Markus Neff Alpine Perfection from Valley Deep to Mountain High

Markus Neff
Alpine Perfection from Valley Deep to Mountain High
Markus Neff
Alpine Perfection from
Valley Low to Mountain High
Stories and Recipes from the Waldhotel Fletschhorn in Saas-Fee
Paul Imhof
Andri Pol
Martina Meier
AT Verlag
© 2009
AT Verlag, Baden and Munich
Concept, Text: Paul Imhof, Basel
Live photography: Andri Pol, www.andripol.com
Food photography: Martina Meier, www.martinameier.ch
Composition: Pascale Brügger, Basel. Jitka Sirucek, Polygraphica, Luzern
Printing and binding: Offizin Andersen Nexö, Leipzig
Printed in Germany
ISBN 978-3-03800-476-9
www.at-verlag.ch
Contents
10 Letter from Crissier by Philippe Rochat
77 Spring
14 Editorial
78 Green Alder
20 The Making of – the host’s point of view
80 Tastevin
The Ritual of the First Sip
25 A Forest full of Character
27 Ascent
28 Rowan
31 The Boat or Switzerland
Markus Neff
34 A long Detour Valais Wine
Charlie Neumüller
41 Hill and Dale, not Bora Bora
Maren Müller
47 The Trio of Right Hands
Mathias Häusler, Jérôme Hintermann,
David Gruss
54 Apéro
56 Amuse-bouches
64 Friandises
69 Bread
70 The Chef is doing the Baking
73 Gwäss and Resi, Lafnetscha and
Himbertscha – Chanton’s Universe of
Ancient Grapes
Josef-Marie and Mario Chanton
82 Wines on the Rockslide
Diego Mathier
85 The Grape Purist of Leytron
Gilbert Devayes
93 Spring Menu
113 Fish Menu
127 Vegetarian Menu
144 Asparagus and Apricots from Saillon
René May
146 Black Noses and Furrowed Brows
Alwin Furrer
151 Summer
281 Winter
152 Juniper
282 Swiss Pine
154 The Cooperative and their Wine Queen
Madeleine Gay
287 Two Cousins and 43 Labels
Dany Varone and Stéphane Reynard
160 Z – Young Blood in an Old Metier
Ludovic Zermatten
295 Winter Menu
167 Summer Menu
186 Regional Terrace Menu
196 Global Terrace Menu
204 Everything for a Happy Dog
207 How Goats and Sheep are gaining
Ground in Raclette-Land
211 Autumn
212 Larch
214 The Hanging Gardens of Saint-Clément
Charles-André Lamon
217 The Wine Ambassadors from Vétroz
Jean-René Germanier and Gilles Besse
226 Autumn Picnic
247 Autumn Menu
267 In the Shady World of Chanterelle
and Toadstool
Geni Christen
277 Eringer cows and Chamois
Bruno Bumann
315 Gala Menu
341 Cuisine Simple
371 Basic Recipes
385 Cabbage and Potatoes
Interview with Markus Neff
Annex
391 List of Recipes
398 Supplément
399 The Authors
«WaldhotelFletschhornRelais&ChâteauxinSaasFeemeinNameistMüllerGrüssGott»
Letter from Crissier
Dear Maren, dear Charlie, dear Markus
10
Coming to see you in the Waldhotel Fletschhorn means a lot to me, though
opportunities are all too few. In my métier, there is no peace for the wicked.
But I do not consider it a profession, rather a passion. You know it as well as
I do, and that is what we have in common.
When I look at the sea or at a mountain, I feel enormous reverence for the power of nature, for its grandeur and also for the strange serenity, which, I feel,
has been part of it from time out of mind. You feel incredibly small in nature,
even more so in the mountains than at the seaside.
The Valais has been very generous with me. I own a chalet in Goms, I ride my
velo over the mountain passes, I go climbing on the Aletsch glacier – in my
view, the regions of the Valais are the very embodiment of the creation of the
Alps. That is what is going through my mind whenever I look at the Rhone glacier from Gletsch, watching the fresh water, the blood of this earth, trickling
down as a rivulet, starting on its epic journey, which will end in Marseille.
And when I am back in my chalet, I am asking myself what the Marseillais
would use to dilute their pastis if we up here in Goms were to close the tap.
It is the same sense of the numinous that touches me below the summits of
Saas-Fee, and on my walk to the Fletschhorn through the forest, I feel everyday life receding ever further until I am transported to another time. Seconds
turn into minutes, minutes into hours and finally, into a kind of release. My
heart beats to nature’s rhythm once more, a rhythm that in spite of the daily
hustle and bustle has been slumbering deep inside us and is happy to come to
the fore as soon as we allow it.
And the welcome. This fine trio! Maren, who welcomes each guest with openhearted friendliness. You have worked in my service department during your
time at the Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne. You are an exceptional person, charming, with a sense of humour and always willing to help. That is a rare gift.
Then Charlie, who is always ready to surprise us with a new enological discovery from the Valais, and Markus, who has created a cuisine of impressive
standing in this forest clearing.
I like this cuisine. This clear, unadulterated taste, this openhearted creativity, which does not hide anything, but emphasizes much. Markus meets his
produce with knowledge and respect – especially the animals, which we are
permitted to eat and to whom he gives another life through his art.
It is hardly coincidence, which will lead you to the Fletschhorn. The guest
chooses to go on a journey and he embarks on it with certain expectations.
Maren, Charlie and Markus, you and your equipe are meeting these expectations. C’est le grand luxe!
Crissier, summer 2009
Philippe Rochat
11
13
Editorial
14
On Thursday, 9. August 2007, Switzerland threatened to sink beneath the
waves. It had been raining constantly, for days already, and it was raining
even as I boarded the train from Basel to Brig around lunchtime on
Wednesday, 8. August. The only bright spots during the journey were a few
patches in the central plateau where you could just make out the blue sky
between the heavy clouds, but soon again, I felt in my train compartment like
in a car wash.
It was also raining in Saas-Fee. Normally, the forest path to the Waldhotel Fletschhorn feels like a red carpet to me, but now the wheels of the
electric car * were sending off veritable cascades of water whenever they hit
the dells. But at the back of the building, two yellow parasols were standing
sentinel, braving the elements in a last stand against the deluge.
Under the parasols, and in spite of the humidity that was encroaching
on them from all sides, glowing embers in two tall metal baskets were emitting enough heat to roast a suckling pig. When the skin had turned to golden
brown crackling, Charlie Neumüller – since November 2003 co-proprietor of
the Waldhotel together with Maren Müller and Markus Neff – and a regular
guest who had sponsored the party carried the pig into the kitchen. Chef Neff
then took a close look at the result. After all, this was not on the menu – the
guest, a Basel architect, had organized the event for himself and a handful of
friends. Markus took a knife in one hand and proceeded to examine the animal with the other like an orthopaedist, lifting its head and testing the flexibility of its joints, as if he was afraid the pig would try to make a last bid for
escape. Then he cut it into pieces, explaining to the bystanders what he intended to do with them.
When everyone had settled down at the terrace table to the drumming
noise of the pouring rain, Markus served one course after the other. This was
rather impromptu, as the mighty pig was supposed to be enjoyed on the lawn
electric car: runs by battery (Saas-Fee is free of cars)
*
in the warm evening sun. It was the picnic’s foul weather-version: Fillet of
pork and a sausage, a spot of lobster (well, you eat what’s on the table), crispy
pork belly on salad, a tangy cabbage soup with bacon, then rack of pork, cabbage salad with wild caraway from the Saas valley, potatoes and, to balance it
all nicely, risotto with roast pig – a menu that had been dictated by the elements, created at the spur of a moment with a light touch and an equal appreciation for simple and haute cuisine. All this served without airs and graces,
but with cheerful and relaxed joviality – as if the boss had forgotten that he
was still „chef of the year.“
The next morning, we conducted an interview on this subject for the
«Tages-Anzeiger». Markus recounted what had changed for him since he received the award by Gault-Millau Switzerland, which was – nothing. «I am
trying just as hard as before,» he told us. «You get the title <chef of the year>
for things that you have done, not the things you are planning to do in the
future.» Outside, it was still pouring with rain, in the dry Valais of all places.
