Swiss Federal Fast Soup

Helen McHargue

Tue, 9 Aug 2011 19:48:47 GMT

I enjoyed this so much...the next best thing to being there. This is one of the best food blogs I"ve ever read!! Great writing, wonderful pictures - couldn"t be better.

david coppola

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 15:35:28 GMT

i said before we have to party together...... there are tears in my eyes as i type.. what a beautiful day...

david

fx

Fri, 5 Dec 2008 12:24:26 GMT

Thanks for your visit Abhijeet!

Abhijeet Mhatre

Fri, 5 Dec 2008 02:08:06 GMT

I must say real great work and good photography.I am happy you have covered Indian recipes too.I would like to forward you some snaps and recipe of local food if you like it you can publish them. Keep up the great work....cheers Abhi.

fx

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 07:04:20 GMT

Well Parshu that"s really nice to hear, although my folks back in the Valais see me as a city person! I guess it"s all in the eye of the beholder, although we don"t have one city in Switzerland that could compare with the huge size of New Dehli or London. We are pretty much all town people up here.

parshu.narayanan

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 05:10:35 GMT

This article shows the side of F-X which is a rooted, grounded small-town man, with a large extended family - just like many Indian men from small towns I know - with the difference being he also has the sophisticated world-view of a man who has travelled across the world and experienced so many diverse cultures!" What do they know of England, who only England know" as the old saying goes.

fx

Mon, 6 Oct 2008 15:06:30 GMT

Rosedarpam, I"m glad you liked this soup! If you can find a raw ham in Hawai, you could cook it by boiling it for 3 hours, then just cold smoke it somewhere, it"s not hugely difficult. Or perhaps use a ham bone and some sausages. Have fun at your sister"s house!

Rosedarpam

Sun, 5 Oct 2008 17:40:50 GMT

Francois, vous etes incroyable! I have been off the net for about a month due to heavy work and family obligations. When I finally checked my email, the first thing I clicked was this recipe. You brought me back to where I needed to be. I will be giving a smaller version of your party, albeit will not be as good as yours because finding good ham in Hawaii is impossible. I have decided to have the party at my sister"s house at the top of a mountain here. The evenings there are quite nippy now and we often light the outdoor fireplace. I am so looking forward to feeding the friends and family I love. Thank you for your wonderful website.

fx

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 13:18:23 GMT

Kiriel, the word Malakoff is very often used to call the beignets de Vinzel, but properly the Malakoffs are cheese sticks marinated in white wine, dipped in batter and deep-fried. See the other recipe on my site under that name. But soon only food historians will remember this dish, I"ve never ever seen those Malakoffs in a Swiss restaurant, everybody makes Beignets de Vinzel and calls them Malakoffs!

fx

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 12:58:20 GMT

Thanks Angela, great feast indeed!

Angela

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 06:47:04 GMT

Great posting! Beautiful family. What a feast!

Kiriel

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 17:06:30 GMT

Lovely photos and so delightful to have an insight into another part of life in Switzerland. I haven"t heard of beignets de Vinzel called that before: I know them as Malakoff, and they are a truly indecently fattening and tasty thing. Typical Swiss food though... cheese and bread and versions thereof!

namebmmm

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:19:17 GMT

faudrait �tudier de fairela soupe au lait de kappel pour la prochaine fois
merci de traduite les reponses en anglais pour l hoirie

fx

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 04:20:33 GMT

Chiffonade, thanks for your visit!

fx

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 04:18:06 GMT

Mike one of these Swiss Federal Fast Days I might try a whole Swedish meal with the pancakes and Arrack punch. Would you have a recipe for the punch?

fx

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 04:17:20 GMT

FX these cheese fritters are very hard to stop eating and eating again. There are never any left on the platter!

fx

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 04:16:49 GMT

Cynthia thanks for sharing your enjoyment of this article, I"m sure you"ll have many family gatherings in the future too!

