A foodie Epiphany Day

A wonderful mild clear blue skies Epiphany Day today. We took the train from Territet to Vevey and explored the town, in somewhat more depth than on my previous visit here in September, when I went to a community lunch at All Saints Vevey. 

We went through the Old Town, starting from La Grande Place with its covered market hall and variety of open air stalls, enjoying the extensive zone of pedestrianised streets, as far as the rue du Leman. Then we turned down to walk back along Quai Perdonnet, the lake promenade, hunting for a restaurant for lunch. The imposing modern building at the bottom of the street nearest the lake is a showcase for the Nestle foundation, a museum dedicated to the preparation and consumption of food, called the Alimentarium. We soon discovered that it has a marvellous cafeteria restaurant on the ground floor, open to the pubic, with a straightforward selection of meals for vegetarians and omnivores alike, all using freshly prepared, and for the most part, local ingredients using traditional local recipes or developments of them. Clare had the fish and I had the veggie option and both of us were impressed with what we ate.

Much to our surprise and delight, as we were eating, my dear friend Valdo Richard came over from the other end of the restaurant and greeted us! We spoke on the phone a few days ago and promised to meet when their New Year holiday grand-parental childminding stint was over. He and Ann-Lise stop to eat at the Alimentarium on their long lakeside walks. They take the train down from Aigle to one of the stations along the route du Lac and walk from there. We had coffee together after the meal, then bade them farewell as they continued their recreational trek, and we too walked west on the lakeside promenade for a kilometre or so, before going back into the town shopping centre to look for a few extra items needed for our lunchtime Epiphany party tomorrow. We've invited the church congregation to come in for vin chaud and freshly baked mince pies. And therein lies a tale.

Clare came out from home well prepared, with a small bag of vegetarian suet and some spicy sacks of gluhweingewurtz and a recipe for DIY mincemeat. We shopped for dried fruit, nuts, oranges and lemons yesterday, but failed to find currants. We prepared and cooked up the necessary ingredients, substituting dried prunes, but Clare wasn't satisfied with the outcome, so after our walk we went on a hunt for currants, which we found them in a Bio shop close to La Grande Place. After further recipe adjustments to balance flavours and texture, with currants and another grated apple Clare was fairly satisfied with the result and set about making pastry, using a mixture of flour and ground almonds or hazelnuts, to great effect in the finished baked product. She retired to bed secure in the knowledge that the mince pies would pass muster for our discerning guests, both British and Swiss.