I was getting worried, and I was not the only one who left early, even foregoing lunch.
Two months later, we all met at the Igeho, the international exhibition
for hotels and catering in Basel. The Fletschhorn team was running an exporestaurant for Dubno, a purveyor of gourmet products such as truffles. Over a
glass of Mathier Pinot after closing time, Maren, Markus and Charlie told me
that they were planning a Fletschhorn cookery book and asked me if I was
willing to help them with this project. More than just a collection of recipes,
it was supposed to be a book on the Valais, too.
And this, dear reader, is the final result of that casual chat in a Basel
exposition hall. It took almost two years to make this book – which is, not
least, due to the changing seasons. They cannot be rushed, but they set the
rhythm of the book, because the Fletschhorn stands and lives by the weather,
it is subject to its whims, which are far more pronounced in the mountains
than on the plains – far more direct, powerful and grandiose.
15
16
You have to want to go to the Waldhotel Fletschhorn, this is no business restaurant where you wind up by accident and have a quick bite to eat. If you go
to the Fletschhorn, you have made a conscious decision to embark on a journey from valley low to mountain high. The same journey that Markus, Charlie and Maren have undertaken. Markus started from Vorarlberg, Charlie from
Australia and Maren from Cambodia. All three have worked their way up and
consolidated their position under their predecessors Irma and Jörg Dütsch to
ensure a smooth transition after their takeover of the Walthotel. The Fletschhorn performs so well because those three are a well-rehearsed team and their
respective domains are well defined.
The recipes in this book are reflecting, wherever possible, the changing seasons. They are arranged into hotel menus – the small six course menu.
The cheese course is missing in the book because you do not need a recipe for
stocking the cheese trolley.
The majority of the recipes are taken from the Haute Cuisine of Chef
Markus Neff. But Markus shows the same mastery in the preparation of the
small dishes. Two terrace menus are taken from the small menu, which is
predominantly served on the Fletschhorn’s terrace. Some simple recipes, such
as the dishes that are prepared exclusively for the staff – for instance the
Staffburgers or the Wiener sausages in Pretzel dough – are listed at the end of
the book (Cuisine simple); utterly simple but very popular grub that Markus
feeds his people when everything is moving in high gear because the restaurant guests are busy enjoying the Christmas, New Year’s Eve or New Year’s
Gala menu. – Art for the guests, free-style for the staff.
The cellar in the Waldhotel Fletschhorn enjoys an excellent reputation, even internationally, as demonstrated by the «Best of award of excellence», given to the hotel in 2008 and 2009 by the American Magazine «Wine
Spectator». Under Charlie’s guidance, it is now the sprightly sommelier Jérôme Hintermann who takes care of the Cave Fletschhorn’s 1200 wines – more
than half of which are from the Valais . So it goes without saying that wine
growing in the Valais will play a big role in this book. We will introduce eight
Vineyards. The special climatic conditions in this Canton are governed by the
course of the Rhone river issuing from the Rhone glacier and flowing into
Lake Geneva, putting its stamp on the viniculture and the local flora and fauna. The Rhone valley is drenched with glacier milk whose mineral content
gives the white asparagus, apricots and tomatoes as well as wild mushrooms
and herbs their intense aroma. Deer, chamois and ibex as well as the Valais
Blacknose sheep or the Eringer cows live off the precious and varied flora of
the rough pastures in the tributary valleys and the high alps. This book has
dedicated some space to all of these.
During my visits to the Waldhotel Fletschhorn over the space of nearly two years, one thing has come progressively more to my attention: Whether
I ate by myself or at a table with others, no food was ever left on the plate.
Markus arranges the food in a clear and stringent way that pleases the eye –
there is no unnecessary decoration, nothing that cannot be eaten. While elsewhere, more and more attention is being paid to showmanship and the palette
of the superfluous is becoming more and more varied and colourful, in the
Fletschhorn, the chef is keeping both feet solidly on the ground, he respects
his produce and exercises the art of proportion in his own humble but nevertheless confident manner.
Basel, summer 2009
Paul Imhof
17
The Mischabel group above the Waldhotel Fletschhorn (from left):
Alphubel, Täschhorn, Dom, Lenzspitze, Nadelhorn, Ulrichshorn.
The Making of – the hosts’ point of view
20
Markus always says that it is impossible for him to invent new dishes without
fresh produce – he just can’t work with «dummies».
It was the same with this book. Everyone involved was operating on
the same premise and according to the same standard: We all wanted a book
that was as authentic as possible. Nothing was to be sugarcoated; nothing
hidden, nothing falsified. And this is evident in the result: There is nothing
there, either in the copy or in the photographs, that was not there from the
beginning; nothing was retouched or softened. This, in our eyes, is the gold
standard.
Markus prepared all the dishes in this book from scratch. The recipes
were all in his head; sometimes he had jotted them down, but not always. Paul
Imhof had observed the cooking process for days and weeks, he took notes,
asked questions, made adjustments and finally, brought all the recipes
into shape.
Due to Martina Meiers’ insistence on natural lighting, photography
would have to stop at 16.00 from November, simply because after the early
dusk, there was not enough daylight left for shooting. All the dishes were
edible; there were none of the standard tricks of food photography. This
required the highest standard of skill from the photographer – and of
stability for the dishes! For after shooting, every dish was eaten, albeit
sometimes cold.
Andri Pol was entrusted with the documentary, portrait and landscape
photography. Fiddling constantly with movement and light, he would leave
us all in the dark. He never reacted to our curious questioning – the suspense
was hardly bearable. But a satisfied or impish grin would suggest that he felt
himself to be on the right track. The other point of view, a focus on the unexpected, on something that would only come to our attention because it was
suddenly given centre stage; to be right there when something unusual, bizarre or just banal was happening; to forget altogether that he was even there,
taking photographs – this was an unexpected experience for all of us. When
we were shown Andri’s final choice near the end of the book-making process,
we were almost overwhelmed by their visual power. Realizing what brilliant
results the road less taken can yield is a truly exceptional experience.
Paul Imhof had been with us for the better part of eighteen months.
Observing, questioning, discovering, always with a notebook in hand. I have
no idea how many of these little black books he filled with quotes, impressions, conversations and facts, all with one goal in mind: to capture the essence
of the game and to transform it into written words.
And every time, reading his finished texts felt like taking the first sip
from a glass of exciting wine: They were always different, but always thrilling. It is surprising to see how he conveys information and at the same time,
manages to create an ambiance between the lines. In a way, we had the privilege of tasting a lively, young Fendant, a mature Pinot noir, occasionally a
cuvée and then again a powerful Bordeaux.
And Paul never stopped writing until the observations in his notebooks were all captured into words. We tip our hats to his ability to paint a
picture with words. And most of all, we thank him for never letting up in his
search for the right word.
Armin Meienberg could not have been more diligent at his task of
editing the book. To combine the photographic elements and the words of the
author to a harmonious end product, to connect the character of the photographs with the mood of the stories reminded us of the composition of a new
recipe. One plus one had to make three – and Armin, as well, never let up
until he was happy with the result.
Apart from the technical processes necessary for the creation of a
book, we were privileged to watch masters at their game of creating excellence. That was, and is, wonderful. It energizes us and gives us wings! Un
grand merci.
21
22
We would like to extend special thanks to the staff who so patiently
assisted us from January 2008 to July 2009 in order to make this book a reality. Due to the creation of the recipes and the photography process, the work
load during this time was even higher, and the kitchen, service and hotel departments had to cope with a good deal more commotion than normal.
