American Baking in Zurich, Part 2: Essentials

In my first post about sources for American baking ingredients in Zurich, I focused on flour and various protein percentages available, and a great method I came across for turning regular European flour into as close to cake flour as you’re going to get. 



In this second installment, I’ll summarize sources for what I consider the essential ingredients in American baking.  Some I discovered myself, and some are culled from forum posts and other random locations.  If you find any mistakes or you have a secret source of your own, please, by all means, leave me a comment and I’ll update accordingly!



Brown Sugar 
If you tell a Swiss person you bring brown sugar from the United States, they’re likely to scoff, “but we have brown sugar at every Coop and Migros!”  It’s true and not true.  What you’ll find at your local grocery store is Rohzucker – brown, yes, but coarse-grained, free-flowing, dry sugar.   The moist, soft, melty kind that gives a chocolate chip cookie its chew is just not available at grocery stores in the Swiss-German part. 

Now, all is not lost!   Note I said, “Swiss-German part.”  I have heard that at Manor grocery stores in the Romandie, moist brown sugar of the brand La Perruche can be purchased.  It’s called “cassonade fort en gout.”  Taking a look at their website, the picture for this product also looks quite dry, but the woman telling me this is an experienced baker of American goodies, so I am taking her word for it.  She also mentioned that she has found both light and dark American-style brown sugars at Landi in the Romandie, Candico brand, named “kandij cassonade blond/brune.”   Despite dragging Matt to both the Manor grocery store in Rapperswil and the biggest Landi we could find, there was no sign of either of these products.   Next time I am in the Romandie, though, you can be sure I will be on a sugar-hunt and update this post accordingly!

[Update 19.11.09:  I found the La Perruche “cassonade fort en gout” at Globus today.  It's perhaps a little moister than your average Rohzucker but not at all like American brown sugar.  I would stick with the muscovado mentioned below as a decent substitute.]


So, after all that, where CAN you get your hands on some good moist brown sugar in Zurich?  The first answer is Jelmoli, downstairs at the Gourmet Factory.  They carry both dark and light muscovado sugar, which is a moist cane sugar with fine crystals.  It’s not quite as delicate as your imported Domino, but it can be substituted for dark or light brown sugar in recipes with no problem. [Update:  Schwarzenbach in the Niederdorf also carries the same brand of muscovado as Jelmoli, both light and dark.]


The other answer is the internet.  There are a few different Swiss sites selling American foods, but the cheapest one I have found is http://www.afoodave.ch/  They sell both dark and light Domino brown sugar at CHF 2.95 per pound.  Other web sources are http://www.tasteofamerica.ch/ (both kinds), http://www.americanmarket.ch/ (both kinds), and http://www.aussieshop.ch/ (CSR brand, light only).

Shortening
Available at Coop, called pflanzenfett (Becel brand) or speisefett (Sais brand, which is 10% butter), and comes in round plastic tubs in the oil section. I haven't tried it myself, but I heard from Amanda that it worked just fine in her apple pie crust.

If you must have your Crisco, then the above links to Afoodave and Taste of America are your friends. Just be sure to keep it in the freezer so it doesn’t go rancid!  

Cream of Tartar
Your local apotheke should carry it - ask for weinsteinpulver.

Baking Soda
This is called natron in german and can be found in little green packets in the baking aisle of Coop (and probably Migros – I don’t shop there so I’m not sure).  You can also buy it in larger quantities at any apotheke.  

Baking Powder
Called backpulver in German, it's also found in the baking aisle of any grocery store in little packets.  I love my Calumet tin because of the handy spoon-leveler, so I just empty all the little sachets into the tin.  Since baking powder can lose its efficacy relatively quickly, it’s best to just buy smaller amounts and use it up before buying more.



Chocolate Chips
Again, some well-meaning Swiss person might try and tell you that you can buy chocolate chips here.  Again, sort of.  In the baking aisle, you can find a tiny baggie of tiny squares of gray-looking chocolate, which just doesn’t cut it in my opinion.   I’ve been laughed at a few times for using imported American Toll House chips in my chocolate chip cookies despite living in one of the most chocolate-y countries in the world, where chocolate pretty much has its own aisle at the grocery store. True, it’s no problem to chop up a nice semi-sweet chocolate bar and use that as my chips, and agreed, the quality of the chocolate would be better.   I use Swiss chocolate in all other recipes, and naturally it’s fantastic.  But when it comes to the chocolate chip cookies, my opinion is still that using Toll house chips makes them taste best, and I’m sticking with it!

So, where to get them?  Until now I’ve only found them online at Afoodave and Taste of America (toa has butterscotch chips too!), but I suspect they may be available at the Premiere Videothek in Zurich as well, which supposedly carries some British and American goods.  I plan to check this out in the next couple weeks and will update accordingly. 

[Update 19.11.09: A visit to the Premiere Videothek today was disappointing - they are now exclusively a movie rental shop and no longer carry any food items.  The guy told me that I should visit the London Store in Zug instead.]


Vanilla Extract
You will find some tiny vials labeled vanilla in the baking aisle at the grocery store, next to the almond and the lemon and the rum.  This is a flavoring, not an extract, and is not what should go into your nice American brownies and cookies and cakes. 

Apart from the above websites, which both carry McCormick’s Pure Vanilla Extract, you can buy one (and only one) top-quality vanilla extract at Jelmoli Gourmet Factory.  The brand is Nielsen-Massey, which is one of the best and most expensive producers, but in my opinion the flavor makes a big difference to baked goods.  A teeny 60 ml bottle of exceptional Madagascar vanilla extract will run you CHF 20.80, but if you’re desperate or you really love your vanilla, that’s the place.

What’s that you say?  There’s no way you could ever spend CHF 20 on a bottle the size of a postage stamp?  Well, if you can wait a few months, why not spend the 20 francs on some booze and a bunch of vanilla beans and make your own?

Head over to Part 3: where to look for items that are a little more esoteric but that the serious baker might need to find.