All in Drink like the Swiss

Caesar

Caesar

The Caesar was invented in my hometown of Calgary in 1969, the same year that my mum moved from Switzerland to Canada.

And she was in good company. Immigration from Switzerland to Canada really began in the late 1800s, when the Canadian Pacific Railway hired three dozen Swiss guides to help set up mountaineering tourism in the Rockies.

Apricot Spritzer

Abricotine Spritzer

High on a Walliser mountain is the tiny community of Mund, who harvest no more than five kilos per year. Saffron grows from crocus flowers, each bloom yielding only three thin scarlet threads. It takes over a hundred flowers to make a single gram, which can cost upwards of 30 francs.

Hugo

Hugo

Hugo was the invention of a beardy, south Tirolean barkeep vagabond who mixed together Zitronenmelissensirup (lemon balm syrup), Prosecco, mint, and a spritz of soda water, thought up a name off the top of his head, and served it to regulars at his bar in Naturns in 2005.

Boozy Mirabelles

Boozy Mirabelles

The market stalls in Bern are filled with late autumn fruit and the plums are holding court. If Zwetschgen is King, then his Queen is the tiny golden Mirabelle.

I've set my mirabelles to soak, using gin as my boozy base, and in a few weeks' time, there'll be boozy fruit for spooning over ice cream, as well as mirabelle infused gin, perfect for cocktails.