A POST ABOUT FOOD
Emily and I have complained a little on Facebook about the food and coffee situation so far (in summary, that for those of us living out of a hotel with not much space/ability to prepare things, there isn't much good in the way of pre-made, inexpensive food, and the coffee is not to either of our tastes), but this post is about how when you find the right places, it is still very European.
I wish there were an apartment available in this building.
As context, in our 9 days as "residents" of Geneva (although we sleep in France we are still technically residents of Geneva), we have found it to be a less "European" city than we expected, at least when it comes to food (when it comes to parks and looooooonnnnnggggg lunch breaks it's pretty European, but that's another post). The "supermarchés" we have patronized (Migros and Co-op) have had sort of "meh" selections of produce and cheese, and meat at exorbitant prices, but it wasn't really any better than the Castro Safeway, and without the bulk foods section. What with our minimal (basically one burner and a refrigerator, and a microwave) cooking facilities, we have tried to keep the cooking to simple things, like pasta or heat-and-serve nasi goreng (taking us back to our time in Bali), but we still want tasty cheese and things!
Happily, today we decided to check out the local Saturday market just down the street from our hotel, and we were suitably rewarded. We weren't sure how good the "Farmer's Market" would be in a suburban area like this, but it was lovely!
Bigger than it looks
There were at least 6 cheese vendors, with lots of local comte and bleu cheeses. We got some "bleu vache" and a small round of "chevre", as well as a hunk of something that the vendor gave us "sur la chateau". There were also 4 different olive vendors, and we picked up some "olives à la provençale" and "olives greque". There was also a vendor selling a wide variety of salamis, including ones with truffles in them, or ones with peppers, or things I couldn't even identify. There was local produce, perhaps not quite as many "strange" veggies as you would see at an East Bay or SF market, but plenty of good stuff that we mostly had to pass up (cf. the lack of kitchen facilities), but look forward to using in the future. Perhaps the most impressive display was the seafood vendor. I wish we had gotten a picture of it, because it is hard to describe its magnificence. If you have been to the Pike Place Market in Seattle, the famous fish-throwing stand is a good place to start, but in addition to the fresh tourbot, dorade, etc., there were also prepared things like anchovy-wrapped olives, caviar, shellfish with something on top, and things that neither of us could identify. It was a spectacle!
After our shopping expedition, we dipped back into Switzerland (we must have walked at least half a kilometer!) to pick up things not available at the farmer's market (shampoo etc.), and to stop at the attached cafe, which was called "Coffee & Time". I'm amazed at how much random English there is in a place where everyone speaks French, but I have to remember to pronounce my English with a French accent (for instance, our mobile phone account is called "MyPrepay" but you have to say it with a French accent or the guy at the store doesn't understand). I got some tea, and Emily got a "renversé", which is coffee with some milk in it. The term "café au lait" doesn't really seem to be used around here, despite it's seemingly Francophone spelling. I tried her "renversé", and it was tasty! That is what I have been looking for, but one seems to need to know what to ask for in many places, as there is no menu for coffee in most shops, but now that I know, hopefully I can find it more places. All I can say is thank goodness for Emily's French, otherwise my life would be lived in mime.
On our return to the hotel, we rustled up an extremely satisfying lunch of fresh baugette from the boulangerie, some bleu vache and mystery cheese, some olives, and some cheap salami. This place looks a lot more appealing after a delicious lunch, I must say. Bon appetit!
Even more delicious than it looks
I wish there were an apartment available in this building.As context, in our 9 days as "residents" of Geneva (although we sleep in France we are still technically residents of Geneva), we have found it to be a less "European" city than we expected, at least when it comes to food (when it comes to parks and looooooonnnnnggggg lunch breaks it's pretty European, but that's another post). The "supermarchés" we have patronized (Migros and Co-op) have had sort of "meh" selections of produce and cheese, and meat at exorbitant prices, but it wasn't really any better than the Castro Safeway, and without the bulk foods section. What with our minimal (basically one burner and a refrigerator, and a microwave) cooking facilities, we have tried to keep the cooking to simple things, like pasta or heat-and-serve nasi goreng (taking us back to our time in Bali), but we still want tasty cheese and things!
Happily, today we decided to check out the local Saturday market just down the street from our hotel, and we were suitably rewarded. We weren't sure how good the "Farmer's Market" would be in a suburban area like this, but it was lovely!
Bigger than it looksThere were at least 6 cheese vendors, with lots of local comte and bleu cheeses. We got some "bleu vache" and a small round of "chevre", as well as a hunk of something that the vendor gave us "sur la chateau". There were also 4 different olive vendors, and we picked up some "olives à la provençale" and "olives greque". There was also a vendor selling a wide variety of salamis, including ones with truffles in them, or ones with peppers, or things I couldn't even identify. There was local produce, perhaps not quite as many "strange" veggies as you would see at an East Bay or SF market, but plenty of good stuff that we mostly had to pass up (cf. the lack of kitchen facilities), but look forward to using in the future. Perhaps the most impressive display was the seafood vendor. I wish we had gotten a picture of it, because it is hard to describe its magnificence. If you have been to the Pike Place Market in Seattle, the famous fish-throwing stand is a good place to start, but in addition to the fresh tourbot, dorade, etc., there were also prepared things like anchovy-wrapped olives, caviar, shellfish with something on top, and things that neither of us could identify. It was a spectacle!
After our shopping expedition, we dipped back into Switzerland (we must have walked at least half a kilometer!) to pick up things not available at the farmer's market (shampoo etc.), and to stop at the attached cafe, which was called "Coffee & Time". I'm amazed at how much random English there is in a place where everyone speaks French, but I have to remember to pronounce my English with a French accent (for instance, our mobile phone account is called "MyPrepay" but you have to say it with a French accent or the guy at the store doesn't understand). I got some tea, and Emily got a "renversé", which is coffee with some milk in it. The term "café au lait" doesn't really seem to be used around here, despite it's seemingly Francophone spelling. I tried her "renversé", and it was tasty! That is what I have been looking for, but one seems to need to know what to ask for in many places, as there is no menu for coffee in most shops, but now that I know, hopefully I can find it more places. All I can say is thank goodness for Emily's French, otherwise my life would be lived in mime.
On our return to the hotel, we rustled up an extremely satisfying lunch of fresh baugette from the boulangerie, some bleu vache and mystery cheese, some olives, and some cheap salami. This place looks a lot more appealing after a delicious lunch, I must say. Bon appetit!
Even more delicious than it looks
posted by biglou at 4:51 PM
1 Comments:
Parfait, n'est-ce pas?
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