Rhine salmon basle style

Basle Recipe

     In olden days salmon came from the sea to spawn in the upper reaches of the River Rhine; an event which gradually ceased. During the Middle Ages the fisherman of the Basle caught salmon in the large quantities and it was particularly appreciated on Friday. It became so widely used that it is said that certain household servants insisted upon having a clause in their contracts of employment which precluded salmon being served more than twice a week.


Ingredients: Serves 5 persons / Preparation time: 1 hour

1 kg fresh salmon steaks

5o ml milk

40 g flour

100 g butter

80 g shallots, chopped

50 ml dry white wine

50 ml meat juice or extract juice of one lemon

40 g prasley, chopped

200 g onion rings

150 g frying batter oil for frying Worcester sauce, salt and pepper

Method:

    Marinate the salmon steaks in half of the lemon juice, Worcester sauce, salt and pepper, for about 1 hour then brown the steaks in butter. Sweat the chopped shallots in butter ( in a deep frying pan) and place the salmon steaks on top. Add the white wine, meat juice and the rest of the lemon juice.

   Place over the low heat until cooked. When cooked, remove the steaks and arrange on a plate. Complete the sauce using some Worcester sauce, chopped parsley and butter. Adjust the seasoning and coat the steaks with the sauce. Dip the onion rings in the batter and deep fry. Arrange on the plate around the steaks.

Recommended wine: white wine from Chablais (Yvorne, Villeneuve) or Riesling-Sylvaner (Basle).

Risotto with spinach

Ticino Recipe

   Risotto originated in Lombardy and in the eighteenth century it was a great favourite at the dinner tables of the wealthy of that province. It was much later that risotto found its way into the valleys of Ticino. At first it was only served at christmas and on very special occasions, then later it became part of the normal Sunday meal.

Ingredients: Serves 5 persons / /Preparation times: 45 minutes


250 g  rice(Violone,Arborio)


80 g  butter


80 g onions,chopped


200 g  leaf spinach


100 ml  white wine


100 ml  stock salt,pepper, nutmeg)


80 g  Parmesan cheese(or Sbrinz),grated


Method:


    Sweat the onions and rice in some of the butter uintil translucent. Ass the seasoning and 2/3 of the stock. Allow to cook for about 12 minutes. Sweat the roughly chopped spinach leaves in more butter and add the risotto. Finish with the wine, more stock if necessary, the cheese and seasoning. Allow to evaporate.


Note
Risotto should be served"al dente" and still a little moist.


Recommended wine: Wwhite Ticino wine Mezzana or Merlot.

Cardoons au gratin

Geneva Reipe

    This centuries old specially evolved at the time of the "Escalade". Cardoons originated on the Barbary Coast but they have been cultivated in Geneva sor a very long time and are displayed prominently in all the local markets. They must be kept in a cellar for some time to blanch before being used in cooking.

Ingredients: Serves 5 persons / Preparation times 1 hour


1 kg cardoons,trimmed


20 g butter( to grease the gratin dish)


200 ml cream


100 g Gruyere cheese,grated


100 ml white wine venegar, salt pepper, nutmeg BLANC


100 g kidney fat


30 g flour, juice of half a lemon


3 l. water


Method:


    Clean and chop the cardoons, soak for a few minutes in venegar water and strain. Rub them with coarse salt in a cloth and wash again. Cook in a "blanc" with the kidney fat for 2030 minutes.Keep the cardoons firm. Drain and place in a buttered grati dish.
    Cover with the cream seasoned with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Sprinkle the grated Gruyere on top and broen in the oven.


Note: This can be served as an accompaniment to a roast.


Recommended wine: Gamay from Geneva

Pork "EINTOPF"

   Unterwalden Recipe

    Farmhouse cooking came from the mountainous central cantons, often referred to as the "primeval cantons". The dishes were

mainly types of stews or hot pots based on local farm produce and cooked in a large pot over a low heat for several hours. They were sufficiently nourishing to sustain a whole family. The term "Stunggis" is used when all the vegetables have cooked for so long that they resemble a puree thick soup.

Ingredients: Serves 5 persons / Preparation times: 1 hr 15 minutes

750 g neck of pork, in pieces

40 g lard

150 g carrots,'en batons"

100 g leeks, roughly chopped

150 g french beans

150 g celeriac,"en batons"

150 g white cabbage,roughly chopped

100 g onions,chopped

500 g potatoes,in large cubes

700 g beef stock thyme,marjoram,chives and parsley,chopped.