Mathias Häusler, Jérôme Hintermann, David Gruss, Laura Klapdor,
Inka Häussler, Franco Körperich, Simon Gschwendtner, Fabian Seher, Valerie Schmid, Sergio Alves Martins, Jens Müller, Marija Radovanovic, Vitor
Gonçalves dos Santos, Margarida Caramelo, José Duarte, Gilles Fernandez,
Ana Maria da Costa, Jennifer Perschke
Maren Müller, Markus Neff and Charlie Neumüller
«A restaurant is like a dancing troupe. There is rhythm; one is setting the pace
in the kitchen and another in the service. One will leap and pirouette, one will
stumble. And when a team has cleared a table for eight, the whole ensemble
will bow to the guests.» Maren
Fletschhornteam (Titel von Paul)
Namen der Mitarbeiter Seit Januar 2008
24
A Forest full of Character
No other plant in Switzerland ventures higher up than Saxifraga biflora. A
botanist discovered its highest habitat at an altitude of 4550 metres above sea
level, far above the Waldhotel Fletschhorn in the chalky scree near the south
ridge of the Dom, the highest mountain entirely on Swiss territory. The air is
much too thin, for example, for the Rowan, whose much larger volume cannot subside on the pittance that is sufficient for Saxifraga, the summit-chaser
among the flowers.
The site of Berghaus Plattjen at 2570 metres above sea level, however, is no problem for the Rowan. It is Saas-Fee’s highest-located tree species; you can also find it in the forest below, for instance behind the Waldhotel Fletschhorn where it seeks the protection of mighty larches. Here, you
also find the Green Alder, a little higher above a magnificent Swiss Pine and,
peacefully side by side, the Creeping and the Common Juniper – trees and
shrubs that stand out in this landscape, that tell a story and put their stamp on
the Waldhotel’s setting.
We will begin each section of this book by introducing the almost
ubiquitous Rowan or European Mountain Ash and the alpine natives Green
Alder, Juniper, Larch and Swiss Pine. We would like to direct your attention
to five prominent inhabitants of the forest around the Waldhotel Fletschhorn;
five outstanding presences, singled out from the exceptional scenery, whithout which the team of the Waldhotel would cook differently because nothing
shapes a person more than the soil, vegetation and climate of his environment. We recommend that you stay for a week or longer in the Fletschhorn
and mindfully observe how up here, every day and every night appears differently, and with an intensity only encountered in the mountains or on a lake
like Lake Geneva.
The plants are the symbols of this creative force; they are the living
proof that there is always a way to survive, especially in the high mountains.
The real Fletschhorn, 3993 meters above sealevel, between Jegihorn and
Lagginhorn, seen from the Waldhotel
25
Ascent
Rowan
Sorbus aucuparia
28
You will be hard put to find other berries that shine as brightly red as those of
the Rowan. This is well known by more than 63 species of birds and 31 species of mammals who are feasting on these tiny apples (for botanically, these
are not berries but apples), depositing the indigestible seeds wherever nature
calls. It is no surprise then that in German, the Rowan is also called «Vogelbeere» (bird berry), for it frequently sprouts on other trees and is capable of
surviving in almost every habitat.
These berries are not very sweet – according to a German proverb,
„even the reddest Rowan berry is no raspberry“ – but rather bitter and a little
tangy. But as they do soothe a sore throat, you can easily put up with the unpleasant taste. However, professional orators who prefer to treat their vocal
cords with botanical rather than chemical medicines know to take them in
small doses only, because the raw berries are not that easy to digest. They
contain parasorbic acid, a strong irritant, which can result in rather upsetting
trouble with the digestive tract.
Many hikers assume that the bright red berries are poisonous. However, „only one- to five-year-old children are at risk“, affirms the Dictionary of
Poisonous Plants. Adults can profit from their high vitamin content, albeit
judiciously. If you want to be quite sure, you can cook or freeze the berries
because extreme cold or heat weaken the effects of the parasorbic acid. The
Rowan’s fresh berries are hard on the palate for a good reason. Berries, which
ripen in the central European summer, such as for instance strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, cherry or black currant, tend to be succulent and all taste
sweet and sometimes a little tart. Fruit like Rowan berries are not supposed to
be eaten at this time but only later, when most of the other food is gone. The
flesh of these fruit, which retain their seeds in the winter, has a «mealy, spongy or leathery texture and is often bitter in taste,» says Paul Müller in «Verbreitungsbiologie der Blütenpflanzen» (Spreading biology of flowering
plants). He goes on to say that „the digestibility of some is improved by frost.
Rose hips, for example, are said to be accepted by birds only after they have
taken frost.“ Thanks to the dispersion of its seeds through bird droppings and
to its modest requirements, the Rowan thrives almost everywhere, even above
the tree line. Rowans are hardy, adaptable and able to take root on almost
every kind of soil – acid and alkaline, humid and dry, rich or poor in nutrients
– and they are so-called pioneer plants that quickly establish on fallow land
and brownfields.
The Rowan’s ubiquity and versatility, for instance its value as a fine
carving wood, has earned it more than 150 different names – more than 30 in
Switzerland alone. Although most of these by-names are now obsolete, they
speak of the Rowan’s strong and lasting presence. And it is a beautiful creature; the filigree of fine, pinnate leaves makes it appear more shrub than tree
and in higher altitudes it is indeed the only ornamental shrub capable of surviving strong night frosts.
The Rowan’s botanical name, Sorbus aucuparia, points to another human use of the tree: aucuparia is derived from aves capere, Latin for capturing
birds. Birds, as we know, love the berries and humans have taken advantage
of this preference, using the berries as bait to capture birds, especially the
coveted thrush. Nowadays, they are protected, but not so in the 19th century,
where the fieldfare was considered a «vraie bouchée du roi», a kingly treat
indeed according to the Austrian Appetit-Lexikon of 1894. Birds feasting on
berries were sought-after delicacies, especially species that were particular
with their food: „Their meat,“ so the Appetit-Lexikon, „is in fact nothing else
but the animal interpretation of a first-class berry marmalade.“
Nowadays, the berries are serving one purpose only, one they were
probably intended for since the beginning: They serve as winter food for the
birds. And they serve this purpose admirably, half hiding their pendulous
clusters under the branches to that the snow cannot cover them completely
and they remain easily accessible.
29
The Boat or Switzerland
Almost 100 years ago, in the year One after the end of World War I, the
people of Vorarlberg voted 47208 to 11248 against in a referendum to join
Switzerland. The Danube Monarchy was in tatters, huge reparation payments
were due and this did not go down well with everyone. But the Allied Forces
refused the referendum in order to prevent Austria to shrink even further.
The Swiss, for their part, had been less than enthusiastic in showing any support as the Romandie (the French-speaking part of Switzerland), opposing
an enlargement of the German-speaking region, was keen to hold the Vorarlberg at bay.
But now, they are coming on their own steam – and how they come!
In this place, the upper Valais of all places, «äs Grüezi» intends to
settle down permanently, and this after long years of walking a thorny path to
acceptance. But Markus Neff, Chef of the Year 2007, loves Saas-Fee. After
all, he has already spent 23 years under The Dom and Täschhorn peaks –
more than half his life.
Markus Neff, born in 1963 to a plumber and a saleslady and raised in
Braz in the Klostertal, is not entirely sure how he ended up in the hotel and
restaurant industry. But for reasons known only to thirteen-year-olds, the
youngster wanted to become a pastry chef. After three days of checking out
the métier, he changed his mind, checked out the chef’s métier instead and at
the age of fourteen started his apprenticeship at the Restaurant Valbona in
Brand in the Austrian Brandnertal. Afterwards, we worked as commis de cuisine in Oberlech /Arlberg for one winter, then for a year and a half in the Restaurant Jägerheim in his native Brand. Markus was now nineteen years old.
Why all these details on the early career of a gourmet chef? Because
these are in fact all the memorable stations of his career. Neff’s stellar path
has not lead him from planet to planet; on the contrary, he had already reached
the sun when he was not yet twenty years old, even though he did not realize
it: for in 1983, he went to Saas-Fee, where he was taken under the wing of the
great Irma Dütsch, Chef of the Year 1994, and stayed on «longer than at
home».
31
Markus joins a table of guest from the Vaud:
They: Marcouss! C’était ma-gni-fi-que!
Markus: Des fois, on a de la chance.
