After spending many summers in Switzerland and eating copious tartines of butter and Cenovis, it is a flavor that at any time that I have it now, conjures up memories of summer days where the sandwiches sitting in a bag warmed to just the right temp from a hike or lazing on the shores of Lake Geneva. Cenovis is a spreadable yeast extract, high in vitamin B1 and some would say an acquired taste. Karis who is half English has her own fave in Marmite. I can only speak of my love of Cenovis, being that I am half Swiss, and half American via Brooklyn, Barbados and North Carolina.
The merging of butter and Cenovis on bread blends in perfectly harmony, I am immediately transported. Cenovis is only for sale in Switzerland. I found this out the hard way during the pregnancy of my first child some 17 years ago. Pregnancy cravings are real, and Cenovis is what I craved. No one sells it here in the US. The closest I got to getting any was to call the corporate headquarters in Switzerland, which they confirmed that they didn’t sell or distribute to the US. The woman on the phone gently chuckled to my dilemma and offered to send me a Cenovis care package, which she did, replete with a Cenovis wall clock (of course!) Anyway, in the aftermath of the call and desperation on getting my hands on the luscious yeasty salty paste, I thought “Hey Karis’s people have their own yeasty salty paste. Might that suffice?” No, it did not, not at all. Marmite and Vegemite just taste awful to me. Is my love of Cenovis based on the memories that it ignites? When none are present, as in the case of Marmite and Vegemite, are you left with the dregs of a concentrated yeast flavor? In the absence of memory, are these weird yeasty pastes even palatable??
Enjoying a little sandwich on Lac Leman
I’ve read that our sense of smell is our most powerful sense as it connects to memory. I’ve experienced this on many occasions where walking down a street and suddenly an odor hits me and I am transported to another place at another time, this can, of course, be for better or worse. In the case of taste and Cenovis, I expect it that memory rush, however it sometimes it hits you unaware. I was reminded of this when I met a friend for lunch at Republique. At the time we were new friends, so bear in mind I was completely unprepared for what happened next. My friend ordered the Jambon-Beurre sandwich. She offered me a bite, I took one and then in an instant I was completely overcome with emotions. I was transported right back to a lazy summer afternoon in Switzerland on Lake Geneva (or Lac Leman, as I know it) riding the ferry that traveled, visiting the small towns that dot the border with my beloved grandmother, Satsi. It was such a feeling of warmth and love, that tears began to trickle down my cheeks. How wonderfully enchanting that food could do that when least expected.
Food, for many of us evokes a similar feeling. It can almost be a high, one that I have chased in revisiting Republique for a little time travel, and similarly I can do the same thing at home with my simple tube of Cenovis. It’s still not readily available in the US, so whoever goes to Switzerland, please grab me a tube of Cenovis!