Method:

Brown the meat in the fat,sweat for 10 minutes and season. Sweat the onions and the vegetables,except the leeks and potatoes. Add the stock,thyme and marjoram. Braise in a covered pan for 45 minutes,half way through cooking,Add the potatoes and leeks.Garnish with chives and parsley

Note: Serve this speciality in a rustic dish

Recommended wine: Dorin de la Cote or Salvagnin

Braised pigeons with croutons

"These plump pigeons are well worth eating-take my world for it" wrote Boileau. For many years pigeons have been greatly appreaciated for their tender and delicate flesh and have been recommemded for both the sick and those convalescing.

Basle Recipe

Ingredients: Serves 8 persons / Preparation times 1 hour

8 pigeons


80 g butter


200 ml red wine


100 ml chicken stock, reduced


 30 ml cognac zest of an orange,grated


 20 g anchovy fillets


50 g pigeon livers


16 croutons,buttered


Method:


    Divine the pigeons into halves,season and saute in butter. Deglaze the pan with red wine. Add the reduce chicken stock and braise for 20-25 minutes. Take the pigeons out of the pan, remove the main bones from the birds and keep the meat warm. Add the cognac and orange zest to the cooking liquor along with the livers and puree anchovy fillets. Bring to the boil. Add the pigeons and let them simmer for a few minutes.


   To serve, arrange the pigeons on the bed of crouton and cote with some of the sauce,remaining sauce being served seperately.


Recommened wine: Dole or Pinot noir from Basle

Young rabbit fillets with fresh mushrooms

 Jura Recipe

    In the Jura there are still a large number of rabbits, kept and rared in the fresh mountain air, whose meat contributes to the healthy and simple cooking of the region which has highly praised by Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

 The boletus mushroom was discribed in the Roman times as the food of the Gods. It is now found in abundance in this region making the Jura woods a "paradise" for mushroom-lovers.

Ingredients: Serves 3-4 persons / Preparation time: 1 hour


1 saddle of young rabbit (about 6oo g)


2 cloves of garlic ( unpeeled)


3 shallots


30 g parsley, finely chopped


100 g butter


100 ml dry white wine


200 ml brown stock, thickened


150 g fresh boletus (mushrooms) oil, salt, pepper


Method:


    Cut the saddle of rabbit along the back bone and try until just browning Season. Add the garlic and 2 quartered shallots to the meat and cook in the oven for 15 minutes. Chop[ the remaining shallot and sweat with the sliced boletus and the parsley in half the butter and season. Place these in a buttered earthen-ware dish or a copper "sauteuse" (frying pan).


   Remove the rabbit and skim the fat from the juices. Deglaze the pan with white wine. add the brown stock, reduce and strain. Remove the pan from the heat and slowly in corporate the remaining half of the butter in small knobs. Remove the fillets from the saddle, slice them and redress them on the saddle bone. Garnish with the boletus. Coat with some of the sauce and serve the remainder seperately.


Note: Serve with potato " gratin" and courgettes cooked in butter.


Recommended wine: red Auvernier or Oeil de Perdrix.

Trout mousse from jura

Jura Recipe

    The abundance of trout in the many clear fresh water strreams of the Jura region adds to the charm of this area and they form the basis of a great number of local dishes. A particular favourite, however, is the trout from Doubs, which is considered to be the queen of the jura fish.

 Ingredients: Serves 6-8 persons / Preparation time: 1 Hr 30 minutes

4 trout


9 eggs


5oo ml milk


2oo ml cream for sauce


200 g butter, white pepper , salt


  20 g chives chopped


   8 g slices of truffle


12 'fleurons' of puff pastry fish stock


80 g onions cut into small pieces


80 g carrots, cut into small pieces


150 g bouguet garni


300 ml dry white wine


570 ml water


Method:


    fillet the trout, keeping the bones and heads for the stock. Chop ot mince the fish and pass through a sieve. Add five whole egs, four egg yolks, 500 ml cream , milk and seasoning, stirring continuously, Blend thoroughly in a mixer or pass through a sieve again.


    Pour into buttered "dariole" moulds (or one large mould) Cover with foil and cook on a tray containing water in the oven for 40 minutes at 160 C. When cooked turn out onto a plate. Cover each mousse with the sauce and decorate with the slices of truffle and pastry shapes.


Sauce:


    Prepare the fish stock from the ingredients listed, reduce by half and strain. Mix in 200 ml cream and the butter in small pieces, whisking continually. Adjust the seasoning. Add the chopped chives.


