Swiss Week At Edsa Shangri-la’s HEAT

The Embassy of Switzerland and the Edsa Shangri-la collaborate for a cultural and culinary festival called “Swiss Week in the Philippines” occurring from Nov. 12 to 23, 2014 for Php1,790 net. The series of events will showcase the unique and diverse Swiss culture and cuisine. Chef Thomas Wenger, former executive chef of Mandarin Oriental Manila and Makati Shangri-La, and Martin Kaspar, chef and owner of L’Entrecôte will be preparing a host of classic Swiss dishes.

We had a little sampling of the dishes to be served during the festival starting with a Cheese and Charcuterie board. There was air dried beef, speck, landjager with Tilsit and Appenzeller cheese.

A trio of soups was next that represents three cantons/provinces in Switzerland, Roasted Flour soup from Basle, Barley soup from Grisons and a Bernese Green Pea Soup. Even though green peas are one of my least favorite vegetable it was the soup I liked the most because of the surprise morsels of salted pork knuckle incorporated into the soup.

A live station featuring Raceltte cheese. A gooey, sharp cheese paired with baby potatoes, onion and gherkins. There seems to be a dearth of places that serve this once popular dish in the dining scene so we were happy to partake.

Our main course was a Venison Stew. Venison is meat from a deer (I’ve tried it before) that has a gamey taste that I enjoyed. I’m quite adventurous when eating so I’m drawn to gamey flavors in meat too. The venison stew is done “Hunter style” and is apt because the hunting season just finished. The meat is marinated in red wine, vinegar and some spices which really enabled the meat to absorb the flavors. I had a mixed of textures with two pieces feeling like meat while the other two felt liver like. The stew was served with poached apples, spaetzli and raised red cabbage.

Dessert was Vacherin Vermicelle, a chestnut overload with chocolate mixed in. I was not a fan of the vacherin dome so I dug in and extracted the chestnut puree treasure within. Eating this makes you hear the line “chestnuts roasting on an open flame”.

These dishes we sampled are just a preview to the 10 day Swiss food festival that will taking over the theater kitchen of Heat. Want to take a little trip to the Swiss Alps, then head on over to Edsa Shangri-la.

The Swiss Week food fest at Heat will be from Nov. 13 to 23, 2014 only. Live yodeling performances by the “Swiss Yodel ladies” Madlen Niederberger and Margrit Müller during lunch and dinner service from Nov. 18-23, 2014.

There will also be a special Art of Wine event featuring Swiss wines on Nov. 19, 2014 at 6:30pm. The event is priced at P1,500 net, inclusive of Swiss wine tasting, canapés and a 4 course dinner at Paparazzi. A display of Jaeger-LeCoultre ladies’ watches at the Lobby Level will include a live demonstration by a master watchmaker.

Other activities during Swiss Week is a Concert at The Park with The Swiss Yodel Ladies, Swiss Singing Diplomat, Raoul & the Wild Tortillas and Elianne Amherd on Nov. 22, 2014 from 6 to 8pm.