fx

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 04:16:15 GMT

Jason thanks for your praise! You definitely need a lot of guests if you start using one of these big converted wash boilers - you just can"t make soup for two. But hey, you are a pro chef so you have all the guests you need! The camera is not all that relevant (hey, its all about the talent!) and I"m not too pleased with those pictures anyway, but since you ask it"s Nikon D300 with a 10.5mm Fisheye Nikkor lens for the last pictures. A really cool camera. I also had two flashes overhead synched with wireless devices, one clamped to a tree branch, the other on a sandbagged light stand, both shooting through white umbrellas. But these were not really needed here, plenty of light!

fx

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 04:12:24 GMT

Jennifer have fun with the pea soup! This one is usually made from dried split yellow peas, you"ll get a very different soup if you use fresh peas.

fx

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 04:10:47 GMT

CKfusionist, indeed this is a serious blender!

fx

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 04:10:33 GMT

Ben this ham comes from the Gruy�re, it"s a typical farmstead product, the farmers or cheesemakers hang it above the wood fire in the kitchen and it smokes very slowly. Buy as much as you can!

fx

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 04:08:14 GMT

Chef4cook, this is always a very pleasant party and the coldish weather (17�C outside in the shade) made the hot ham all the more attractive!

chef4cook

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 12:43:12 GMT

What a beautiful setting for a party. The Beignets looked mouth watering. I"ll have to give them a try. The Jambon I can only imagine to be exceptional.

Ben

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 03:11:42 GMT

I"m going to have to ask my friend from the Valais to bring me some of that ham the next time, and this soup looks like a fantastic addition to the autumn/winter menu!

CKfusionist

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 02:16:07 GMT

Very nice event and very nice food indeed. The blender is no doubt the biggest I"ve ever seen in my life hahaha...

Jennifer

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 21:20:13 GMT

Wow! I can almost smell the aroma of the Mtn. air mixed w/ the wonderful smell of the soup. I know exactly what I"m doing with the ham in the fridge! I"m off to the market to get my peas!! Thanks for sharing this fun family get together.

Jason Sandeman

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 20:55:59 GMT

Exceptional soup. I love the converted boiler. I will have to look into something like that. I always wanted something like a steam kettle in the back. I can see the veal stock now.

I would give a lot to have a taste of the soup mentioned in the article, just because there looks to be a lot of tradition involved, which makes what your Uncle Harvey makes a lot better than what I can accomplish in the professional kitchen.

Also, I would love to know what you are using for a camera.

Keep it up, I love reading your blog. I am waiting to get out of the weeds to update mine as well. Heh.

Cynthia

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 17:54:15 GMT

All I can say is that there is smile on my face that will be there for a long time. Thanks again Francois for an outstanding post... makes me wish my family were here...

FX Hartigan

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 17:39:48 GMT

I should not read your posts when I"m hungry. Ces beignets, oh, l�! J"ai pass� toute la journ�e dans la cuisine sans rien manger; now I have to go EAT!

Mike

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 17:09:11 GMT

Reminds me of the Swedish pea soup eaten here traditionally on Thursdays with Arrack Punch and pancakes as dessert (most famously by the members of the Swedish Academy).

Lovely pictorial, as always =)

chiffonade

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:13:19 GMT

The soup looks glorious. What a beautiful gathering and a great tradition.

fx

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 15:19:09 GMT

Alys, for the pie contest I think once you turn 10 the poll is rigged against you - uncle Harvey will always make a little kid win - house rules!

fx

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 15:12:21 GMT

Catherine, it is a lovely pot indeed! We did not have any other way of bringing the water, but I asked uncle Harvey to let the water flow for a moment before using it in the soup. If you look at water in old buildings, in the morning the water can be brown as it comes from water that stagnated in the rusted pipes overnight. You just let it flow for a moment, and all the rust is gone and the water is clear again.

fx

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 15:10:33 GMT

Constantin, I am very sorry but I don"t have more pictures of those. How about you try and to them at home with some Romanian cheese, there is no reason why it wouldn"t work.

fx

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 15:09:48 GMT

Thanks for your visit Jelsia!

