For his 40th birthday and because we both like to eat well, I invited my friend and business partner to one of Zurich’s most exclusive (and some say most expensive) restaurant, Petermann’s Kunststuben. This venerable establishment has been around for over over 20 years and proudly displays two Michelin stars.

We decided to get the menu, consisting of six courses with two to three little goodies each, so that we would be able to sample a broad selection of Horst Petermann’s art. Here’s what we had:

An amuse-bouche consisting of a boiled quails egg with a vegetable jelly, a wild mushroom mousse topped with mushroom espuma and a crayfish pâté

A starter course with steamed shrimp on a vegetable tabouleh, scallops in a crispy bacon cover on lentils with mint and a lemongrass cappuccino with coriander and curry

A  slice of pepper-crusted salmon on a salade parmentier and a herb vinaigrette

A quail breast lacquered with honey on a red-wine risotto, green asparagus and sautéed foie gras

A slice of poached beef filet with sea salt and mustard oil with a mushroom ravioli and thyme espuma

A selection of cured French cheeses

A chocolate and nut pudding on a pineapple carpaccio with coconut cream and a sesame seed and caramel ice-cream

The whole of course washed down with some delicions wines …. espresso and a very fine digestif ….

A variety of homemade breadrolls were slso served throughout and the very young maître was as attentive and knowledgeable as you’d expect him to be in such a restaurant.

So, you will ask, what was it like?

The restaurant itself is rather small, so the seating arrangements were a bit cramped and it was quite loud. The food variation resulted in some repetition, e.g. 2x espuma, 2x mushrooms. I’m not really a great fan of espuma, the legacy of Ferran Adrià of “El Bulli”. Seems like every cook now has to try out something molecular. If I want something resembling frog spawn on my plate, I’ll order frog spawn.

Yes, but what was it like?

I’ll  sum up my impressions in three categories:

The good: steamed shrimp, quail breast, beef, cheese, dessert – all excellent, cooked to perfection (except the cheese) and impeccably presented

The bad: pepper-coated salmon (pimiento in the crust?), the foie gras was totally overcooked, mint and lentils are probably not such  a good idea, but maybe that’s just me

The ugly: lemongrass cappuccino which looked less like a fresh cappuccino but rather like a glass of yesterday morning’s milk coffee. The taste was quite nice though

Overall fair performance, given the size of the kitchen, the food variety and the fact that almost every seat was taken.

The price? Don’t make me cry again!

Cheerio,
Tom

Had some lady friends over the other evening and they are all “light” eaters. That afternoon, the pak-choi had smiled upon me as I was ambling through the Globus’s food stalls after a visit to my doctor. I’ve never cooked pak-choi before, but hey, lack of knowledge has never stopped me before! So nere goes, and very nice it was too:

Pak-Choi Stir-Fry

6-8 Pak-Choi, leaves  and stalks separated. Finely slice the stalks and chop the leaves, 2-3 green  chillies finely cut and deseeded, 6-8 scallions or spring onions chopped, 3  cloves garlic, chopped, 6 cm fresh ginger, peeled and grated, 1 tbsp Nuoc Mam Thai fish sauce (optional), coconut fat for frying, 2 tsp of roasted sesame  oil, salt to taste.

Heat the fat and the oil in a wok until  almost smoking. Add the garlic, the scallions, the green chillies and the fish  sauce. Cook for 1-2 minutes stirring constantly. Add the pak-choi stalks and  cook until they are tender crisp. Reduce the heat, add the pak-choi leaves,  mix well and cook covered for another 2-4 minutes until the laves have wilted.  Serve and enjoy. As a variation, you can add some toasted sesame seeds, soy sauce, a little honey and coat well before serving.

Coming up next:

• Starry Night – a dinner in Zurich’s most expensive restaurant
• MRI Results
• Tom’s Book Reviews (if I can be arsed)

Cheerio,
Tom

For our traditional streetparty I cooked up a chili again, which was sold out much to soon; must make more next year!

Texas Chili

5 kg of beef (breast or neck, not too lean) cut into 2 cm chunks
6 large onions, chopped
6 stalks celery, chopped
4 large green peppers, chopped
4 large sweet red peppers, chopped
4 jalapeño peppers, deseeded and chopped
8 cloves garlic, ground
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
8 tbsp cocoa powder (with no sugar)
6 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp freshly ground cumin
1 tbsp hot paprika
50 g of fresh oregano, stalks discarded and finely chopped
6 tbsp molasses
1/2 bottle of dry red wine
4 400 g cans diced tomatoes, undrained
3 400 g cans chick peas, drained
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

800 g sour cream
600 g shredded cheddar cheese

Put the meat and the next seven ingredients into one or several large pots. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until meat browns. Drain and return to pot.

