European Christmas Market

I had a few weeks off from Chef life, I thought it is time to update the blog. This entry is about a beautiful discovery of Christmas market in Montreux Switzerland.

Montreux is a lovely town nestled between the hilly steep side and the beautiful Lake Geneva. Also known for the 14th-century Château de Chillon and the Montreux Jazz Festival every July, it is truly a magnificent place worth visiting! 

Every year hundreds of Christmas markets open up everywhere in the world and they are always spectacular events. The idea of Christmas markets said to have originated in Germany but have now spread around the world. Most of it are located in a centre of a city or along the streets of a village, which makes it more exciting. Growing up in Asia, where the culture is amazingly different this event is a lovely sight to see! 

What can you find in Christmas markets? A lot… Handcrafted figurines and other Christmas decorations are available, they also provide free entertainment such as acrobats performing, loud but amazing Christmas carols, foods, mulled wine etc..

For food, there is a massive selection of good stuff for the joy of the tourists and the locals. The perfect way to do it is to start looking around, discover what do they sell and what is that amazing smell per stall and finally, the most exciting part is food tasting! 

So, I started off with this fondue sandwich-ish, that’s my own definition of this truly amazing Swiss food. It is a melted gruyère cheese with white wine poured on a toasted baguette bread, my favourite bread of all time..c’est très bien and traditionally Swiss apparently. 

After the small bites for dinner, I quickly tried the different sweet pastries in sight. I may not be a good baker but I live for dessert and every dessert is a must try! The tricky part is avoiding that few extra pounds yet still being able to eat all those gorgeous goodness.  

Apart from Churros with Nutella dipping sauce and Crepes, I also tried Cannoli.. both with chocolate and vanilla fillings. Cannoli (cannolo in singular form) are an Italian pastry. It is a tubular shell pastry dough filled with either chocolate or vanilla sauce (Please see photos above).

Inside a compound is where the main market is.. there they have the traditional mulled wine, more stalls to see, again selling different items. The place is adorned with lovely Christmas decorations, sparkling lights and the laughter of people having the best of time despite the cold weather. Right outside is a smaller version of London Eye (Ferris wheel) with its little cabins, constantly rotating. Sadly I was not brave enough to try, it gives me goosebumps just the thought of it. 

Until next time. Au revoir!