Recommended wine: white Auvernier, Dorin from Vaud or Twanner     

Berne market soup

Berne Recipe  

From the early time local market have had significant influence on social and economic life. How many painters have been inspire by market sounds and sights? since the one of it founder, Bertold V de Zaehringen,Berne has been renowned for its market. It is still rewarding today to wander through the town on market day. with this unique dish, " Berner Maritsuppe" , the most demanding appetite can be satisfied.

Ingredients: Serves 4-5 persons ( Preparation times 1 hr 15 minutes)


50 g yellow split peas, soaked (dry weight)


20 g butter


30 g leeks


30 g celery


30 g carrots


30 g onions


100g smoked bacon, diced


120 g potatoes, diced


150 g knuckle of pork (soaked in cold water)


1.5 l stock(unsalted)


3o g chive, chopped bay leaf and sprig of fresh thyme salt and peper


Methods:


    Cut the vegetables into neat even pieces and sweat in the butter without colouring. Add the split peas, bacon knuckle of pork, stock, bay leaf and thyme. Cook for about 50 minutes. Add the potatoes and simmer until they are cooked.Adjust the seasoning (take care not to over salt). Sprinkle with chives.


Note: Serve in raditional tureen. Cut the knuckle of pork into large pieces.


Recommended drinks: dry cider or a light red wine

Cheese soup

   Uri Recipe

   

    Cheese from Uri enjoys a fine reputation. A number of famous people have sung its praises, including Ludwig II of Bavaria and Wolfgang von Goethe, who enjoyed the cheese during their travels in the region. This cheese features in a long list of local specialities, such as this unique soup, which is sometimes accompanied by salted potatoes.

Ingredients: (Serves 5 persons / Preparation time 40 minutes)


250 g stale farmhouse bread, cut into large pieces


100 g butter


300 g Sbrinz cheese, grated beef stock, very slightly salted


100 g onions, chopped


 2o g chives and parsley, chopped freshly ground pepper, no salt


Method:


    Soak the bread ib hot water then squeeze out the water by hand. Lightly brown the bread in half the butter. Add half of the cheese and mix well with a wooden spatula. Season with pepper only. Spoon into soup dishes,add the rest of the cheese. Pour over the hot stock. Add the chopped onion, previously fried golden brown in the remaining butter. Garnish with chopped parsley and chives.


Recommended drink: Beer or a dry cider

Beef broth schwyz style

 Today it is not for offal such as liver to be included in a beef  broth. In the past, however, this broth was prepared in large quantities once a week and then stored in earthenware pots and used for the following days'meals.


Ingredients: ( Preparation time: 3 hrs 30 minutes)


15 l. water


2 kg beef (flat ribs)
500 g ox liver


6 kg beef bones (chopped)


1.5 kg onions (lightly charred)


150 kg smoked belly pork


1 kg white cabbage


1 bouquet garni sprigs of savoury and parsley salt and pepper


1 sachet of spices (bay leaf, cloves,peppercorns, blades of mace)


Method:


Make a broth with the ingredients adding the different items according to their cooking time. Served on the first day as a boiled beef dish. On feast days or holidays poultry, pigeon, rabbit etc., can be added to broth.

Spinach dumplings

Grisons recipe

In Grisons,dishes based on flour or potatoes such as "Chrustschrapli" or "Pizokels" are as numerous as the method of preparing them. Such Southern valleys where there is a strong italian influence.

Ingredients: (Servers 10 persons / Preparation time 1 hour)


250 g flour


    5 eggs


200 ml milk


200 ml water


250 g breadcrumbs


100 g butter


 30 g chives and parsley, chopped


250 g spinach, cooked and chopped


150 g Sbrinz cheese, grated salt, pepper, grated nutmeg


Method:


    Make a batter with flour, eggs, milk, water and seasoning. Brown the breadcrumbs in half the butter. Add the parsley, chives and spinach and mix thoroughly with the prepared batter. Leave to rest for an hour.


    Use a spoon to make the croquettes or " Pizokel" and place them boiling, salted water. Cook until they come to the surface. Remove and place them on a buttered dish, sprinkling with grated Sbrinz cheese.


    Make a "beurre noisette" with the remaining butter and pour this over.


   Note: A "coulis" of tomatoes is a particularly good accompaniment to this dish.


Recommended wine: a Veltliner, a very popular wine in Grisons.

