My personal highlight: My soul feels at home on the water, a Gourmet Festival on a boat is THE a foodies’ happy place!

Welcome to Excellence Gourmet Festival.
A 2-day gourmet trip between Basel and Strasbourg that takes place every autumn. Booking takes place through the travel agency Mittelthurgau, click here right away if you like to book a slot. The cost starts at 285 CHF to 500 CHF per person (price vary depending on the guest’s gook). The transfer, overnight on the boat, food and breakfast is included in the price.

What to expect on the gourmet trip?

Excellent top cuisine, 48 Michelin stars and 560 Gault Millau points, a dedicated crew, live music and a breathtaking sunset on the Rhine river. Sounds like pure relaxation for soul and palate, doesn’t it? The concept of the Excellence Gourmet Festival, taking place this year for the 7th time offers an amazing choice of well renewed top Chefs. 39 endowed creative cooks from Switzerland and the world surprise foodies of all ages. Everything is prepared fresh and ad hoc on the boat. The evening program is moderated by different Swiss celebrities for example Sven Epiney or Christa Rigozzi during my attendance. Their interaction with the Chefs was excellent, they reveal a lot of insights about the Chefs with their interactive dialogue between every course. The atmosphere is very relaxed. While dining you don’t even notice how smooth the ship moves on the river!

A 2-day gourmet trip with sightseeing, culinary and complete relax on the river

The journey starts with the transfer to Strasbourg by a comfy bus. In Strasbourg, you get time to stroll through the city either by yourself or with an organized guide. In the early afternoon, there is a transfer to get on board one of the Gourmet boats. In my case, it was the Excellence Princess. After the check-in in my Junior Suite with a spectacular view over the Rhine river a welcome aperitive with sweets, salty snacks and live music everyone is set to start the gourmet experience. The perfect chance to get to know other foodies on board and discover every cosy corner of the Excellence Princess!
My favourite spot: one of the sofas in the glass-covered sky lounge. Here is where I slurp happy and full of excitement my Aperol spritz!

The Culinary program – Chef Flynn McGarry from New York (Restaurant Gem)

The dining highlight of my day: Flynn McGarry from the Restaurant gem in New York. The media describe him as a prodigy of cuisine. Listening to the interview I immediately understood, that he followed very early his idea and passion for cooking. And guess having a family around that understands someone’s passion is something unique you can ever wish for. But still, yes, it’s very impressive that he started at the age of 10 and is now at 20 it kind of seems that a lot of his dreams are already fulfilled! Flynn gives me the impression of a very humble, creative and somehow mature personality at his young age! Obviously, he discovered very early what he wants to do in his life and it is motivating, feeling the light and ambitious vibes he has. The interview held by Sven Epiney during the evening revealed a lot of funny insights, too.

The menu comes with a wine pairing. My favorite drop: the Carmelo Rodero Reserva, 2014, Bodegas Rodero, Ribera del Duero/Spain.

The menu at a glance

Starter: Scallop Chips with raw scallops and preserved citrus  – layers of Kohlrabi and pear

1 course: Lightly cooked beet “ceviche” with salted plums and smoked chilli

2 course: Grilled cabbage with oyster and grilled kale emulsion

3 course: Layers of squash and rutabaga with gruyere and black pepper

4 course: Celery root schnitzel with truffles and rye

5 course: Smoked and roasted duck breast with radicchio and duck xo sauce, salad on the side stew of duck and grilled cicorino rosso to share

Dessert: Quince granita with sage semifreddo

The combination of flavours, ingredients, spices and herbs used made that mainly focused plant-based menu very surprising but at the same time simple and comforting. The celery root schnitzel with the super crispy layer was fabulous and yummy.

My favourite dish: the pumpkin in a creamy, tasty gruyere sauce, perfectly balanced, a dish that I will try to cook at home! The dessert was a sage semifreddo and a quince granita, very Mediterranean and a true delight to end the event in glory!

