This year, Bern’s Christmas season started on December 3, the first day of Advent. The official purpose of Advent is to celebrate the coming of Christ with four Sunday services before December 25, but since few Swiss attend church, it’s a time for feeling festive and getting a head start on baking the many sortsContinue reading “‘Tis the Season”
Category Archives: Food
Bern Learns to Eat Pumpkins
Countless things, big and small, serious and frivolous, have changed since I moved to Bern thirty-five years ago. The people filling the city’s streets are no longer 98% white, and grocery stores now offer shelves full of Thai, Chinese, Indian, and Mexican food. There are many popular East- and South-Asian restaurants and even one Ethiopian place;Continue reading “Bern Learns to Eat Pumpkins”
Thou and I Will See Him Dine
One of my favorite Christmas carols is “Good King Wenceslas.” It has a rousing, easy-to-sing melody and tells a dramatic story. I especially like the verse in which, with each step, the king’s feet heat the ground, melting the snow and leaving a warm place where his page can walk. But what I could neverContinue reading “Thou and I Will See Him Dine”
Hunting (and Eating) Game
In Bern, as in many parts of the world, autumn is the season of cool, crisp air, golden light, falling leaves—and hunting. But here it isn’t just the hunters who get to enjoy the meat they bring down: venison steaks are for sale in local grocery stores. As far as I’m concerned, though, the bestContinue reading “Hunting (and Eating) Game”
Cheese: One of the Basic Swiss Food Groups
“A big bowl of hot boiled potatoes and some cheese? For fifty people?” Peter’s and my wedding had been in the US. Now my in-laws wanted to give a buffet dinner for us in Bern, to celebrate with Swiss family and friends. When Peter told me the main course, I was . . . well,Continue reading “Cheese: One of the Basic Swiss Food Groups”
Kim Hays 