Air dried beef and asparagus

                

Valais Recipe

    There is dispute among several cantons of Switzerland and especially between Grisons and valais as to which produces the authentic "viande séchée" (air dried beef). The beef is marinaded in a abrin containing many different(and often secret) aromatic spices and mountain herbs. It is then pressed between wooden planks for several days before being allowed to dry out in the fresh dry mountain air and it's this that gives meat it's delicate flavour. In the cantons of Appenzell and glarus the beef is cut into cubes, marinaded in cider with herbs and air dried to produce the delicious "Mostbrocklecider cubes"

    Fresh asparagus appears regularly on the menus of Swiss restaurants as it is widely cultivated in valais and some other sandy regions. It can be served with vinaigrette, fresh mayonnaise

, Hollandaise sauce "beurre noisette" cheese sauce or sometimes au gratin.

   Asparagus accompanied by plate of very finely cut "viande sechee" produces a harmonious blend of two outstanding Swiss delicacies.

   

Cheese Croutons

    For a long time the population of Appenzeil, living mainly in small mountain villages, earned their living from rearing cattle. The expansion of this alpine economy contributed to the fame of Appenzell cheese, whose origin, proven by old charters, can be traced back almost 800 years. This excellent cheese, richest in fat content of all Swiss cheese, forms the basis of numerous culinary specialities.


Ingredients: (Serves 4-5 persons / Preparation time 30 minutes)


400 g Stale farmhouse bread, cut into 1.5 cm cubes


 80 g butter


200 g Appenzell full fat cheese, grated


200 g Appenzell salted cheese, "Rasskase" grated nutmeg, freshly ground pepper


100 ml cream


50 g chopped chives


Method:


  Fry the bread cubes in the butter until brown. Mix the two cheese together and sprinkle on top of the browned croutons. Add the cream. Keep the pan very hot turn the contents continually. Saute the cubes until completely covered in cheese. Season with pepper and a little nutmeg and turn onto preheated plates. Garnish with chopped chives and serve immediately.


Notes:
The salted Appenzell cheese maybe replaced by full fat Appenzell cheese.


Recommended drinks:
lager or cider   

Rabbit livers in puff pastry

                                                                    

  Vaud recipe

    Traditionally, rabbit livers were always cooked with rabbit, but this recipe is an example of a modern appreciation of the use of offal and of the outstanding imagination of a top chef in creating a true regional speciality.

Ingredients: (Serves 4 persons / Preparation time: 30 minutes)

300-350 g fresh rabbit livers

300 g leeks (white part only)

2 shallot, chopped

150 ml cream

50 g butter

200 g puff pastry salt, pepper, shallot

20 ml cognac chives, chopped

1 egg

Method:

    Roll out the pastry thinly, cut into rectangles 9x7 cms, brush with egg and bake. When cooked, slice each piece horizontally. Wash and cut the leeks "enjulienne". Sweat the leeks and one of the chopped shallots in the butter. Season with salt, pepper and cayenne. Add the cream and simmer for 3 minutes to reduce the liquid.

    Chop the livers, season with salt and pepper and saute with 25 g clairified butter and the remaining shallot. Deglaze the pan with the cognac. Fill the puff pastry slices with a layer of the very hot leeks then a layer of  the sauteed livers. Garnish with chopped chives.

*Recommended wine: Dorin from Lavaux or Johannisberg.

   

Entlebuch woodland slices

Lucerne recipe

     
Ingredients: (Serves 5 persons / Preparation time: 45 minutes)


5 slices of toasted brown bread


150 g raw smoked ham (such as parma ham), slice


250 g Emmental cheese, sliced


400 g mushrooms in season ( chanterelles, cepes or pleurotes)


1 shallot, chopped


40 g butter


20 g flour


100 ml dry white wine


100 ml brown stock


100 ml cream marjoram, salt, freshly ground black pepper, parsley, chopped


   5 unpeeled pears poached in syrup


Method:


    Cover the slices of toasted bread with the ham- reserving 5 ham slices. Sweat the mushrooms in the butter with the shallot. Mix in the flour, seasoning (except marjoram), white wine and brown stock and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the cream and majoram to the sauce quickly bring it all to the boil then remove from the heat. Adjust the seasoning. Place 3/4 of the mushrooms on top the ham and bread slices. Cover each with another slice of ham and slice of cheese. Brown under the grill. Garnish with the remaining mushrooms and chopped parsley. Serve on plate with thin slices of hot pear.