Accommodation of the maritime lady

The Excellence Princess gives you all comfort you can think of. I would describe it as a modern and elegant Swiss Grand Hotel on the water! Find several options where to spend your free time. Choose between the glass-covered sky lounge, outside on the terrace or the elegant bar on the middle deck. In the mood for sauna or fitness? That’s available, too!

On the boat are 93 cabins with shower/bathroom, air conditioning, Sat-/TV, minibar, hairdryer, french balcony, and spacious windows. Find three different categories of cabins: In the upper and middle deck: 16 m2 and a Junior Suite with 20 m2, both with a french balcony, double bed or single beds. Under deck: Cabin with 13 m2 single or double bed.
The life on board feels safe due to the very robust construction properties of the boat.

A very warm thank you to all of the staff on board that made my stay memorable and to the agency Pantarhei that invited me to this glamorous mini-holiday on the water.

In the mood for some more travel and food stories? Find inspiration here.

Swiss Fondue is a dish that embodies the epitome of simplicity, conviviality and longing for the mountains, and even incorporates certain democratic values of Switzerland such as equality and solidary sharing

Who invented the one and only original “Fondue” ?

There are different stories about the origins of this Swiss national dish going around the world. The first says, that it has its origin in the West Swiss French alps called Savoy. Here poor shepherds developed the idea with the melted cheese 2800 years ago. The word fondue is french and means melted.

Others say, that Fondue is a recipe, that only back in the 50ties was nominated an official national dish. The cookbooks of the Swiss army added the recipe in the official Swiss cook books, only than it became famous in the whole country.

Which cheese to take for your fondue

One of the best-known fondue types is “Moitié-Moitié” which means “half half”. It’s  a blend of Gruyère cheese and Freiburger Vacherin cheese and has some white wine, cherries schnaps and cornstarch in it. Another classical is the fondue with Freiburg Vacherin cheese. This one is considered to be easier to digest, consists of only one type of cheese and, thanks to the addition of some water it has a creamy texture.

Depending on your preference, it is up to you to decide which other cheeses to add to the homemade fondue. For even more spice, an Appenzeller cheese could be the right choice. The savory and slightly sweet-tasting blue cheese Gorgonzola or a spicy-nutty Camembert can be ideal for a fancy fondue, too. Last but not least, it takes a dose of experimentation to find the ideal blend for oneself.

I absolutely recommend to buy fresh cheese and customize it with flavors, spices and quantity of alcohol desired. There are several ready-made Fondues that need only to be heated in the pot. It may not give you the authentic cheese pleasure, tough.

The pot where you prepare the fondue is called Caquelon, it is teflon coated, this prevents the liquid cheese from sticking at the bottom

The basic recipe

Ingredients for 4 persons

• approx. 600 of white bread
• 1 piece of garlic
• 400 g grind Gruyère cheese
• 400 g grind Vacherin cheese
• 3 d white wine
• 5 cl kirsch schnaps
• 2 tea spoons of maizena
• grind pepper
• a small amount of nutmeg

Preparation

1. Cut the bread into small pieces. Some people like the bread a little bit crispy, so you may want to cut it a few hours before you have the fondue.
2. Split the piece of garlic in two and rub the inside of the caquelon with the them. Put the cheese and the wine in the caquelon and cook them on the cook stove. Constantly stir the mixture. Add kirsch and maizena, but keep stirring. Leave them on the stove for a while, but make sure it does not overheat. The mixture tends to spill out of the pot if it gets too hot ! Add pepper and nutmeg, then put the caquelon on the burner on the table.
3. Adjust the heat so that the cheese stays at a constant temperature while eating. Put a small piece of bread on the fork, stir it gentle in the cheese and enjoy. Warning: the cheese is hot, don’t get burned.
   This menu may not be suited for small children.

Note: You may vary the mixture of cheese depending on your taste and availability. You may also use cooked potatos instead of or together with bread. Fruits as pears or peaches from the can are a pretty nice to add some extra to your fondue.

Most enjoy fondue in the alps, during a cold winter day. Once you understand how easy it is to prepare it at home, you may it even prepare on your balcony to avoid the cheese smell in the house!

Want to know where to eat fondue in Zurich? Read my December blog here!