Is it possible to buy Clotted Cream anywhere in Zurich? I'm guessing this is most probably an English thing

God, I wish I hadn't seen this post. Now I want scones, jam and clotted cream, possibly all served in a Devon tearoom by the sea and washed down with coffee. Ok, you can get the coffee here, but the rest of it...

And the jam...

Bast***s the pair of you ... am now fantasising over the Ferry Boat Dittisham .... pint of prawns & a jug of Pimms anyone .....

What's with instant coffee in Migros? It actually tastes worse than the ersatz kaffee I made as an experiment. At least that acorn stuff didn't have a fine powder at the bottom that makes you cough for the next ten minutes after the last mouthfull.
Actually, saying that, I did just get four bumper jars of Blend 37 over...

Double crème de la Gruyère • 45% graisse du lait - ne pas fouetter

No No... you guys have obviously never had real double cream from Gruyeres. It's far superior to Clotted Cream.

Although it's not made in the same way, Gruyeres cream is like velvet. I've found it at Coop before, even it it's not the same as fresh Gruyeres cream, it's pretty good.

Should make do for your cream tea.

<Edit> I see Smith13 beat me to it.

You've imported Nescafe instant stuff into Switzerland

I know! Next, I'll try selling them some Toblerone...
After the last few threads, I'd have changed the 'latic' to 'lactic'...
That's a career in science for you - makes you come out with pants jokes and one-liners.

"Lactic" eh

Don't mind me, cheese is my life

What's the nearest local cheese to cheddar? I haven't got the readies at the moment to try them all...

Now that is a can of worms .... I'm a big fan of cheddar, the nearest you'll get (in my humble opinion) to a mature cheddar is Kaltbach / Gruyere. That said, the farmer stands in the Baren Platz in Bern are pretty good, free sampling,organic produce .... don't even ask about bacon, not worth the effort.

Have fun and try some Shabziger, with a hot potato and some melted butter. It's an experience

Polo:

http://www.pays-gourmand.ch/modules/...&pageNo=1&View=

Bacon specific for cooking is not that widespread, tends to come in few varieties and it's mainly something you add to a roesti or a vegetables stew, to give backgrounf flavour (I add bacon rind when I cook red cabbage and apple, say)

On the other hand, air dried bacon, to be eaten without cooking, is extremely popular and every canton has it's own variety.

Gruyere is nothing like cheddar. Although Switzerland might not have as many varieties or cheese as the UK, the cheese here is good, very good. I have not however encountered anything like Cheddar (real Cheddar - you certainly would not find anything like the mass produced yellow stodge).

Can one really compare cheese beyond a region? OK, you could say that Gruyere is a bit like Comté for example, but then it's not really out of region.

British cheeses are British.

Gruyere is dry yet rich and nutty... its nothing like cheddar which is has the taste of a soggy tennis ball.

dave

I'll stock up on Double Gloucester before the move then

A cheese discusssion at last!

As a very broad guide, here is my type of cheese/best country for it list:

Hard: Swiss
Semi-soft: Italian
Soft: French
Blue: British
Goat: Ireland

My own two-pence about Swiss and British cheeses is that there is greater variety in the UK with a big thumbs up towards blue cheeses, Ballacks Blue has shot up my Top 5 list, Wednesdaydale Blue is also up there.

Good cheddar is quality cheese but it's pretty hard to find it in a supermarket, you'll find competent stuff and I've tried a lot of them so, essentially, when I buy from Mr Tesco or Sainsburry's I go for Mild Caledonian Cheddar from Tesco Finest range, a lovely, milky Scottish cheese which has a few common points with Alpine mountain cheese and a Canadian Vintage cheddar, the only unpasteurised cheddar you can find a in a supermarket, not for the faint hearted and very surprising to see something as raw as that coming from Canada, to be fair.

The popular Swiss cheeses are Gruyeres, Emmethal,Appenzeller, Tilsit and Raclette cheese but you ought to look for Tommes Vaudoises, Vacherin Mont D'Or, Tete de Moine, Vacherin Fribourgeois as well. Those are common cheeses, then you have the ultra local stuff that you get from the market and from the producer itself (head for canton Fribourg and it's "alpage" where you can have a natter with a cheesemaker and try the stuff - Etivaz cheese, if you can find it, is a very, very rewarding experience).

But do not make the mistake of looking for something that reminds you of cheddar, you'll waste your time, do get your fix when you return to the UK and over here go for the Swiss stuff, plus you have France not far and Italy is worth the visit too (Canton Ticino does produce some great mountain cheeses too, if you ever drive down there, stop in one of the small villages in the upper part of the Canton and go looking for the local shop, they'll have a selection - I bought lots of it when I was in Piotta. Don't miss the local air dried bacon, it's quite unique, practically only fat but the flavour is delicate and it's great with a piece of brown bread)

In Geneva, "La Cremiere", a cheese deli just by the Manor dept store, stocks all sorts of delights, including excellent Stilton and some devilish ewe's milk stuff from Corsica as well as a superlative range of Swiss cheeses.

larger supermarkets will have a cheddar of sorts. Usually not bad, 'specially when you're desperate.

Proper bacon....

You mean Wensleydale?

Knew that you have been waiting for a cheese post for a while ... a really good Scottish blue cheese is Lanark Blue, the guy got hit by over zealous local council health & safety & fought it for years ... good link for premium Scottish cheeses : http://www.scottishfoodguide.com/sco...l/default.aspx