Stir in cocoa powder and rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat. Simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

You can serve this right away with the sour cream and the shredded cheese, however, I find it improves if you prepare it a day ahead and reheat it the next day.

Serves 30 to 35 people.

Oh, and don’t forget the beer!

When I started this blog I wanted to share my experiences about food and drink as well. So here’s what I cooked up for dinner the other evening and very nice it was too:

Lamb Tagine with Aubergines

1 kg of lamb (leg or neck) cut into 2 cm chunks
1 large onion, thinly sliced
40 g of fresh flat-leaf parsley, stalks discarded and finely chopped
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp ground ginger (I use a garlic press for this)
1 cinnamon stick
pinch of saffron filaments
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 aubergines (about 300 g each) cut into 2 cm chunks

Put the lamb and the next six ingredients into a large pot. Add a little sea salt and some pepper. Cover with water (about 1 litre) and bring to the boil. Cover and let simmer.

Meanwhile, sprinkle the aubergines with salt and let them sweat for about 30 minutes, then rinse them with cold water and pat dry.

Add the aubergines to the meat and cook until they are very soft (about 20 minutes). If the sauce is too runny, increase the heat and reduce by boiling it uncovered.

Transfer to serving dish as is or mush the aubergines into the sauce first (I find this much more satisfying as it makes for a thicker sauce), but either way is very yummy.

Couscous à la mode de Tom

1 tbsp tomato concentrate
1 tsp harissa
1 tbsp ras al-hanout (Moroccan spice mix)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 large red peppers, diced
1 can (410 g) of chickpeas, drained
500 g pre-cooked couscous
1.2 litres of boiling water
1 handful of sultanas
20 g of fresh coriander, stalks discarded and finely chopped
juice of 1/2 small lemon
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a large pan, heat up the tomato concentrate with the harissa and the ras al-hanout, stirring constantly until the spices release their lovely aromas. Add the olive oil, the onions and the red peppers. Cook until soft, adding some of the boiling water if needed.

Add the rest of the ingredients, take off the heat and let the couscous absorb the water for about 10 to 15 minutes. Turn over with a wooden spoon and season to taste.

If you want to add a salad along the Moroccan theme, throw together some diced tomatoes, 1 diced and peeled cucumber, 2 chopped onions, some extra virgin olive oil and the juice of 1 to 2 lemons. Season with some ground cumin, chopped flat-leaf parsley, black pepper and sea salt.

This serves four hungry people with a nice bottle (or two) of Cabernet Sauvignon. Bon appétit!

Didn’t sleep much last night. Neither did Milena.

We both did some research on the internet. Depressing stuff. Spontaneous and/or miracle recoveries are far and few between. Did I expect anything else? Guess not.

Went to see the family doctor in the afternoon. He looked at my scans but was unable to venture a diagnosis. Could be a haemorrhage of some sort (best case) or a glioblastoma (worst case). Will have to wait until tomorrow, as I’m due to have a CT scan.

This, they tell me, will be used to look for any metastases and help with a final diagnosis. If it is a tumour and if it has its origin elsewhere, a biopsy and thus an identification as to the kind of tumour might be easier.

To many ifs for my taste!

Dinner with an exquisite white wine, movie (O brother where art thou) and then to bed thanks to the drugs provided by the good doctor.

Back at the hospital. Milena driving again, I don’t dare. Short wait this time as I was being expected.

Doctor goes though field of vision test with me. Basically, you get one eye covered and peer into a wok-like contraption. Doctor moves a light around (from the outside rim of the wok to its centre) and you press on a buzzer as soon as you see the light. You get the idea, I guess.

Funny thing was, they tested both my eyes – total overkill, I thought.

Next thing the good doctor tells me is that my eyesight sucks not only on my left but on both my eyes. This hadn’t occured to me as my nose was pretty much in the way of my field of vision and the left eye compensated for what the right eye couldn’t see.

He then announces that he will need to have my head examined (I’ve been told that before but under different circumstances) in order to get a diagnosis. It could be “something” pressing on my visual cortex.

Went home with more questions than answers. A bottle of very nice Australian red and a nice dinner helped us to overcome some of our anxieties, but we both didn’t sleep too well.