*Recommened wine: Riesling-Sylvaner or Dorin

MALAKOFF fritter from vinzel

                              

                                                                                    

  Vaud Recipe                                             

    The recipe for these famous fritters dates from the last century. It was brought back at the end of the Crimean War by Swiss mercenary soldiers from La cote. They had been engaged in the battle which resulted in the fall of the fort of Malakoff. This fort had defended the town of Sebastopol and was taken by French assault in 1885.

Ingredients:  ( Serves 4 persons / Preparation time: 30 minutes)


6oo g  salted Gruyere cheese,grated
  30 g  flour
 2 eggs
 1 clove of garlic, crush


Method:


    Mix together the grated cheese, flour, eggs, garlic, spices, white wine, and kirsch into a smooth firm paste. Spread this paste over the rounds of bread making a dome shape, then dip into deep fat (180 C) until golden brown. Remove and drain on kitchen paper.


*Recommended wine: Dorin de vinzel.

A selection of recipes

A selection of recipes


"ENTREES" and trimmimg

    If we do not take into consideration the many wonderful dried and cooked meats,the 'ENTREES" served in Switzerland are for the most part hot and substantial dishes like toasted savouries."croutons", fritters or cheese tarts.
    They make use of some of the most delicious produce of the soil, with tasty varieties of mushroom like the morel, cantharellus or bollatus, taking pride of place. They proliferate in our foresta and meadows from spring to autumn, and are dried so that they can be enjoyed in the depths of winter.


    It will come as no surprise to learn that cheese is also important ingredient in our "entrees" Think of slice of freshly-toasted bread coated with a succulent layer of dubling golden cheese, and you have a simple picture of quite, solid contentment.
    These "entrees" can, and often do, provide a welcome and satisfying snack when returing from a hunting or fishing trip, a ski-ing expedition, or a walk in our mountain pastures.


Thick and clear soups


    Although it is logical enough to surmise that the first soup followed the discovery of fire,paleontologists claim that it neverthe less preceded the invention of fire-proof pots. Prehistoric man found the trick of putting his ingredients-vegetable, roots, water -in the hollow of rock and then throwing into it stones which had been heated white in a nearbyt. The intense heat released by the stones brought the mixture to boiling point.


    Has anything really change over the ages? Preparations and techniques may have improved. But the"philosophy" of soup remains the same. It is still a hearty dish,typically consumed in the family circle.
    The more deeply-rooted the traditions of a country. the stronger the ingrained soup-eating habit. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that Switzerland, with its rich diversity of soups, each more exquisitely endowes with the flavours and aromas of the past.


Meats and main dishes


    "Fricassee" of poultry. marinades of lamb or game, jugged meats,"croustades", gratins, gnocchi, stuffings,"papets" and stews...it is enough to mention these dishes to evoke the flavour of Swiss cooking.
    The mountainous environment has influenced concept of cooking in Switzerland, and has given birth to the rich flavour and substantial nature of its dishes. The choice of meats and vegetables gives Swiss cooking its substance, while the rich flavour is derived from the sauces, and from the variety of spices and aromatic herbs used.


    When a country is blessed, as Switzerland is, with dairy produce-butter and cream - of the finest quality, as well as with remarkably fine wines, then the foundations are laid for gastronomical delights.
    If veal, prepared in Zurich style,is now considered as one of the classic dishes, included by leading gourmets as one of the world's hundred best dishes, we shall see in this chaper, that a good few Swiss dishes deserve the same accolade.


Dessert and pastries


    It has already been pointed out in the general introduction to this book that our country's culinary tradition is explained largely by its mountainous nature and by our ancestor's need, in former times, to eat substantial meals in order to resist the hard winter.
    This is no doubt explains why our desserts often consist of rich pastries. One of the most striking features of these pastries is the fact that they are nearly always assiciated with historical or religious commemoration.There is not one canton nor even a municipality without its own festive pastry.
Every recipe- tart, cake, fritter, special bread or biscuit- is bound up with some local or national event.When the love of good food is bound up with the history of a nation, pleasure takes on quite another dimention!!

Introduction

Thank you for visiting my swiss food blog...

 I'd like to present Tradional Swiss Cuisine Recipes,One of the beautiful art of cooking in the world. We provide ingredients, recipes, Entrees and trimmimgs, Thick and clear soup, Fish from rushig steam and lake, Meats and main dish , dessert and pastries, chocolate, cheese, bread and wine, We 'll always up date the lastest recipe,  wish you enjoy cooking at home and Bon Sante..!!