32
Summiteers do dot dive and so Markus chose the mountains and not
the sea; no galley for him but a real kitchen, safely anchored in the alpine
granite 1800 metres above sea level. In those days, the signature dishes of the
restaurant beckoning from a patch of wood on the outskirts of the village
were Fondue Chinoise and Fletschhorn-Schnitzel (Escalope Fletschhorn), but
there was also Foie Gras maison. «I had no idea how to make that», says Markus. La Dütsch taught him, and she taught him much more besides, and after
a while, the sea was rising all the way up to the tree line: first roe, then lobster – «things that you had never seen at home».
But is it wise to cling to the same apron strings for so long? Did he
never fall out with Irma? «That would be hard to imagine, wouldn’t it?», says
Markus. One thing he will give the chef and her husband Jörg eternal credit
for: «the Dütschs never said, hold on, don’t be silly, they let me try and develop my ideas.» Further education? «I walk the world with open eyes». The
Dütschs took their young chef along on their guest appearances in Peking,
Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore, Markus encountered exotic flavours and
learned about different cooking methods and realized that «this was the way
to the top.» And he stayed.
In November 2003, Irma and Jörg Dütsch sold their Waldhotel to
Markus Neff, Charlie Neumüller from Upper Austria, who had joined the
Fletschhorn’s service team in 1988, and the Franconian Maren Müller, Neumüllers life partner, who is in charge of the hotel management. Those three
form a symbiosis, they are always together, sometimes even on their holidays. »Charlie said that we need to take a vacation and I believe he booked
something in Mexico «, says Markus.
The chef managed to recover the eighteenth point. Not as a solo performance, of course, but with Gault-Millau, it is the cuisine that counts. »The
classic recipes, flavours and aromas of our childhood combined with elements
from different cultures « is the house style as described by the Fletschhorn
team.
Markus Neff has become a summit-chaser, although the never tackled
the Fletschhorn itself, which looms 3993 metres above sea level. »I just look
at it from the terrace«. He does not need to scale the mountains, he creates
them himself: From 18-point potato puree, for example, surrounded by a lake
of cream sauce – just like in his childhood.
Published in «Tages-Anzeiger», October 3., 2006
«At the start of the season, I work with the existing menu, while I develop the
new menu. This process can take two to three weeks. I have to taste the ingredients in order to create my menu. Mussels, saffron, scallops, end of story. I
can't do this from a deck chair in Thailand.» Markus
33
A Long Detour to Valais Wine
34
On some evenings, Charlie Neumüller is standing behind the bar, his hair
slicked back as usual, glasses securely wedged onto his nose, surveying the
restaurant as if he were on the lookout for an iceberg. It must be the force of
habit that makes Charlie stand sentinel as if he were on a boat, or perhaps the
force of memory. After all, he has worked the seven seas. Starting out as a
water waiter and finishing as a maître d’.
He signed on in Florida and turned his back on the cruise liners in
Brisbane. In between lay two years with all their peaks and troughs, quite
literally, because once you have lurched your way through a banquet service
at high seas, you will never forget the battles with your inner gyroscope on
the open seas.
The «Sagafjord», built in 1965, nearly 190 metres long and 25 metres
wide, provided room for 574 passengers and 350 crew members. The waiter joins the line; his tray is being filled at a service station – for a table of
eight with hors d’oeuvres à la carte, this constitutes quite a load, which not
everyone can tackle. Charlie, however, shoulders the heavy tray and starts on
his way up to the dining room on the upper deck. He has almost reached the
top of the escalator when a giant wave lifts the luxury liner out of the water.
Charlie, who has no sense of spatial reference in the belly of the «Sagafjord», literally takes off and the tray smashes against the wall. «I can still hear
the sound of all the silver bowls and plates clattering and rolling downstairs on the escalator», says Charlie, «and then the caviar running down the
white wall.»
For the young man from Austria who grew up in a village surrounded
by an idyllic landscape, where even after long nights in the bars, everything
had stayed well and truly vertical, the transition from Austrian restaurant parlours to the dining rooms of a cruise liner was not an easy feat. But just like
Markus, Charlie once had had to answer the crucial question: The boat – or
Switzerland?
He was born in 1962 and grew up in Niederwaldkirchen in Oberösterreich or «Downwoodchurch», as he would call it when abroad. «Papa was
a taylor and Mama was a mother by occupation. Grandmother was a farmer’s
wife. One pig a year. I kept rabbits as a child. To get the potatoes on the table! Collected beetle larvae and received three Groschen for them. Pounding
sauerkraut by ourselves, we were allowed to jump to our heart’s desire, it was
phantastic. We lived more on the trees than on the ground – I believe you call
that childhood. And the mushroom soup! »
The Neumüller house is right in the middle of the village; the family was not just anybody, the father was the commander of the fire brigade;
when the village was prepared for a beauty contest, Papa Neumüller had the
fire brigade hose the streets down. «It is a landscape of rolling green hills»,
enthuses Maren, Charlies partner, «you can eat well anywhere, so tasty, there
is an ancient rhythm there, traditional, the regular’s tables are always full.»
With 15 years, Charlie went to a hotel management school, from 1977
to 1980, he became a waiter, a chef, worked in Austria on odd jobs and then
chose to go on a boat. Two years later, he walked off the boat in Brisbane and
climbed up to Saas-Fee, where he worked as an assistant to Jörg Dütsch – just
as now, Jérôme Hintermann serves as Charlie’s extended arm. Under the aegis of Jörg Dütsch, Charlie became a sommelier; this is a process that, in fact,
demands more practical experience than theoretical knowledge. Sip for sip,
Tastevin for Tastevin, Charlie has accumulated a vast knowledge on wine,
especially the wine of the Valais.
The Valais is Switzerland’s largest winegrowing area; for centuries,
it has produced a variety of wines that other wine regions, such as the areas
around Lake Geneva, the Rhine or the Ticino, have never known. It is only
today, after the deregulation of the Acts on varieties, that other Swiss winegrowing regions are allowed to grow vines not native to their region. This
focus on the wines of the Valais, which are not well known even in other parts
of Switzerland, has given the Waldhotel its international reputation as one of
the great wine addresses.
In December 1997, Charlie founded his own wine dealership together
with Markus, N&N (Retail of goods of all kinds and gastronomic consul-
35
A sunny lunch hour, the terrace is heaving.
Jérôme: No more wine.
Charlie: Did you help to drink it?
Jérôme: It went up in smoke.
38
tancy), which today is called Vinothek Fletschhorn. Many guests appreciate the possibility to have the wine they tasted in the restaurant sent to their
home, knowing that the Cave Fletschhorn can supply wines that normally,
you would only find after a long searching and waiting process. The «Guide
Bertelsmann» appointed Charlie the Sommelier of the Year 2009, writing that
«in the Waldhotel Fletschhorn, the wines are stored in almost confusing abundance. You need a man like Charlie Neumüller to advise the impressed guest
which wine goes well with what and when, and who is capable of explaining
exactly why.»
By the time it became clear that Irma and Jörg Dütsch were planning
to sell the Fletschhorn, Markus, Charlie and Maren had already become such
a well-rehearsed team and their loyalty to the house was so deeply rooted that
they decided to buy it. They founded a limited company with three shareholders and signed the deed of purchase in November 2003.
Charly is chairman of the advisory board, takes care of the finances
and the wine acquisition and constantly reminds his two partners that new
visions and projects are needed, such as the wonderful Miralux Suite, which
was completed in 2009 and which provides a wonderful view on the Saas
valley and the mountains on the border of Switzerland and Italy. Maren is
responsible for staff and office, hotel and breakfast, marketing, reservations
and decor. Markus creates menus, fiddles with the fine details of new recipes
and runs the show in the kitchen.
Hobbies? Charlie gives me a look that questions my sanity. «I’ll pretend I did not hear that», he says. «A season up here lasts four and a half
months. We are spending twice that time up here and between seasons, we
are making guest appearances and teach classes. We haven’t got the chance to
spend money or pursue hobbies.»
