Thursday 24 April 2014

A Weekend in Switzerland - Sunday

After we'd recovered from all the food on Saturday, tummies began rumbling again on Sunday...

It was a much nicer day and the sun was making an appearance. To get to our foodie destination we had to take a train through the rolling countryside of the Emmental. It's a beautiful part of the country, with luscious green fields and old-fashioned Swiss farmhouses dotted about.

We soon arrived at the Gasthof Rossli, where Michelin-starred chef Stefan Wiesner cooked up an extraordinary lunch.

The restaurant was of a rustic design, where you felt close to nature - with bone napkin rings and vases, as well as shelves filled with collected knick knacks from the natural surroundings. The food also reflected this theme and it was as though it had all been collected from the luscious surroundings of the countryside.


As a small appetiser we were given a delicious hard sweet cheese and the apéritif of the house. The earthy theme was kicked of with a sprig of rosemary floating in the fizz. 



Now I must confess my German is not up to scratch - if non-existent, so I had a little trouble with the menu, but decided that going for the set menu would take away this problem! However, it did mean that sometimes I wasn't entirely sure what was being served up - all I was certain of was that it would all be absolutely delicious!



To start we had 'Hay Soup' - sounds awful right? But it was amazing. Served in a nest of hay was a foaming bowl of soup. It was rich and creamy and there seemed to be some sort of cheese in the soup. The smell was gorgeous and well, hay-like and you could definitely taste the unusual ingredient lingering in the dish.  



Next up was my favourite course of the meal. Trout was served on a bed of lentils with a mustard infused crème fraîche. It was in-keeping with the nature-theme with the presentation. 



A bouquet of edible-flowers arrived next. The poked out of a sausage that was placed on top of a baked apple and a ginger, spiced cake. It was stunning and the posy of edible petals looked as though it could have been collected from the field out back. Simple and delicious, it was something completely different that made me smile.



Of course there was more meat to come and a medallion of pork arrived on a bed of vanilla risotto and leeks. Now, when we first translated the vanilla of risotto my nose did wrinkle up a bit, but nothing ventured nothing gained so I tried the unusual concoction. At first, by itself I really wasn't keen but all eaten together it was like tasting something brand new and oh it was melt in the mouth. 



There's always room for pudding and we were served a very light milk ice-cream, that reminded me more of a sorbet with a blueberry compote and flakes of edible gold - you really can't get any better. 



Not wanting to leave quite yet, we relaxed into our sheep-skin seats and had tea and coffee. Obviously, this meant more food and we were given a tasty chocolate cake that was still warm - however I'm ashamed to say we only managed a small bit each, leaving most behind... 

The tea was served my favourite way - in a pretty bone-china teacup, perfection. 



We couldn't leave without a small digestif and the waitress suggested the house brew, 'hay schnapps' surprisingly enough. Again the aroma was delicious and natural - it was actually very refreshing and a delicious way to finish off an amazing Easter Sunday feast - bliss.











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