Switzerland
Opublikowano: 07-09-2009
Switzerland at its best
The food and life in the middle of Europe. It’s my country, where I had grown up. Actually I left my home country when I was still very young, but I like to go back there for vacation now and then.
It’s really a great country. I went to school in Lucerne which is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The lake, the mountain, the bridges, the hotels, you even can see the snow mountain caps whole year round and the steam ships on the lake with a lot of tourists. Sometimes we went just for a Sunday trip with the ship and up to the rigi or buergenstock and paradise for the wealthy people.
I remember when the railway station burned down. I went to look and then I’ve played sad songs with my mouth harmonica in the streets.
Then later on the wooden bridge burned down with all the original pictures about the city history it has been rebuild, since Lucerne without that bridge would be like Warsaw without the old town. At that time I was already in Poland.
I learned cooking in a 4 star hotel when I was just 16 years old, I left my schooling after 8 years obligatory going to the school.
During my learning time I had about 5 different chefs. One or two stayed just for a short time but from each of them I learned something and I memorized it in my recipe book.
I remember the first time in the kitchen I had to sort out French fries – yes we made them ourselves.
Peeling potatoes then trough the machine to get the right size and only the nice ones where selected and allowed to go to the fryer.
So we had every single potatoes stick in our hand the leftovers were for the staff either for fries or just for puree one day with bacon and onion next day just with parsley.
So you can imagine about 50 kg of fries in front of you it looked like the mount Everest and you put the good ones in one pot and the bad ones in other.
I remember the fellow apprentice doing jokes to the new apprentices, I did as well, just green apprentices who came directly from school and didn’t know anything about cooking and they believed in most things said to them.
One which is still famous is our patron loved the breaded scallops and what we done we breaded the scallops just butter pieces and then I had to fry them and obviously in the hot oil they disappeared like
nothing and the cooks where looking astonished at what I’ve done and then they laughed. How funny was it? I am 16 and green. Many more jokes where done but this you can get personally from me.
I will teach you how to make a fool out of others or have a laugh on the cost of the other person, sometimes I make it at the academy, because actually you need to think is it possible or not and as well it’s a learning procedure do you do everything your boss is saying and is he always right, that’s why we do such things.
Lucerne has a lot of different specialties.
Food and drinks
We have a very special coffee Luz, this is a very light coffee with schnapps, in Poland we would say bimber but it’s not home made, it’s made by the farmers.
Now I will write about my favorite Swiss recipies some of which you won’t find in any books except in this article and in my hand written recipies book from the apprenticeship.
Baerlauch wild garlic
What is it actually?
It’s quite fashionable now to use more seasonal products.
It’s very hard to get it in Poland. But I love to work with it and give it to the people.
Give you some info about it:
It’s wild garlic found in Silesia.
We in Poland have wild garlic chive, but this one looks like sorrel, but taste of garlic and you do not smell later on, so you can kiss your beloved one.
This recipe is from my mother who was a good cook for me.
But now she is very disappointed when I come home since I only want a special cervelat sausage and a beer and some cheese and mustard with an piece of Braun bread.
*Wild garlic paste*
3 bund of wild garlic
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1 dl of olive oil
Clean the wild garlic then dry it and cut it with the knife in very fine stripes add the sea salt and oil.
Mix it until the sea salt is dissolved and then into a jar for storing.
Use it for a pasta dish just add one or two spoon to the steaming hot dish .
*Wild garlic oil*
Once you got the wild garlic then just put some leaves into the oil to get the flavors into it. For an week.
It’s great for carpaccio or pasta to drizzle on the end over it.
*Crostini with wild garlic*
1 loave of French bread
Sliced it into half centimeter pieces
Cover it with following ingredients which you mix before
100 g soft butter
5g salt and black pepper
A skin of a lemon
The sliced bread
Bake it in the oven then take it out and cover it with thinly sliced wild garlic butter
Serve it warm – just before dinner.
*Morel toast*
This is a very old Swiss special dish. I do not say everything is real Swiss since we are a country with a lot of different influences from France, Italy.
4 slice toast heat it in melted butter so the toast gets brown
Then take toast out and give to the butter 1 piece garlic
With skin for an better flavor
Add the chopped onion and just give it a whitish color
Add the dry and fresh morels to it
A dash of vermouth gives you a special taste
If not available take a little bit of Pernod or just white wine
Some sour cream about 2 spoons to it
Cook it up
Season it
Serve it with chopped herbs like parsley sage and fresh basilica.
Pour the mushrooms stew over the toast and finish is the dish.