Really – no hobbies at all? «Well, I have always been crazy about
cars», admits Charlie. «I love cars, but then I don’t play golf.» His Audi R8
sits on the parking of Saas-Fee; a narrow two-seater, not a lot of space. A car
like a pair of leggings.
Evening service is in full swing. Jérôme stands at a table, singing «Happy Birthday».
Charlie, arranging his notes behind the counter, mutters: «He is brave, that Jérôme – who
else would dare to sing so terribly off key.»
39
«My first evening in the Fletschhorn: A local guest orders a Zweierli Fendant.
I served him a Fanta. I mean, I was glad to have got the Zweierli (200 ml) in
the first place.» Charlie
Hill and dale, not Bora Bora
On April 23rd, 2003, Mr. Toby had had enough. The general manager of the
small but exclusive Hotel Amansara near Angkor told Maren Müller to finally
clear her desk. It was nearly evening. «Go out and enjoy it, as it is your last!»
said Mr. Toby.
The thick, humid fog above Lake Tonle Sap was beginning to crowd
out the clear blue sky. Maren stepped out of the hotel. After a few kilometres,
she reached Ta Prohm, her favourite temple in Angkor, the ancient capital of
the Khmer empire. She sat down on a moss-covered stone and contemplated
this place, a monument to duration and transience in equal measure. Built 800
years ago, it had braved the elements in times of war and times of peace but
time, nevertheless, had left its wounds: here and there, stones had been squeezed from the walls by the strangler fig’s powerful roots.
Quietly, Maren said goodbye to the temple and to Cambodia, walked
back to the hotel and began to pack. Suddenly, Mr. Toby appeared in the door.
«Let’s have a bye-bye drink». The next morning, she hurriedly grabbed her
clothes, her head still spinning, lump in her throat. Mr. Toby appeared again,
at the crack of dawn, in his sarong, and handed Maren a small package. She
opened her present at the airport, it was a book about the temple dancers
of Angkor and a small note which read: «I always had this strange belief that
... when the time came I would have somebody there that would work with as
much drive and passion to help me along my way. – Well that person has
been you.»
Tears welled up. But Maren’s thoughts were already on the mountain
path to Saas-Fee. Charlie had called. «We are buying.» She was to write the
business plan because she knew how. And here is why:
«I was born 1973 in Nuremberg. My father taught me to travel; he
gave me my wanderlust. My maternal grandfather was a master baker; he
gave me my pleasure for baking, decorating and marzipan. My mother always
cooked from scratch, simple cuisine, not at all bourgeois, no Sunday roasts,
but lots of vegetables. Asparagus in all shapes and sizes, corn fresh from the
field. I still like to eat things separately. Spaghetti with butter.
41
A lady from Germany, a regular guest and Porsche driver, apparently has difficulty finding her way back from a picnic. When she finally arrives, her knees
are bleeding and she looks rather worse for wear.
Maren: What happened? We will take you to the doctor immediately.
Lady: That’s not necessary. But that root up there – you should remove it.
42
After graduation from high school, no course of studies particularly
attracted me. A friend told me, you like to cook, why don’t you go to cookery
school? In 1995, I finished my education in the Hotel Maritim in Nuremberg.
In the winter of 1995, I joined the Fletschhorn as Commis de cuisine. Markus
was the head chef. Whatever I have learned, I learned from him. This was
where I saw black truffles for the first time.
For me, it felt like another apprenticeship. Markus does not explain
much, but when you watch him, you acquire the technique of food preparation. The processes of baking and pastry baking made a lasting impression on
me: For freshly made bread, you have to organize yourself, baking bread is
complicated! Fresh sorbets and ice cream... When Markus bakes pretzels, he
does it twice as easily as any one of us. I get my motivation from people who
work like that, who are compelling in their actions.
Charlie and I have been a couple from the beginning of our time in the
Fletschhorn. When I had to explain something to an American couple during
a cookery class, I realized that my English was somewhat lacking. I told
Charlie that I wanted to learn some more. Two months later, I was at the Ecole
hôtelière de Lausanne.
That was a whole new world again. Theoretical points of view,
teaching based on sound facts. I did an internship with Philippe Rochat: The
first woman in the Service! That’s where I got hooked on Haute Cuisine.
Rochat looking at me over the rims of his spectacles: «Maren, vous voyez
cette couleur nacrée, c’est signe de fraîcheur» – it was monkfish, fried whole,
the cut had a mother-of-pearl shine. I was pleased to see that he realized I
understood.
Final exams in the beginning of 2002: Diploma thesis: «Profitability
of high-end gastronomy», diversification as a trend – after all, we had the
hotel. The turnover is the essential point. The basic costs are very high; if you
exceed the basic costs, the scissor opens – you are in a high-risk business.
After the hotel management school, I felt the urge to go abroad. Fletschhorn was not an option, everything was under control there and Charlie
had had enough of travelling. I have always had my eye on Asia. My heart
was beating for the kitchen, I thought Four Seasons and chains like that, they
come to the school and interview 50 finalists; four, five of them get a job offer. I could have gone to Washington, but that did not really appeal to me.
Then I found the Amanresorts and applied. The founder of these boutique
hotels is a guru. No answer. I tried again. I wanted to try my hand in what I
had learned.
Amanresorts had no job for me but I insisted on an interview and was
invited to Courchevel in the Haute Savoye; Madame conducted the most thorough interview I have ever experienced. Four days later, a call from Singapore, I was to fly to London. There, I found myself eye to eye with the guru.
I got a job in Bali, Amankila in Chandi Dasa. That was at the time when the
terrorist bomb exploded in Legian. After that, there were no more tourists. I
was sent to the South Pacific, to Bora Bora. This was a real culture shock, the
most exciting New Year’s Eve of my entire career.
Then Charlie called: If we want to get this Fletschhorn project off the
ground, we will have to start now. In 2003, I did a short stint in the Amansara
in Siem Reap as Food and Beverage Trainer: What do you do when a guest
sits down? Ask him what he would like to drink.
After Charlie’s call, I had asked myself whether it really made me
happy to travel from country to country. Should I rather consider going for
the long haul? Charlie had always said that «one day, we will buy the
Fletschhorn.»
On November 1., 2003, a snowy day, Charlie, Markus and I signed the
contract at the notary’s office in Visp. I had returned from Siem Reap in the
summer to write the business plan. Amanresorts would have been a whole other
career. But I am grateful that I could experience that. Now I know why I am in
the Swiss mountains. Whether you sit in front of a temple in Angkor or under a
ridge of four thousanders: Life is exciting and will never get boring.»
The Club des Femmes Entrepreneurs appointed Maren to Femme Entre­
preneur de l’Année 2010, Business Woman of the Year 2010.
43
44
30. October 2008, Off-season, Writing recipes for the book, waiting for the
orderd fish. Half a metre of snow has fallen, Saas-Fee has come to a grinding
halt; everyone has been taken by surprise, some snowploughs have not been
assembled yet; just before lunch, a small power cut. Maren fetches the fish, at
Supersaxo’s, where Bianchi delivers his goods:
The sales lady: Sali, what are you doing here? Did they clear the roads?
Maren: No, I came on foot to fetch the fish.
The sales lady: You are not serious!
Maren: I am, come on, re-pack; I have brought two sacks.
Half past eleven, Maren is back, having pulled a sledge laden with the Loup de
Mer and the Octopus over the snow-covered forest path; she carries the sacks
into the kitchen, enters the restaurant and sees Charlie at the computer, attired
with a blue wind breaker and a dark woolly hat.
Maren guffaughs: Oh Charlie, look at you! You look like papa smurf!
«Müller – like Meier.» Maren
Mathias Häusler
The Trio of Right Hands
Mathias Häusler, Jérôme Hintermann and David Gruss are the heart of the Fletschhorn-team. They support Markus, Charlie und Maren; they are their bosses’
right hands. They even accompany them on their travels and assist at their guest
appearances, such as at the Igeho in Basel or, in the beginning of Mai 2008, in
the Restaurant The Cliff at the Hotel Sentosa Beaufort in Singapore.
