As early as the Belle Époque, chocolate was recommend [sic] to holiday guests and travellers. (1890)
~from the Sprüngli website
If you know me, you know I’ve never had much of a sweet tooth. I’ve never been a so-called chocoholic, and I’ll pretty much always choose burgers over brownies, sandwiches over shortcakes, tacos over trifles, and I’ve always preferred a slice of pizza over a slice of cake.
Last week, however, I think my sweet tooth may have finally come out.
When in Rome Switzerland
Now, don’t get me wrong. I ate a lot of great savory dishes in Switzerland. Fondue, raclette, rosti, pretzels, bratwurst…oh, how I miss Swiss food already! But, something else happened in Switzerland that hasn’t happened on any other vacation that I can think of. I actually craved sweets.
To be honest, I’ve had the most wonderful creme brûlée in the South of France, sfogliatella in Napoli, gelato all over Italy, flan de naranja in Spain (that actually converted me into a flan fan!), Turkish delight in Istanbul, the best apple pie ever in Amsterdam and the most amazing Devonshire cream in London. I do indeed eat sweets when I travel but mostly only in order to try the local specialty. When it comes to traveling, I usually focus on beer and cheese, local potato chips of all flavors, interesting local fare, meats and sausages, bread and well, more beer. Sometimes wine, depending on the country.
What was different about Switzerland? For one, they really know what they’re doing. Two, I had never had chocolate so smooth or so perfect. I had never wanted to eat macarons like I do a bowl of chips with salsa. I had never eaten so much chocolate in one week before!
We were in Switzerland, after all, and the chocolate really was that much better.
“I’ve got a Golden Ticket!”
It started with the small Toblerone on my pillow at the hotel. I had never had a Toblerone before, but I will have more of them now!
The chocolate and sweet treats of all kinds were everywhere. So colorful, so pretty, and so ready to buy. Every window of every shop almost begged us to walk in. If ever there is a place to find your inner Charlie Buckett, it has to be among the Swiss!
The Lindt factory store was inviting, each little independent shop was inspiring, and the newly discovered Sprüngli cafes and shops were altogether intoxicating! We must have walked in every one we passed, and that’s saying something as they seem to be everywhere in Zurich.
The pastries, the candies, the chocolates, the cookies, the cakes, everything was so beautiful. And the smell of the place? I’ve never smelled a bakery or candy store that smelled so—for lack of a better word—fresh. It’s hard to explain but it actually had an aroma of freshly made sweets, nothing old or processed or stale. I’ve never smelled sugar so sweet. Sprüngli became a bit of an obsession for me last week.
Speaking of obsessions…
As with most trips, I had some food goals, and Switzerland was no different. I had my share of beer, definitely way too much cheese (if there is such a thing), rosti, bratwurst, did I mention cheese and beer?
One item I obsessed over and searched for was the Swiss zuger kirschtorte, which is a very pretty cake that is basically soaked in alcohol; it’s soaked in cherry flavored brandy, to be exact. And when I say soaked in alcohol, I mean soaked. As in burns your eyes when you slice the cake soaked. Wow.
I have never been a girl to refuse a good drink or been told she couldn’t hold her liquor or not wanted to eat a good liquored up treat, but the kirschtorte had me beat. While my obsession was at least fulfilled and I got to eat my cake, let’s say that I kind of got to have my cake too, because I couldn’t finish the slice much less the entire cake. Oh, well. Taste and learn, right!
A New Friend
“There is nothing better than a new friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate.” ~Linda Grayson
Besides eating and drinking and learning new things about a place, I also love making new friends when I travel. I can’t think of a place where I haven’t made at least one new friend. It’s truly one of my favorite things that happen when away from home.
When your new friend is also where you met the best thing you ate last week? Well, that hasn’t happened before, but then again, we were in Switzerland, and even this girl was surprised about this new sweet tooth of mine.
Elda XO
Want to know more about Sprüngli? Visit their website here: https://www.spruengli.ch/en/
