Unique Swiss souvenir

My wife attended the official opening of VAT Manufacturing Malaysia Sdn Bhd in the Batu Kawan Industrial Park, Province Wellesley recently and came back with an unusual souvenir from the Swiss-owned company.

"You wouldn't believe what they gave out as souvenirs," she told me when arriving home after work. "What?" I asked, "a Swiss Army knife? An Alpine cuckoo clock? A piece of Swiss cheese?" All failed to hit the mark, unfortunately, but my last answer was the closest to answering her correctly.

"Birnbrot (pear bread) from Switzerland," she replied triumphantly, and then she took out this itsy bitsy looking piece of cylindrical pastry in clingwrap. It measured not more than four inches long.

"What?" I asked again, "just this small pastry thingy?" Yes, she replied, but according to the people at VAT Manufacturing, this pear bread is a delicacy in Switzerland. Traditionally available only during the winter months but most probably now available all year round over there.

So I took out a knife and began slicing into it. When the first piece came off, we saw a rich mixture of figs and dried grapes tightly compressed within a very thin layer of hard pastry. "The VAT Manufacturing staff said to eat it with butter in order to extract the best taste from the bread." Erm, butter? She didn't need to tell me twice, I say!

Oh, by the way, having tasted the Birnbrot, maybe I should also mention that VAT Manufacturing is the world’s leading supplier of vacuum valves for state-of-the-art applications in the semiconductor industry, for manufacturing flat screens and solar panels, as well as for coating optical systems and tools.