU have forbidden the import of beef gut from Brasil into Switzerland because of the dangers of BSE. The threat is real and many Swiss now have sleepless nights wondering how the situation will develop.

I don't mind a cervelat, but it is not exactly my favourite sausage. It just doesn't go with the HP Sauce that I always have to buy to bring back from England on my annual trip.