Mathias Häusler, Saucier
There are not many restaurants capable of attaining a Michelin Star
and their 18 Gault Millau points with so few employees as the kitchen team
in the Fletschhorn. Sometimes it consists of four chefs plus one apprentice,
at other times just three chefs minus the apprentice – that changes according
to the season, to be sure, but there can never be talk of over-staffing, least of
all at Christmas.
It is rarely hectic in the kitchen of the Fletschhorn. This is due to
Markus’ even temper, on the one hand, but also to his assistant’s equanimity.
Mathias Häusler, called «Brösel» (crumb) by his boss, is the Fletschhorn’s
saucier since 2003, almost since the beginning of the trio’s tenure in the Waldhotel. He has found his way to the Fletschhorn as the son of long-standing
regular guests. The young man from Pratteln near Basel learned cookery in
the Restaurant L’Esplanade in Aubonne. «Mathias is very reliable. He is always there», says Markus, «and he loves to be there.» He really cooks with
enthusiasm because he also loves to eat. He is always willing to help, obliging, polite. «A wonderful person«, says Maren, «who strongly believes the
very best of the world.»
Jérôme Hintermann, Sommelier
He is the youngest of the right hands, the whirlwind of the lot: Jérôme
Hintermann, born in 1983 and raised in Enges at the south foot of the Jura
between Lake Bienne and Lake Neuchâtel. He started his cookery apprenticeship at fifteen, went through three establishments and successfully completed
his studies in the Restaurant Palais du Perroud in Neuchâtel. In 2001, he de-
47
Jérôme Hintermann
David Gruss
Two silver-haired ladies with their dogs are sitting
at the table.
Jérôme: Would you like a glass of wine?
One lady: No.
Jérôme: Would you like two glasses of wine?
50
cided to enhance his professional and language skills in German-speaking
Switzerland. In August 2002, Jérôme drove to Saas-Fee though heavy fog in
order to present himself to the Fletschhorn. He began his apprenticeship in
the Service in the same month and soon expressed a growing interest in wine.
«I would drink a glass of wine with Charlie at the end of the evening.
He would explain the wines, the grapes, how long you can keep it – I have a
good head on my shoulders, I remembered everything. Wine has become my
blood.» In June 2003, Jérôme finished best of his year in the Valais and went
on to do his military service in Emmental. Then, Charlie called. He was looking for staff for the winter season. «He said, we have bought the place now.
I thought it was for one season only.» But he stayed.
Jérôme is the head of Service and he is in charge of expert wine advice. «I have never taken a sommelier course», says Jérôme. His knowledge
comes from books, the Internet and personal experience at wine degustations.
«I am a Europe-drinker», he declares in his cheerful German with strong
French accent. «The wine has to go with the weather, the friends, the woman;
the food.»
So how does he proceed to serve his guest the right wine? First, a
sommelier has to study the menu and consider which wine can be married to
the choice of dishes in the most harmonious way. He also needs to consider
the guest’s budget. «I have to get a feel for the people», says Jérôme. «I always start with the Valais. Pétrus, Pingus, Ornellaia – that is never my goal, I
prefer to propose unknown wines from unknown winegrowers. Here, I promote the Valais. In Geneva, it would be different.»
Personal preferences? Pinot noir from Switzerland and Burgundy, Barolo, Fendant and Petite Arvine from the Valais, Austrian white wines, German Riesling. And green tea. «It is good for life», he advises me after hours.
He then walks through half the restaurant on his hands, jumps to his feet and
declares with the world’s most charming smile: «Here, the people are serious
wine drinkers. No one has to get into a car afterwards.»
David Gruss, The Man for all Eventualities
Martina Meier, the food photographer, needs a rustic wooden table for
a specific shot. Everyone is looking around but all the tables they find have
varnished tops. Ten minutes later, the noise of a manual sander can be heard
outside: David is sanding a tabletop. «We are lucky that David has been a
carpenter in a previous life», says Maren. In the following days, David manages to unearth a weather-beaten barn door in Sengg and later, he drags up a
heavy stone slab.
David Gruss, born in 1981 in Winterberg in the German Sauerland,
the «Dutch Alps», has been Maren’s right hand since December 2005. He is
the handyman. If a lightbulb has frizzled out, David climbs the ladder; when
a guest despairs of the TV remote control, David steps in. He grew up in a
butcher’s shop-turned-gastronomic establishment, a combination of bar and
restaurant appropriately named «Bistrorant». David has done ski jumping,
assisted in the construction of cable cars and generally likes a challenge –
such as the rugged landscape of the Saas valley and its gnarly inhabitants.
«That’s why he can cope with the Fletschhorn», says Maren. «He has a dry
sense of humour, is quick-witted, intelligent and extremely resilient.»
51
53
Apéro
Amuse-bouches
Friandises
Apéro
Bretzel
Pretzel
Bretzel
500 g wheat flour
20 g butter
20 g yeast
10 g salt
300 ml milk
100 ml lye from the baker's shop
Fleur de sel
caraway to taste
Warm up the milk with the butter. Stir in
the yeast until dissolved.
Mix flour and salt, pour in the milk mixture
and work all into a dough. Leave to rise for
1 hour.
Bricelet au fromage
Divide the dough into portions of about 30
g, roll them into long sausages between
your palms and shape into pretzels. Place
the pretzels on a baking tray lined with
baking paper and leave to rise for another
45 minutes.
Spray the pretzels with lye, sprinkle with
salt and, if desired, caraway. Dry more than
bake at 150ºC; this can take up to 45 minutes.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
Grissini
Bricelet au fromage
Cheese bricelets «Fletschhorntaler»
Grissini
150 g butter soft
300 g gruyère grated
600 g flour
20 g salt
250 ml white wine Fendant
white pepper freshly ground
caraway to taste
500 g wheat flour
50 ml olive oil
50 g parmesan freshly grated
30 g yeast
20 g salt
white pepper freshly ground
Work all ingredients into a dough, cover
and leave at room temperature for about 2
hours.
Shape the dough into cherry-sized balls
and bake them 4 at a time in the waffle
iron.
Leave to cool on a cake rack.
Mix the flour with the parmesan, salt and
pepper.
Heat up the milk and stir in the yeast until
dissolved. Pour the milk mixture and the
olive oil into the flour and work all into a
smooth dough. Cover and leave to rise for
1 hour.
Divied the dough into quarters, cut off 10
cm, finger-thick pieces and roll theses into
25 cm long sticks between your palms.
Place on a baking tray lined with baking
paper (make sure they don’t touch) and
leave to rise for another hour.
Bake at 150ºC until light golden (this will
take about 20 minutes).
55
Amuse-bouches
Soupe de tomate froide, bricelet au Parmesan
Chilled tomato soup with Parmesan wafer
56
2 shallots very finely chopped
100 ml olive oil
2 tsp tomato paste
1 sprig basil
1 small tin pelati tomatoes tinned tomatoes,
diced
4 vine tomatoes large, well-ripened,
skinned, seeded, diced
¼ cucumber
200 ml tomato juice
1 tsp tomato ketchup
500 ml chicken or vegetable stock
salt and pepper freshly ground
1 tsp Sambal Oelek
balsamic vinegar
4 basil leaves
50 g Parmesan freshly grated
Sweat the shallots in 50 ml olive oil until
transparent. Stir in the tomato paste and
add the sprig of basil. Add the drained
liquid of the pelati tomatoes, stir well and
reduce. Set aside.
Put the tinned and the fresh tomatoes into a
bowl. Peel and seed the cucumber and cut
into very small dice. Add to the tomatoes.
Mix ketchup, tomato juice and stock, pour
into the bowl with the tomato-cucumber
mixture, mix carefully and season with salt
and pepper, Sambal Oelek and balsamic
vinegar. Stir in the remaining olive oil
(about 50 ml). Let the soup infuse in the
refrigerator for about 3 hours, then remove
basil sprig, season to taste and ladle into
chilled cups.
