If you find yourself in the region around Zürich on the first of May and would like to try something new, then consider visiting a local winery.  For one day, over 130 wineries in the Cantons of Aargau, Schaffhausen, Thurgau, Zürich...and new this year...St. Gallen and Schwyz around the Zürich Lake, will open their doors and invite visitors to taste wines and have a walk around the winery.  Most of these wineries will offer a selection of food...usually involving a grill...to be enjoyed with a glass or two of their locally produced wine.  In some cases, local farmers will even offer a taste of some locally raised beef.  Wine visits and tastings are always free, although some of the wineries will charge a nominal fee for the food.  Tastings and visits run from 11:00 am until 6:00 pm, and many of the wineries will be happy to sell their wines directly.  This increasingly popular event is a great opportunity to discover some wines which are rarely available in many wine shops.

Here are a few ideas to consider in planning your day...

1. Visit your favorite winery and fill up your private cellar.
2. Select a small wine region and walk or drive from winery to winery to learn more about the region's wines.
3. Pick a grape variety and visit several wineries in several regions to get to know the differences.
4. Combine a wine tour with a hike.  There are very nice hikes to consider around Eglisau, Hallau and Oberhallau in Canton Schaffhausen, between Stäfa and Männedorf near the lake of Zürich, and the wine region north of Frauenfeld.

You can find out more about this event and get listings of all participating wineries by visiting the official website.

You can find out more about Swiss wine and their grape varieties in the Laughing Lemon web site

Who can resist the beauty and goodness that abound in the markets in April? Surely even hardcore carnivores may be tempted (even for a fleeting moment) to experience a vegetarian life. Well ok maybe not! April does, however, offer quite a few selections of fresh products which help us chase away any lingering residue left from the dreary winter months. Most of the tired winter products have disappeared, and in their place arrive products which are crisp, vibrant, and full of aromas and tastes. Here are few things to look for, avoid, and look ahead toward...

what to look for
French artichokes, named mamole, have arrived at the market. These large globe-shaped artichokes are perfect for steaming or stuffing. If small is what you are after, then look no further than the small purple-colored carciofini. These little artichokes have very little choke inside, so practically the entire artichoke is edible...except those nasty little stickers at the end of the leaves. Asparagus from Europe are now present, but you still need to be a bit cautious with your selection. On the white side, try the varieties from Cavillon in France. True Cavillon asparagus will have a purple tinge on the tips (the French like to have their asparagus gently kissed by the sun), which will turn green when you cook them. To check for freshness, rub two white asparagus together...if they screech they are fresh! Don't cook white asparagus like green asparagus. White asparagus should be trimmed well, then cooked whole in a sauce pan of water, salt, white wine, lemon juice and a spoon of sugar. Simmer them for about 20 minutes. The green asparagus available during the early part of April come from Italy (mostly the south), and they are quite thin. They do not need long to cook.   More...

Let me start by saying, I am a border-line zopf addict.

I’m not referring to the zopf everyone can regularly buy in most store locations throughout the German-speaking parts of Switzerland, although freshly baked store-bought zopf is not bad. No, I’m referring to the real thing.

I crave that taste of real butter and full fat milk in genuine zopf. I marvel at the light and airy texture. I become utterly intoxicated whenever the aromas gently waft out of the kitchen. I drift with those aromas and begin to visualize soaking up the last bits of olive oil infused with tomatoes and mozzarella, or slathering marmalade on lightly toasted zopf…

Oops…sorry about that divergence. I suppose I should write a bit about zopf and how it’s made.

Classic zopf is a bread braided in a very specific manner to give it a unique shape (the word zopf actually means braid). It is a simple bread enriched with high proportions of milk and butter, which played an important historical role. Zopf was traditionally made on Friday and consumed on Sunday. To prevent the bread from becoming stale large amounts of fat were incorporated into an otherwise basic bread dough, and voila…a bread that stayed fresh for several days.

Zopf is not uniquely Swiss, although the tradition has survived since the mid-fifteenth century. The origin of the bread is a bit hazy, but it is not too difficult to imagine that zopf came from the widely-known Jewish Challah bread (or Hallah), which is virtually identical in its make-up but often braided differently. Challah bread was known throughout Austria and Southern Germany shortly before zopf emerged in Switzerland. The Jewish tradition of making and consuming the bread was also quite similar to the Swiss custom. The dough was formed on Thursday evening, baked on Friday morning and usually consumed Saturday night or Sunday morning.

The shape of the bread is filled with symbolism. Some say the braid represents intertwining arms and symbolize love. Others have a more biblical reference, saying the twelve humps from the braid represent the twelve original tribes of Israel. According to Swiss lore, some believe the shape grew out of the old custom of widows cutting off their braid to bury with their husband.  Over time, the braid was replaced with a fresh loaf of zopf.

Today’s zopf is mostly mass-produced and made without the use of butter or fresh milk. Instead, most commercial zopf is made with milk solids, aroma and plenty of hydrogenated fat (not exactly our idea of a fresh alternative).  But as it turns out, making your own zopf at home is not too difficult.

Have a look at our video to see how it’s done…  More...