chile dinner. and stupid weather. and being under it.

Know what I love? Being sick, again. I just cannot seem to shake this lame, persistent sinus infection-cold-allergy thing I've had going on for around 8 or 10 weeks now. I keep feeling like I'm getting better, and then wait for it...wait for it...BAM, it comes back again. No worries, Mom: I'm off to the doctor on Tuesday. Our friend Nanda managed to find me one who speaks English, so that will at least alleviate some of the stress that usually comes with going to any kind of professional office in this part of the world...!

Anyway. Enough of my troubles. Since I am sick, lazy, and hugely, hugely behind on keeping all of my loyal readers up-to-date on the latest excitement this side of the pond, I'm going to try to keep this particular entry short. Back at the end of September, we were fortunate enough to attend a chile-themed dinner, which is a bit of a rarity in this part of the bland-food-eating world. (Look, I know Italy has some fantastic spicy foods, but the rest of our neighboring countries really seem to like cream-based things and sausages, which tend NOT to be spicy, and which is also tough for us New Mexican expats to deal with. So this was truly exciting.) It was, of course, brought to you by our esteemed acquaintances at the Heuberger wine and chile shop, which you may remember from such posts as this one.

Our story begins with roughly seven of us shuttling down south to the Marina Lachen Steakhouse (which is considerably smaller than its website photo makes it look). We all started with a glass of prosecco out on their terrace, next to the marina, where we were treated to a very foggy, but very pink, sunset over the lake. Quite dramatic. As for the food, I was a bit skeptical, as I tend not to like steak or its associated houses, but my skepticism proved to be unfounded (thankfully...). Before I launch into the food, a disclaimer: as there was no published menu, and the dinner was hosted only in Swiss German, I actually have no idea what types of peppers we ate, or even, really, what was in every dish. Nor did I get photos of every course, and the ones I did take were with my phone. Oh well. Still a darn fine meal.

On the table, as we sat down, were complimentary glasses of champagne, accompanied by baskets of bread and three small dishes containing chopped hot peppers, some sort of red pepper salt, and a pepper butter that was REALLY good. Next was the amuse bouche: a fig with some fresh soft cheese, topped with sweet Swiss chili and mint. Super yummy, not terribly spicy.

First course:

Believe it or not: a sweet-and-salty creme brulee with some sort of pork layered in the middle, with a nice mixed salad and some pureed variety of a Spanish chile. The creme brulee was weird, but interesting, and all else delicious.

Course number two: scallops with a whole red chile atop a green pea and wasabi puree. (Really pretty colors, and nice flavors, although I'm not a huge fan of scallops. But the sweetness of the peas was nice with the wasabi.) Sorry, no photo, as the presentation of the food on the plate was something slightly less than poetic, shall we say.

Course three, palate cleanser, I'm assuming:

Green apple and lemon sorbet with chile chocolate. By far the most surprising, interesting course of the night, and shockingly delicious. There is no way I would have imagined liking this dish, had you described it to me, but YUM. And probably the spiciest dish of the night...go figure.

Course four:

Beef with chili ratatouille, orange chili sauce, and fried potatoes topped with bacon and habanero salt. Ratatouille: ok. Beef: pretty good. Potatoes: outstanding. 

Course five:

Apricot tart with rosemary and very subtle chili sauce. Really tasty. I'm a big fan of the apricot/rosemary combination these days, thanks to Mövenpick and their innovative ice creams...but this little dessert was nice, too!

All in all, a really nice, interesting dinner with some good friends in a lovely setting. Good times.  :)

What I'm reading: finished The Republic of Pirates--what a read. Really compelling, well written, with excellent overviews of the major pirates operating during the Golden Age. Loved it. Read it. Now onto The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself. I feel like maybe this was required reading at some point in my education, and maybe I just missed that day or two of school...? It's the (partial) autobiography of a man who was kidnapped, as a child, from his home in Africa, and shipped to the West Indies after being sold into slavery. What a powerful narrative. It never ceases to amaze me, the horrors that people can inflict on each other, and the ability of this man to survive at all, much less accomplish what he did (I won't spoil it for you!), is truly incredible. Read this one, also.

Next up: Innsbruck, Austria. Probably the final bike trip of the season, what with this nasty, cold weather setting in. Boooo, winter. Boooo.