Muehleplatz | Food, Travel, and Stories from a Swiss Chef Who Cooked Around the World

The Unique Hotel Des Balances – Lucerne, Switzerland

Ulrich Koepf — Wed, 16 Oct 2019 12:42:59 +0000

This hotel

has a traditional history dating back to the 12th century, from a meat and fish market to a town hall, a tavern to a guildhall, then finally in 1836 it became Hotel des Balances. Peter Buesser has been successfully managing the hotel since 1988. The famous facade paintings are the most photographed subjects in Lucerne. The hotel reminds me of a Venetian palace.

Executive Chef Andy Fluri

creates a versatile and eclectic cuisine with such items as Pan-Seared Pike Fillet with Wasabi Foam, Asian Vegetables with Pak-Choi, Sauteed Canadian Lobster with Chanterelles, Spring Onions and Tomato-Basil Risotto, Braised Veal Shank in Redwine Sauce, Ratatouille and Rosemary Potatoes. A must for your bucket list!

Visit: Weinmarkt, 6004 Luzern; +41 41 418 28 28;

https://www.balances.ch

The post The Unique Hotel Des Balances – Lucerne, Switzerland first appeared on Food, Travel, and Stories from a Swiss Chef Who Cooked Around the World .

Swiss Cooking Talent, Attention !!

Ulrich Koepf — Thu, 03 Oct 2019 14:49:41 +0000

With the “gusto20”, Transgourmet and the Swiss Cooking Association are again looking for the most gifted young chefs in the country. At the Swiss Championships for Cooking Teachers, major prizes include visits to the world’s best gourmet kitchens. Participation can be the springboard for a gastronomic career. Last year’s winner, Laura Loosli (19 ), for example, shall participate in the internationally renowned cooking competition “Les Chefs en Or” in Paris in November 2020. Participation in the “gusto20” is open to all chefs aged 1998 or younger who are in their second or third year of learning in Switzerland, needed is a good idea for a starter and a main course according to the competition criteria, after the dishes have to be described and photographed, detailed recipes or extensive calculations are no longer necessary.

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Foodtrucks in Basel, Switzerland

Ulrich Koepf — Thu, 23 May 2019 10:50:00 +0000

Starting in spring, six new food truck locations will be in Basel – Markthalle AG will be awarded the contract

Basel-Stadt wants to expand the food truck offer and has publicly tendered a permit for six locations. Markthallen AG has been awarded the contract by the canton. From spring 2019 onwards, it will complement the existing catering on Allschwilerplatz, at Ciba (corner Mauerstrasse / Gärtnerstrasse), at the Hebelschanze, at the Triangle (Erlenmattquartier), at the Novartis campus (Fabrikstrasse) and at the Voltaplatz with food trucks.

Adresse: Markhallen AG Basel, Steinentorberg 20, CH-4051 Basel, Switzerland

info@altemarkthalle.ch

Markthallen AG was able to prevail against three other applicants. Their operating concept convinced the assessment board. At the six locations, different food trucks will take turns.

The supply ought to be “a reflection of a spirited and eclectic city”.

These are the new city locations of the Basel Food Trucks.

The six locations will be gradually developed, starting with lunch. Markthallen AG determines which food truck is present when, how, and where. Markthalle AG does not operate a food truck themselves.

For the planned start of operation in May 2019, food trucks can compete with their concept at the Markthalle. She selects eight to ten that meet the requirements. In particular, it wants to actively promote the use of alternative energy sources.

The launch of the food truck locations goes back to two parliamentary suits by Thomas Gander and Salome Hofer.

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This Delicacy will not be copied!!

Ulrich Koepf — Fri, 10 May 2019 14:05:22 +0000

The Bernese Tongue Sausage

is to the Bernese government more than Sausage. They want to protect this product. Demand for the product is growing, experts say.
It belongs on every Bernese plate and meat lovers lick their fingers for it: The Bernese Tongue Sausage is known nationwide. For more than two years, Berner butchers fought to make sure that the tongue sausage could only be produced in the Canton of Bern. They feared that wholesalers could move production abroad. Now the application has been approved by the Federal Office of Agriculture. “With the registration, limitations should be avoided in the future and both the good reputation and the excellent quality of this Bernese specialty should be protected,” writes the Confederation.

