Love and Calories!!

The first time I came across this dish was on our honeymoon in Switzerland. The country was beautiful as expected, the cuisine too didn't disappoint us. Since  this picturesque country shares its border with Germany, Italy, Austria and France, its cuisine too has a large influence of these countries as you go towards the respective borders. We enjoyed the famous cheese fondue, Swiss Cheese and Chocolates, Swiss meringue with cream and last but not the least our favourite breakfast item....POTATO ROSTI!! During our week long stay, Rosti dominated our breakfast plates. It was way back in 2007 when I experienced the dangling sound of metal Cow Bells hanging around the necks of the cows, the beautiful alpine meadows, the charming old houses decorated with coloured flowers, the diplomatic capital of the World Geneva where we visited the United Nations office, Jungfraujoch - my first snowy experience at the top most point of Europe and more....everything still remains fresh...

It was a chilly yet Sunny Sunday morning in the countryside called Newtown in Wales where I had gone to spend a weekend at my Best friend Meghana's place. Though she never gives a damn  about this place, I get a sense of serenity, tranquility and at peace whenever I come here. (May be because, I live in a city and I don't get to see those meadows, sheep and mountains anymore).  Sunday was well spent as we made some hot masala chai, poured it in a flask, took some crisps and drove to a tourist spot in Mid Wales called Llanidloes (Please don't take an effort to pronounce it, it's Welsh...and the spellings have no connection with the pronunciation..:P). We stopped at a beautiful man made reservoir called the Llani Lake and what a sight it was. The river Severn was locked inside the dam and tinge of snow covered hills surrounded it. I could only imagine, how beautiful it would be in peak summer. The picture below will give you an idea of how postcardish view it was....