dutch-processed cocoa powder

If you've bought cocoa powder in Zurich, perhaps you're wondering whether it's Dutch-processed or not. Perhaps not.

Here's how to tell the difference:
"After a bit of searching, I was able to find out that ‘Dutch-Processed’ cocoa powder is treated with the Alkaline substance potassium carbonate. Your answer can be found by looking at the packaging of the cocoa powder in the zutaten section (generally on the back). If it is processed, it will list the ingredient Kaliumkarbonat E 501. If this is not listed, then the cocoa powder will have a natural acid that will react with baking soda. Most cocoa powders in Europe are dutch-processed, and aside from the listing of potassium carbonate, there is no real method of checking whether or not the powder was processed." - Jack McNulty of laughinglemon.ch

I have not thoroughly tested this theory yet. The "Ligne Patisserie" cocoa powder I bought from Migros only lists one ingredient: Kakao. But I still suspect that it is dutched. Cook's Illustrated has a lengthy article on Dutch-processed cocoa that says "Natural cocoa looks beige; Dutch-processed cocoa boasts a deep, dark, rich-looking brown". Mine looks like the latter. So I will proceed assuming that it is dutched.

Here's why you should care (source):
It does make a difference since Dutch-processed cocoa is less acidic (or more alkaline) than a regular cocoa such as Hershey's. Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder is neutral and does not react with baking soda, so it must be used in recipes calling for baking powder, unless there are other acidic ingredients in sufficient quantities used.
In constrast, when natural unsweetened cocoa powder (an acid) is used in recipes calling for baking soda (an alkali), it creates a leavening action that causes the batter to rise when placed in the oven.

Substitutions:
3 TB Dutch-processed cocoa = 3 TB natural cocoa powder plus 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
3 TB natural cocoa = 3 TB Dutch-processed cocoa plus 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar, lemon juice or vinegar

brown sugar

Found! Globus on Bahnhoffstrasse recently had real brown sugar in the flour/sugar section. CHF6 for 500g. This was real brown sugar, not those cane sugars that lots of the stores around here carry. This brown sugar was really dark, almost black, with a very strong molasses flavor. Yum yum.

You can also make your own by simply adding about 1-2 TB of molasses to 1 cup granulated sugar. Mix with a fork until well blended. I learned this tip from Jack McNulty of laughinglemon.ch, who also recommended buying pure molasses (or "melasse" here) from health food stores because it doesn't contain extra additives that affect flavor among other things.

Now you can finally have that nice hot bowl of steel cut oats with brown sugar and cinnamon. Yea!

vanilla extract

Found! El Maiz has "McCormick Extracto Liquido de Vainilla." Yea!

I briefly considered making my own - here are instructions.

According to Jack McNulty of laughinglemon.ch, the Swiss use vanilla sugar instead of vanilla extract because vanilla sugar provides a stronger vanilla flavor. Just substitute a small amount (5-10%) of the sugar in your recipe with vanilla sugar. You can make vanilla sugar but putting a split vanilla bean in a container with powdered sugar. Periodically replenish the sugar and vanilla bean.

treasure hunt

Here's all the food items not available or hard to find in Zurich. I'll post as I discover sources for or information about any of these items.

• brown sugar
• vanilla extract
• blue food coloring
• corn tortillas
• swiss chard
• turnips