To all the new readers, hello! And thanks for stopping by 🙂

For those who are new or don’t know, I am half Swiss and half Malaysian. Please don’t comment on how cool it is that I’m half Swedish and half Malaysian. I get that all the time, and the two are rather different.

Dad is the Swiss one out of my parents. He and my Grandfather used to play the live music at The Swiss Club for 17 years, and when I was 3 days old, my first outing was to The Swiss Club. We had a Saint Bernard as a dog, and we still eat cheese fondue and fondue bourguignonne (meat fondue) at least once a year. Dad is the master of the cheese fondue, mum is the master of fondue bourguignonne and spaztli.

Swiss people are renowned for being neutral and sitting on the fence. I don’t think I’ve ever seen my dad sit on a fence 😛 But we are both known for our Swiss precision when it comes to arriving on time to places/appointments.

As you might know, Switzerland has four languages; Swiss French, Swiss German, Swiss Italian and Romanche. They do make some of the finest chocolate in the world, Ragusa is our absolute favourite; and we have one of the greatest tennis player of all time…. and we gave him a cow!

If you want to try some Swiss food, Swiss beverages and hopefully get your hands on some of that amazeballs Ragusa chocolate that you should absolutely try before you die, may I suggest you come to the Swiss Festival happening on February 17 at Queensbridge Square in Southbank.

There will be traditional and modern dancing, yodelling, singing and music to accompany the authentic Swiss food and drinks. So come down for an om-pa-pa and sausage!

I was invited back to the Swiss Club to try some authentic food, and may I just say, it was just as good as my Grandmother and Mum (who may be Malaysian but has mastered Swiss cuisine cos she is just amazing like that), make it.

I took my highly non-Swiss friend Katie down with me, and for someone who hadn’t had rösti before had two in one night!

We shared the entree and it was gooooood! I’ve heard my parents and their Swiss friends talk about Raclette cheese but didn’t have a memory of ever trying it. Glad I finally got to!

Katie had a very, very moist and tasty schnitzel with more rösti. She wanted rösti as opposed to just potatoes or garden salad so she could embrace the Swiss-ness of it all, as well as the om-pa-pa music.

I had trouble deciding what to have… so I asked the waitress to help me choose. We established due to the fact that I did like sauerkraut I should have this dish. I asked if I could have the spatzli instead of potatoes as I wanted to see how it compared to my Mum’s one.

I was terrified I’d have this big meat fest on my plate that I wouldn’t be able to finish, so I was very relieved when the plate came out with a good portion of each meat, and a glorious mound of really good sauerkraut. I was transported to dinners at Grandma’s in a heartbeat… and the spatzli, ever so different to my Mum’s but still very good!

We were just way too full for dessert. So I’ll be checking out the desserts at the Swiss Festival to make up for it.

The Swiss Festival 2013, Australia’s largest Swiss event, will be held on Sunday 17th February 2013 from 11am on Queensbridge Square, Southbank, Melbourne.

Groups, organisations and companies representing all four national languages and all 26 states of Switzerland are part of the Swiss Festival 2013, where the Swiss community showcases its unique culture and traditions.

Visitors will experience a day of Swiss-ness including traditional and modern dancing, yodelling, singing and music as well as authentic Swiss food and drinks.

Come down and enjoy it!

 Iron Chef Shellie and Katie dined at the Swiss Club as a guest.