Easter Goat
When you make a reservation at a Swiss hotel, you often have the option of choosing "half board" to add to the regular room rate. Half board simply means that you are adding dinner in the hotel's restaurant (breakfast is already included at most.) The first time we stayed at a Swiss hotel, we did not chose that option, figuring we wouldn't want to be limited to the hotel's restaurant. However, we quickly learned that half board is really the best option. Often in the smaller villages it can be hard to find an available restaurant, as most are associated with a hotel and have their tables filled with the hotel guests!
But we also learned that the half board option is usually a cost effective way to go as well. For the same price as the typical entree, you receive an appetizer, soup, salad, main entree and dessert from a fixed menu, occasionally with a choice of main entree, but usually just one. By choosing this fixed menu, it has allowed us to sample more traditional meal offerings than we might choose off of a typical menu. It also provides you with the same reserved table in the restaurant each evening.
This was the case over Easter weekend. Bob had both Good Friday and Easter Monday off, so we decided to head to the mountains to try to get in one additional day of skiing (and some hiking or snowshoeing) before most of the resorts closed for the season. Initially we were going to head to the Canton of Vaud, which we had not yet visited, but the weather forecast was for rain for most of the weekend, so we decided to pick someplace in Eastern Switzerland, where the forecast was for sun. (Also trying to be near enough to an English speaking church, which greatly limits your options!) Bob found a place in the Toggenburg region in the town of Wildhaus. What we didn't realize until afterward, was that this was the birthplace of Ulrich Zwingli. (Appropriate place to stay over Easter weekend, eh?)
Sunday evening, our waitress came to the table to explain in English what the meat was for dinner. Usually menus are pretty easy for me to read, but occasionally they throw in a Swiss German word or a new word I haven't encountered before. Sunday's main entree was, Gitzi. I had no idea what that was. So she tried to describe it to us, because she only knew the word in German and Swiss German and I didn't recognize the German word either. She said "It's a small animal, usually white, makes a 'baaa' sound, but it's not lamb." Oh goat! Bob confirmed by "head butting" her, which brought a laugh. We were told that this is the traditional Easter dish. If you Google capretto (or young goat), you will find a host of recipes, but I never was able to discover the why this is the traditional Easter menu.
Neither Bob nor I had ever had goat before. It tasted much like a pot roast and was served with potatoes and a gravy. It was quite good. No kidding.
But we also learned that the half board option is usually a cost effective way to go as well. For the same price as the typical entree, you receive an appetizer, soup, salad, main entree and dessert from a fixed menu, occasionally with a choice of main entree, but usually just one. By choosing this fixed menu, it has allowed us to sample more traditional meal offerings than we might choose off of a typical menu. It also provides you with the same reserved table in the restaurant each evening.
This was the case over Easter weekend. Bob had both Good Friday and Easter Monday off, so we decided to head to the mountains to try to get in one additional day of skiing (and some hiking or snowshoeing) before most of the resorts closed for the season. Initially we were going to head to the Canton of Vaud, which we had not yet visited, but the weather forecast was for rain for most of the weekend, so we decided to pick someplace in Eastern Switzerland, where the forecast was for sun. (Also trying to be near enough to an English speaking church, which greatly limits your options!) Bob found a place in the Toggenburg region in the town of Wildhaus. What we didn't realize until afterward, was that this was the birthplace of Ulrich Zwingli. (Appropriate place to stay over Easter weekend, eh?)
Sunday evening, our waitress came to the table to explain in English what the meat was for dinner. Usually menus are pretty easy for me to read, but occasionally they throw in a Swiss German word or a new word I haven't encountered before. Sunday's main entree was, Gitzi. I had no idea what that was. So she tried to describe it to us, because she only knew the word in German and Swiss German and I didn't recognize the German word either. She said "It's a small animal, usually white, makes a 'baaa' sound, but it's not lamb." Oh goat! Bob confirmed by "head butting" her, which brought a laugh. We were told that this is the traditional Easter dish. If you Google capretto (or young goat), you will find a host of recipes, but I never was able to discover the why this is the traditional Easter menu.
Neither Bob nor I had ever had goat before. It tasted much like a pot roast and was served with potatoes and a gravy. It was quite good. No kidding.
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