What better way to celebrate the best of Swiss culture than by gathering the Swiss community of Qatar for an evening lush with fondues, mousses, emmentals, and gruyeres?
At a special event flagging off the Swiss Week at Grand Hyatt’s award-winning restaurant, The Grill, Etienne Thévoz, the ambassador of Switzerland to Qatar, made way for the celebrations by a warm speech welcoming the guests on Monday night. In partnership with Qatar Airways, The Grand Hyatt Doha is bringing the finest of Swiss culture to the city; be it the live Swiss folk music band or the assortment of traditional Swiss dishes in the offing.
The Swiss community gathering of more than 300 people included members of Swiss Business Council Qatar (SwissBCQ), and Swiss Business Hub, the representing body of the Switzerland Global Enterprise and Swiss Citizens living in Qatar, and was joined by a slew of dignitaries such as the Qatari government officials, former presidents of Switzerland and Tunisia, and former prime minister of Jordan.
Swiss Guest Chef Heinz Rufibach, who had painstakingly put together the menu, told Community, “It is a pleasure to be invited to take part in the Swiss Week promotion at Grand Hyatt Doha. My aim is to introduce Doha residents to the best of Swiss culture and take them on a culinary journey through the rich and authentic tastes. I want to pass on our pleasure to you, and to bring a holiday mood onto your plate. Enjoy the moment, and the wide range of delicious food.”
The impressive collection in the cheese and bread section, for instance, meant that of the 450-plus varieties of Swiss cheeses, the most distinct ones such as tete de moine and emmental had made it to the spread.
Until tomorrow (Thursday), the Swiss experience will go on from 6:30pm to 11:30pm, starting with a folk music band flown all the way from Switzerland followed by the most delicious fondue (a hot dish made of melted cheese), raclette (a dish made by heating the cheese and scraping off the melted part) and rosti (crisp, fried, shredded potatoes) prepared by Rufibach. You can book your table to savour an authentic Swiss buffet priced at QR250 per person, or end your journey with a special Swiss-themed brunch on May 6 from 12:30pm to 3:30pm at The Grill.
Guest Chef Rufibach will obviously be the star of the evenings given the scrumptious spread he has whipped up. Zermatt is a little village in south-western Switzerland that owes its big reputation to four neighbours – the four tallest peaks of Europe, including the majestic Matterhorn. It is in this village that the culinary star Rufibach lives. He has presided over the restaurant Le Gourmet at the popular Alpenhof Hotel at Zermatt and the eatery, which has notched up 16 out of a maximum of 20 GaultMillau points, the equivalent of a Michelin star.
With more than 35 years of experience in the culinary world, Rufibach currently works for Zermatt tourism to introduce the best of Swiss cuisine to the world. He has been part in several Swiss promotions around the world including India, China, Oman and Qatar, and has been to Qatar for the previous editions of the Swiss Week.
While Swiss cuisine is known to combine influences from the German, French and North Italian cuisine, it varies significantly from region to region depending on the language divisions. Around 400 different Swiss products, such as Gruyère (cheese), Longeole (a sausage from Geneva) and Basler Läckerli (biscuits) are officially recognised as part of Switzerland’s culinary heritage. Interestingly, the Swiss eat the most chocolate in the world, consuming close to 12kg of chocolate, per person, per year.
VARIETY: The collection in the cheese and bread section. Right: Swiss Guest Chef Heinz Rufibach.