Pour the grated Parmesan relatively thickly
onto baking paper and bake at 180ºC until
crispy brown. Leave to cool, then break
into pieces and serve with the chilled
tomato soup.
Cocktail de poulpe
Octopus-cocktail
57
8 tbsp octopus prepared according to the
recipe on page 118, tentacles cut into slices
Cocktail sauce:
100 ml salad sauce basic recipe
1 tbsp ketchup
1 tsp cognac
1 tsp orange juice
1 tbsp cream whipped
salt and pepper freshly ground
Mediterranean tomato vinaigrette:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
some chilli fresh, with or without seeds,
chopped
chives and parsley finely chopped
salt and pepper freshly ground
½ small tomato skinned, seeded, diced,
should be 1 tbsp full
Soupe de tomate froide, bricelet au Parmesan
Cocktail de poulpe
8 small potato baskets basic recipe
For the two sauces mix the ingredients in
two separate bowls. Toss 4 tbsp octopus
slices in each of them.
Serve in the potato baskets.
Croustillant de fruits de mer
Amuse-bouches
Trio d’huîtres «Fletschhorn»
Oysters «Fletschhorn»
58
12 fresh oysters
Jellied oysters
100 ml vegetable stock
1 leaves gelatine
4 tsp caviar can be substituted with pike or
salmon roe
Oysters au gratin
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp cream whipped
1 shot absinthe
Salt and pepper freshly ground
4 slices rye or whole-grain bread
Butter to spread
1 lemon cut into wedges
Rinse the oysters under cold running water,
open with an oyster knife and drain the
liquid. Remove the shell chips carefully
with a brush. Place the oysters carefully on
some lightly crumpled tin foil to prevent
the newly forming liquid from running off
and refrigerate. Serve 4 fresh oysters,
4 jellied oysters and 4 oysters au gratin.
For the jelly: Bring the vegetable stock to a
boil and reduce a little. Soak the gelatine in
cold water, squeeze to remove excess
liquid, stir into the stock and set to cool.
Drain the liquid off 4 oysters, put 1 teaspoonful of caviar or roe into each one and
fill with the vegetable stock, which should
still be liquid. Put into the refrigerator to
set.
For the oysters au gratin: Season the egg
yolk with salt and pepper. Stir in the whipped cream and the absinthe. Drain the
liquid off 4 oysters and fill them with the
cream mixture. Bake briefly in the preheated oven until brown.
Butter the 4 bread slices, stack on top of
each other, cool and cut vertically into
dice.
Put one type of each oyster each on 4
serving plates and serve with diced bread
and lemon wedges.
Croustillant de fruits de mer
Crispy shellfish rounds
Soupe de choucroute et lard croustillant
Sauerkraut soup with crispy bacon
100 g chicken stuffing basic recipe
100 g shellfish such as lobster, slipper
lobster, prawn etc., cooked
chilli seeded and ginger finely chopped
4 sheets filo pastry
salt and pepper freshly ground
oil for deep-frying
fresh chervil leaves and sweet chilli sauce
for garnish
500 g sauerkraut raw
½ onion chopped
50 g bacon roughly diced
butter
1 l vegetable stock
4 slices bacon
4 tsp cream whipped
salt and pepper freshly ground
Mix the chicken stuffing with chilli and
ginger.
Cut the seafood into 1 cm pieces and mix
with the poultry meat. Cut the filo pastry
into ½ cm strips and loosely scoop into
small piles.
Shape the stuffing into 4 small balls and
roll in the filo pastry strips until well covered. Deep-fry until just golden brown
(should not be too dark).
Sprinkle with chervil leaves, sweet chilli
sauce.
59
Wash the sauerkraut briefly and drain.
Sauté the onion and the diced bacon in butter (do
not allow to brown), add the sauerkraut and the
vegetable stock, season with salt and pepper and
cook for about 1 ½ hours. Add vegetable stock or
water if necessary.
Remove the bacon and puree the soup in the food
processor.
Fry the bacon slices until brown and crispy.
Place a teaspoonful of whipped cream into 4 warmed soup bowls, fill in the soup and garnish with
a slice of crispy bacon.
«To keep the bacon flat while frying, place
it into the pan between 2 sheets of baking
paper, put the pan on the hot stove and
weight the bacon with a suitably sized
pot.» Markus
Soupe de courge
Pumpkin soup
Soupe de choucroute et lard croustillant
100 gonions chopped
200 ml olive oil
1 kg pumpkin such as muscat squash,
peeled, seeded and cut into 2 x 2 cm dice
1 tsp Madras curry medium hot
1 l vegetable or chicken stock basic recipe
salt and pepper freshly ground
about 4 tbspcream whipped
some pumpkin seeds roasted
pumpkin seed oil
Sweat the onions in 100 ml olive oil, add
the diced pumpkin and cook briefly.
Sprinkle with curry. Add the stock, season
with salt and pepper and sauté for half an
hour.
Soupe et Tarte de courge
Place in a food processor and puree until
smooth while pouring in the remaining
olive oil. Pass the mixture through a sieve.
Fill the soup into soup bowls and garnish
each serving with a spoonful of whipped
cream. Drizzle with roasted pumpkin seeds
and a few drops of pumpkin seed oil. Can
be served with a piece of pumpkin pie.
Praline de veau
Amuse-bouches
Tarte de potiron
Pumpkin pie
Praline de tête de veau
Calf’s head praline
Crust
500 g wheat flour
320 g butter
2 eggs
10 g salt
some sugar
80 ml water
300 g calf’s head cooked
100 g diced vegetables blanched
200 g shallot chopped
butter for cooking
50 g seasonal mushrooms cleaned, chopped
salt and pepper freshly ground
chives, lovage and parsley chopped
Filling
100 g gruyère grated
10 g wheat flour
1 egg
100 ml pumpkin soup recipe page 60
100 ml milk
nutmeg, salt and pepper freshly ground
egg and flour for breading
100 g breadcrumbs fine
oil for deep-frying
For the crust: Work all ingredients into
smooth dough and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Roll out the dough and put into a greased 20
cm pie tin. Pierce the bottom a few times
with a fork and refrigerate again.
For the filling: Puree the grated cheese with
the flour, egg, soup, milk and spices in the
food processor and season to taste.
Pour the filling into the prepared pie-crust.
Bake about 30 minutes at 180 ºC.
Cut the calf’s head into small dice and set
aside with the blanched vegetables.
Sweat the shallots in hot butter. Add the
chopped mushrooms and season with salt and
pepper. Add the calf’s head and the vegetables and stir well. Add the herbs and a dash of
balsamic vinegar and season to taste. Line a
terrine generously with cling film and pack in
the mixture and refrigerate.
Cut the chilled mixture into pieces and coat
with flour and egg, then with breadcrumbs.
Deep-fry in the hot oil until crisp, leave to
drain on kitchen paper and season lightly with
salt.
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Amuse-bouches
62
Gratin de moules d’Irlande
aux fines herbes
Gratin of mussels and herbs
Ramequin de Bagnes
Savoury cheesecakes from the Bagnes valley
For twelve 7 cm ramekins
1 kg mussels cleaned
100 ml olive oil
½ onion chopped
500 ml white wine
100 g cake dough basic recipe
100 g fromage de Bagnes or Gruyère grated
10 g flour
1 egg
nutmeg, salt and pepper freshly ground
thyme leaves fresh, plucked
200 ml milk
200 ml mussel stock
1 shallot finely chopped
50 g butter
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp cream whipped
salt and pepper freshly ground
some pastis
assorted herbs chopped
Heat the oil in a large casserole, add the
mussels and white wine, cover and cook for
5 minutes. Leave to cool for a moment, then
take the mussels out and remove the meat
from the shells. Pass the stock through a
cheesecloth and measure off 200 ml.
Roll out the dough and cut into 8 cm rounds,
pierce them a few times with a fork and
place into the greased ramekins.
Mix the cheese with the flour, egg, milk,
thyme leaves and seasonings and spoon into
the ramekins. Bake at 180ºC about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, leave to cool for
a moment then remove the cakes from the
ramekins.