Survey

When did you last have a Berner Platter?
The Tongue Sausage is one of the most famous specialties of the Canton of Bern. Unlike the name suggests, the sausage is not made of the tongue, but of two different types of bread.

More Popularity for the Tongue Sausage

Objections to the petition can be raised within three months. “I do not think that there will be headwinds from other Cantons,” says Adrian Gygax, butcher and board member of the meat trade association of the Canton of Bern. He led a working group that works to protect the sausage. “The difficulty was that you had to reconcile the different needs of the producers,” says Gygax. That did cost a lot of time.

The goal is now that the Tongue Sausage regains popularity.

“We want to market the sausage better; the protection is a side effect,” says Gygax. One wants to prevent the Bernese original from being made abroad.
As soon as the period of three months has expired and no complaints are received, the Tongue Sausage will be registered in the Swiss Handelsamtblatt as a geographically protected product. From then on, the sausage may only be produced in the Canton of Bern. The consumer should enjoy geographical protection: “This is guaranteed by the fact that we have a top product that comes from the region,” says Gygax.

The post This Delicacy will not be copied!! first appeared on Food, Travel, and Stories from a Swiss Chef Who Cooked Around the World .

Filled Radicchio leaves with Chicken or Turkey

Ulrich Koepf — Thu, 09 May 2019 14:14:47 +0000

See more Recipes by Chef UlrichK right here

A light, healthy summer snack with 82 calories. What you need for 12 pieces.

Olive oil, 300 gr. Chicken breast fillets, salt, pepper, sour cherry or raspberry marmalade, lemon juice, 4 each snack cucumbers (small) Finley shaved, fresh dill, fresh mint sour cream, 1 radicchio, cut in half – pulled into cups, roasted chopped hazelnuts.

How it’s done:

1. Saute the seasoned chicken filets in olive oil, add the marmalade, and glace for about a minute. Remove chicken from the pan and shred with a fork.

2. Mix lemon juice and olive oil, season it, add the shaved cucumber and herbs to it.

3. Mix the sour cream and some marmalade, season it, then place some in each radicchio leaves on the bottom, place chicken and cucumbers salad on top. Sprinkle with the nuts.

(Photo by Coop.ch)

The post Filled Radicchio leaves with Chicken or Turkey first appeared on Food, Travel, and Stories from a Swiss Chef Who Cooked Around the World .

Festive Dishes, popular in Switzerland for the holidays – by Coop, Switzerland

Ulrich Koepf — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 18:39:21 +0000

As featured in the Coop City Magazine, December 2018 issue – Photos by Coop- Switzerland

(Click on the image for descriptions – Recipes available upon request)

The post Festive Dishes, popular in Switzerland for the holidays – by Coop, Switzerland first appeared on Food, Travel, and Stories from a Swiss Chef Who Cooked Around the World .

Swiss Regional Comfort Foods

Ulrich Koepf — Fri, 07 Dec 2018 11:07:00 +0000

Have you enjoyed any Swiss Specialties? Tell us about it at the end of this page↓

You Just Have To Try!

as published in THE LOCAL.CH

The Aargauer Rüeblitorte

Swiss chef Ulrich Koepf has worked all over the world, but his favorite dessert remains a cake from his home canton of Aargau. Here, he takes us on a culinary tour of Switzerland, picking out the local dishes you should look out for.

Switzerland’s food is heavily influenced by the fact that this small country is surrounded by five other nations, all of whom have their own signature dishes. These specialties show how influences from France, Germany, Italy, Austria, and Liechtenstein crossed the border into Switzerland.

Canton Uri: Ryys und Boor

One of the most significant culinary influences is from Italy. During the building of the Gotthard tunnel from 1871 to 1882, Italian workers used to share their risotto with the Swiss workers. The Swiss then added potatoes and leeks to it in order to create a more substantial, heavier meal to get them through the day working in the tunnel.

That is how the dish Ryys und Boor (rice and leeks) was created, which is still today a specialty in the canton of Uri, where you find the northern entrance of the Gotthard tunnel.

