...so what came first? The Chinese version or the Swiss version?It was in Chengdu when my host asked me if I would like some Chinese wine; yes came my reply eager to try all aspects of their food and wine. I was led by the hand to see the different glass jars with their potions of herbs and weird looking additives till the last one when I could definitely distinguish a dead snake in the clear liquid. With 60-80% alcoholic volume I learnt this was the Chinese national drink called Baijiu and that Chinese women don't drink it.
This was moonshine with subtle flavor changes till one reached the most refined when it slipped down so smoothly it reminded me of the finest Swiss eau-de-vie.
Then in the middle of Yunnan province came my next cultural culinary surprise, a potato pancake which was exactly the same as the best Swiss rosti and totally delicious.More surprises were to come up in Shangri-la where we were served a Tibetan hot pot. The two differences to the fondu Chinoise that I loved so much during the years we lived in Switzerland was that the Chinese dunk spam into the pot and don't turn the stock into soup to be drunk at the end of the meal.
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