Jelsia Cortese

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:29:43 GMT

I loved the article. Send it around the world, and we might have peace.

This is one of the truths about life and living.

Thank you,

constantin

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:13:54 GMT

Dear FX: I also have a particular interest in the beignets de winzel "fritters". I have gone trough your articles on Malakoffs and on the beignets, but it would really nice to see more photos of the latter. Would you have perhaps some unpublished shots you could send me? Thank you and kind regards, Constantin

Catherine

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:06:47 GMT

FX, this looks like a wonderful family celebration. Your uncle"s chalet looks beautiful, and that huge pot is amazing. :) It makes me miss my family back in Russia and Israel, and the large gatherings we have when we go back there.

I"m surprised a gourmet like you would use water from the hose though. ;) Maybe you guys have better hoses, water from the hose here always tastes rubbery.

Alys

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 10:59:23 GMT

Serious Soup and big family times.
I like the addition of the parmasen cheese as well.

Very clever, the addition of an oil bath in a false bottom! Your uncle has clearly thought this all out.

I would not give up on the pie making, just because you don"t think that you will be "cute" enough. :-)

fx

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 10:23:55 GMT

Tina, you can learn all about the cheese fritters in this article: http://fxcuisine.com/default.asp?Display=133 they are deep-fried (totally immersed in oil at 190�C), and the cheese doesn"t melt as there is a little bit of flour in them. Really delicious and should be part of any serious diet.

fx

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 10:22:11 GMT

Paul I hope we can keep the tradition running too! I thought of starting another one with a different uncle, with a roasted pig, cuban style, but never got around to doing it yet.

fx

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 10:21:26 GMT

Rosa, in fact uncle Harvey had some troubles with bugs in the chalet and recently totally revamped it, but he kept the original hand-hewn wooden beams and rural artifact, I think it really has a nice feel about it! But in case you really like it, he might be selling it too - who knows?

fx

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 10:20:05 GMT

Jason thanks for dropping by!

ana lucia

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 10:14:12 GMT

Alas, i am in Canada, and i am glad to be here, however, when we go to Italy, i feel at home high up in the mountains, even though i grew up here, but born in Italy, came here as infant. My mom"s sister lives in Switzerland.

Been around different beautiful cities, but nothing compares to small town up there.

You are most fortunate and how wonderful to see all that family together. I am going to share this with my mom.

best,
ana lucia

Tina

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 10:11:34 GMT

FX, as always this looks wonderful. I just adore your uncle"s fabulous chalet, and there was such a sense of affection and familial cooperation throughout the photo spread. I also really want to know more about those delightful looking cheese toasts! What kind of oil do you fry them in? Do you only fry one side or both (or would the cheese melt off)?

fx

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 10:02:59 GMT

Diane, if you bring a pie I will talk to uncle Harvey and I"m sure he"ll have no problem having you at the next year"s Swiss Federal Fast Soup - plenty of soup to go and plenty of strangers anyway.

fx

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 10:01:43 GMT

Alan thanks and glad I could lift your day a bit!

fx

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 10:01:23 GMT

James, you can do this at home following the recipe in the Serious Pea Soup article, I linked to it a couple time in the article. It yields about 2 gallons, which works for 8 people with an 8-people furl (doggie freezer bag).

fx

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 10:00:21 GMT

Cookery, I am sure you must have some slow foods up there in the Bronx too! Don"t you have latino mamas cooking like back home? Or some barbecue joints from expatriated South Carolina foodies? I can"t believe that with 20,000 restaurants in New York not one would cater to the slow foodie!

fx

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 09:58:36 GMT

Dave, I"m glad you liked my article. This is one easy soup to cook if you get proper smoked meat and a ham bone.