World Cuisine - Switzerland

Introduction

Switzerland is an Alpine European country that has stated as a compact country for centuries. Being a neutral country during both world wars, Switzerland has been the refuge place for a lot of German, Austrian and Italian writers, such as Thomas Mann, Stefan George and Ignazio Silone The food culture of Switzerland has been influenced by its neighbors, especially Italy and France. Pasta and pizza are very familiar in Switzerland, people serving them in restaurants as well. Over the years a distinctive culture with strong regional differences has developed inside the country. Some parts haven’t been influenced by cultural and food differences found in other countries, and have developed their own eating habits. The Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris var. cicla) found in Swiss cuisines, with its long white stems, is actually influenced by the Mediterranean cooks for flavoring soups and rice dishes. Swiss chard is a popular vegetable nowadays, even being the most important vegetable in the Nice region, and is has also grown abundantly in the districts around the Rhône valley because of its resistance to cold weather. chocolate, one of the main characteristics of the Swiss cuisine, has been known to this region for centuries. Lindt, Nestle, and Kraft are just some of the main chocolate factories in Switzerland, and of course, the most refined chocolates and its derivates in the world. The Swiss Cuisine is reknown all over the world for its delicious taste. Some of the commonly found cuisines are: Aargau (carrot Cake), Acelgas Guisadas (Braised Swiss chard), Acqua Di Miele Alla Luganese (Honey water), Aelplermagronen (the Alpine Farmer's macaroni with applesauce) Pasta, Almanzo's Favorite Swiss Steak Beef, apricot Flan (Valais), Aris' Swiss cheese and Green Beans, asparagus Swiss, asparagus Swiss Souffle, aubergine/Swiss cheese Casserole, Avocado-Bacon-Swiss cheese Omlet, Baby Swiss Stuffed Portabellas, Blackberry-Filled Sandwich Cookies (Luxembourgli) blueberry Risotto with Boletus (cep), Boneless Leg of Lamb Stuffed with Swiss chard and feta, Boysenberry-Filled Sandwich Cookies (Luxembourgli) etc.

From: http://www.cookbookwiki.com/Switzerland

Recipes

Chopf Salat

Servings: 4

1 head butter lettuce

Dressing

1 oz shallots fine dice
1 oz cider vinegar
2 oz light olive oil
2 oz chicken stock
2 oz heavy cream
1/4 oz prepared mustard
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
Salt, pepper, sugar to taste

Preparation:

1. Core, clean, and wash butter lettuce in a large quantity of water.
2. Drain and place on paper towels and refrigerate to get crisp until needed.
3. Combine all ingredients for dressing in a bowl with a whisk, season to taste.
4. Toss lettuce with dressing just before dressing.

Note: Lettuce will wilt quickly in the dressing, do not toss ahead of serving time.

Eminceed Pork "Zürcher Art"

Servings: 4

1 lb pork tenderloin, trimmed, sliced 1/8" thick
flour for dusting
oil as needed

2 oz butter
2 oz shallots diced
8 oz mushrooms sliced
1 oz brandy
4 oz dry white wine
6 oz demi-glace
4 oz whipped heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
chopped parsley

Preparation:

1. Trim and cut the pork into 1" x 1" x 1/8" thick slices (emincee)
2. Sesason and dust the sliced meat with flour just before cooking
3. Heat a sauté pan, add a thin layer of oil, heat the oil and sauté the meat int he hot oil until lightly brown. remove the meat and set aside (do not overcook).
4. Heat the pan again, add butter and sweat the shallots and mushrooms.
5. Deglaze the pan with brandy, white wine and reduce.
6. Add the demi-glace along with any juices collected from the meat and reduce the sauce to a creamy consistency.
7. Add the meat, bring to a simmer, season the sauce with a little fresh lemon juice, salt, pepper.
8. Add the whipped heavy cream at the last minute and fold into the sauce but do not boil any more.
9. Sprinkle with chopped parsley when serving.

Practical

Our full menu for our day of Swiss cooking was:

• Flädli Suppe
• Chügeli Pastetli
• Gschnätzlets "Zürcher Art"
• Green Beans
• Broiled Tomato
• Spätzli
• Chopf Salat

The suppe was simply a consommé prepared with chopped crepe. Our preparation order started with the consommé, followed by the crepe batter. We then prepared the proteins for the chügeli and the gschnätzlets, along with the remainder of the vegetable prep work. Last, we prepared the spätzli dough and set it aside to refrigerate before cooking.

Observations

Something which came to me in this third week of World Cuisine is that there are a lot of foods out there which are similar or related to another cultures, yet has a local or regional twist to it. Chef describe the Gschnätzlets as a sort of Swedish stroganoff, and with the dish finished, I could definitely find a resemblance there.

Our consommé turned out very well, it was quite clear and very flavourful. Adding crepe as a garnish was an interesting touch, and I enjoyed the end result. Chef commented on the clarity of our consommé and said the dish was quite good, although there was some chopped parsley floating in the bowl - this had been mixed into the crepe batter and was separating in the soup.

Our Chügeli Pastetli (chicken mousseline piped and poached, served with a mushroom and cream sauce in puffed pastry) turned out well. However, instead of portioning the mousseline as it was being piped into the poaching liquid, we cooked long strands of it and portioned it afterward, resulting in harder edges on the cooked product. While this decision had no impact on the flavour of the dish, it didn't present as well visually as it could have.

The Gschnätzlets "Zürcher Art" dish was very good, the sauce having good flavour and texture, and the meat being prepared appropriately without being overcooked. The vegetables turned out well as did our spätzli, although the spätzli was slightly small due to the tool we used to portion it into the cooking liquid. Our Chopf Salat was very good as well, the dressing having a nice flavour and coating the lettuce appropriately without weighing the dish down.