Canton Zurich: Schnitzel

In the German-speaking regions of Switzerland, popular items such as Pork Schnitzel with French fries, veal Julienne with mushrooms in a cream sauce served with potato hash browns (Rösti) are likely influenced by Germany and Austria, according to cookbook author Alice Vollenweider, who discovered old recipes from the 19th century which described Geschnetzeltes (Schnitzel). But it was not until 1947 that today’s version of Zürcher Geschnetzeltes (Zurich-style Schnitzel) appeared in a cookbook by Rosa Graf.

Canton Aargau: Schnitz und Drunder and Rüeblitorte

I was born in the northern Swiss canton of Aargau, and one of the food items I grew up with is a dish called Schnitz und Drunder, a one-pot dish consisting of potatoes, bacon, dehydrated pear, and apple sections. A rough translation would be ‘sections and stuff’.

During my childhood, when times were rough, and we couldn’t afford to buy meat, my mother came up with a shortcut to this dish by using leftover bread slices toasted in butter, and then she added steamed apple sections to it and mixed it all up. It always did the job by filling our bellies!

For dessert, there was Aargauer Rüeblitorte, a local carrot cake that derives from the name Rüebliland (‘root’ land) in the 19th century, the people living in the region around the capital of Aargau mainly cultivated root vegetables, especially turnips.

My favorite dessert in the world also originated in Aargau. It’s called Bundesrat Schaffner Torte and was created for a newly elected federal councilor by the name of Schaffner back in 1961, when the small community of Graenichen organized a reception for him, and the baker/confectioner Ernst Wolleb created this special cake consisting of multiple layers of meringue, cream, and sponge.

When I tasted this cake for the first time, it almost blew my mind. The texture was absolutely amazing, light, fluffy, and not too sweet. It was like having angels dancing on your tongue! It is still a popular dessert in most parts of Switzerland, but sold under a different name and, in my opinion, not quite like the original.

Cantons Vaud: Ramequin and saucisson en croûte

Should you be traveling through the French-speaking regions of Switzerland, you will note the influence of neighboring France, especially the Alsace region.

My friend Patrick Calvetti and his family own a restaurant in the village of Orbe in the canton of Vaud, where he cooks many specialties with French influences. One is Ramequin, which consists of slices of white bread baked with regional cheeses, covered with a tasty seasoned egg and milk mixture poured over the whole dish before baking.

Another is saucisson en croûte, a well-seasoned pork sausage, poached in a broth with seasoning, leeks, and white wine, then wrapped in a pizza or pastry dough and baked for about 30 minutes. Mustard is then added to the broth and thickened with egg yolks to be served as a sauce with the sausage.

Canton Neuchâtel: Jacquerie Neuchateloise

From the canton of Neuchâtel comes Jacquerie Neuchâteloise, a one-pot dish consisting of Sauerkraut (choucroute), bacon, seasonings, and white wine from the Neuchâtel vineyards served with chicken breast. The sauerkraut is slowly cooked with the bacon and white wine, thickened by adding a grated fresh potato, and then served with chicken breast braised in white wine. A sauce is made by adding garlic, butter, anchovies, cream, and parsley.

Geneva: Lac Léman (and elsewhere): Filet de perch

Personally, one of my favorite foods in Switzerland is local fish from the lakes all across Switzerland, such as Egli filet (perch), sautéed in butter with toasted almonds, lemon, and parsley, served with steamed potatoes and wilted garlicky spinach. Yum yum!

Bon Appétit, Buen Provecho, Guten Appetit, Buon Appetito! A version of this article was previously published on Ulrich Koepf’s blog.

The post Swiss Regional Comfort Foods first appeared on Food, Travel, and Stories from a Swiss Chef Who Cooked Around the World .

The Swiss regional comfort foods (The Local.ch)

Ulrich Koepf — Fri, 07 Sep 2018 10:01:00 +0000

You just must try!

Click here to read the full magazine write-up

The post The Swiss regional comfort foods (The Local.ch) first appeared on Food, Travel, and Stories from a Swiss Chef Who Cooked Around the World .