Add the chopped shallot to the 200 ml of
mussel stock, reduce to about 100 ml and
then vigorously stir in the butter, egg yolk
and whipped cream. Season with salt and
pepper and carefully stir in pastis and herbs.
»Ausser Steinpilzen wasche ich jeden Pilz. Wenn du als Gast einen Pilz isst und
Spoon the mussels into small, heated soup
auf Sand beisst, dann hasst du mich. Gewisse Pilze nehmen beim Wachsen Sand
bowls or scallop shells, spoon in the sauce und
in ihren Körper auf. Wenn ich die Pilze nicht waschen muss, finde ich das super.
bake at 220ºC (top heat) for 3–4 minutes.
Das sind dann vor allem Pilze aus unserem Wald.« Neff
Stroudel de légumes et fromage d’alpage
Vegetable strudel with cheese from the Alps
8 leaves filo pastry preferably frozen
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
a pinch of fresh chili finely chopped
butter for sautéing
Gratin de moules d’Irlande aux fines herbes
300 g mixed vegetables such as carrots, leek,
celery, kohlrabi, courgettes, white cabbage,
julienned
salt and pepper freshly ground
80 g cheese from the Alps roughly chopped
1 egg yolk stirred with 1 tbsp of cream
oil for deep-frying
soya sauce and deep fried parsley to garnish
Defrost the filo pastry.
Sweat onion, garlic and a tiny pinch of fresh
chili in the butter. Add the vegetables, season
with salt and pepper, cook for a few moments
and leave to cool. Stir in the cheese.
Ramequins de Bagnes
Brush the pastry leaves with the egg mixture.
Spoon the vegetable mix onto the pastry and
form into spring rolls.
Deep-fry in hot oil and garnish with a dash of
soya sauce and deep fried parsley.
Stroudel de légumes et fromage d’alpage
Friandises
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Noisettes caramelisées
Caramelized hazelnuts
Tarte à la crème
Cream tart
1 kg sugar
1 l water
1 kg hazelnuts with skins
60 g butter
100 g puff pastry
500 ml cream
125 g sugar
Dissolve the sugar in the water in a large,
wide pan and bring to a boil. Add the hazelnuts and cook until all the liquid has evaporated; stirring constantly. During this process, the sugar re-crystallizes, which makes
the hazelnuts look as if they are covered in
white sand. Lower the heat and carefully stir
the crystallized nuts. The sugar crystals will
now dissolve again and begin to caramelize
until the nuts are covered in golden brown
caramel.
At the very end, add the butter and stir.
Spread the shiny hazelnuts on a baking
sheet to cool – nuts that stick together must
be separated while hot. Keep in an airtight
container.
butter for the tins
For two 12 cm pie tins
Roll out the puff pastry 2 mm high. Line the
buttered pie tins with the pastry, pierce the
bottom several times with a fork and weight
the dough with baking beads, alternatively
with dried pulses or rice, for „blind baking“.
Bake at 180 ºC for about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, leave to cool for a few
moments, then take off the baking weights.
Remove the tarts from the tins and place on
a baking tray.
Reduce the cream to about 200 ml, stir in
the sugar, turn down the heat and reduce the
liquid further, stirring constantly.
When the liquid has reduced to a creamy
consistency, pour onto the tarts and and
bake at 180ºC for 5 minutes. Leave to cool
and cut into 8 portions each.
»Ausser Steinpilzen wasche ich jeden Pilz. Wenn du als Gast einen Pilz isst und
auf Sand beisst, dann hasst du mich. Gewisse Pilze nehmen beim Wachsen Sand
in ihren Körper auf. Wenn ich die Pilze nicht waschen muss, finde ich das super.
Das sind dann vor allem Pilze aus unserem Wald.« Neff
Noisettes caramelisées
Zestes d’orange
Tarte à la crème
Truffes au chocolat
Friandises
Zestes d’orange
Candied orange
4 untreated oranges well rinsed
1 l sugar syrup see basic recipe
Cut the oranges in half and press
thoroughly.
Cut the peels in half again lengthwise and
remove the white inner layer to about 3
mm thickness. Cut the peels into 3 mm
wide strips and toss into boiling water.
Allow to well up once, then drain immediKöcheln, bis die Zesten glasig sind, abtropfen.
ately and rinse in cold water. Repeat the
entire process with fresh cooking water.
Add the orange strips to the sugar syrup
and cook slowly until they turn transparent.
This can take 2–2 ½ hours.
Drain the orange strips in a sieve, pour
onto a baking tray and leave to dry over
night.
Toss the orange strips in sugar and keep in
an airtight container.
Getrocknete Zesten in Zucker wenden.
«The crux: You must not miss the moment
when the orange strips begin to turn transparent. If you take them out too early, they will
be too soft and the sugar will dissolve. If you
leave them too long, they will become rock
hard.» Markus
Friandises
Truffes au chocolat
Chocolate truffles
500 g Cooking chocolate milk chocolate
finely chopped
250 ml cream fresh
300 g cooking chocolate dark
Bring the cream to a boil, add the milk
chocolate and stir until the mixture is
smooth. Put into the freezer for 2–3 hours.
Mit dem Parisienne-Löffel Kugeln ausstechen.
With a melon baller, scoop small portions
from the truffle mixture and freeze again.
Melt the dark chocolate in a bain-marie,
then leave to cool down to below 26ºC
(less than hand-hot) or until the chocolate
begins to harden along the rim of the bowl.
(In order to achieve this, we move the
mixture back and forth on a marble slab,
using two spatulas, until the desired temperature has been reached.) Then slowly
reheat the chocolate to exactly 31ºC (about
lip-temperature).
Remove the truffle balls from the freezer
and cover with the tempered dark chocolate. The simplest method is scooping up
some warm chocolate in one hand and
rolling the truffle briefly in it.
Store the finished truffles in a lidded container in the refrigerator.
Mit der temperierten Couverture überziehen.
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Brot
Neffayasse
Makes 18–20 bread rolls
500 g wheat flour
10 g dark flour whole grain, spelt, Kornspitz (an Austrian grain mixture)
5 g yeast
15 g salt
325–350 ml water at room temperature
Mix the ingredients in the food processor and pour into a floured, shallow
baking form (for example a baking tray), cover and leave to rise in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
Put the dough on a working surface sprinkled with flour. With a spatula, cut
off 10 cm, finger-thick pieces. Hold the pieces at both ends and twist once in
opposite directions. Place the bread rolls on a (preferably perforated) baking
tray and bake at 220ºC about 15 minutes until golden brown and crispy.
«You can freeze the Neffayasse and reheat them in the oven as and when
required.» Markus
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The Chef is doing the Baking
Markus Neff’s Views on Bread
70
«My first boss had learned pastry baker first and only later became a chef. So
I learned how to bake. When I came to the Fletschhorn, Irma’s only assistant
in the kitchen was the apprentice. I had come to grips with the meat very
soon; I had even done quails a few times under my first boss. But there were
things I had never done and there was a lot to learn. But I wanted to contribute something that hadn’t been there before, and I did have something new to
offer: I could bake.
At that time, there were mainly hotel guests. The bread came from the
baker’s. No bread was baked in the Fletschhorn. There was only dry yeast in
the house, which I had no experience with. Even now, dry yeast is my second
choice. So I said, Herr Dütsch, we will replace the baker’s bread with our
own. Four, five years into my stay at the Fletschhorn, they bought a convection oven.
You do not roll bread between your palms but work it on the table
surface, that way it takes on a certain tension. You turn the dough on the work
surface, preferably on marble, pulling it down at the same time; that creates
the tension. If you cut into the loaf, the cut will spread open.
I like to bake bread between tasks. The results will be visible for a
little longer than the proverbial two seconds that you see the plate that you
prepare for serving. When I bake a braided white loaf, there it is, lovely,
brown and shiny.
Why our own Pain Paillasse? In order to be allowed to make the patented Pain Paillasse, I would have had to attend a class, be obliged to buy a
particular flour mixture, stick religiously to the recipe, purchase promotional
material and pay a franchise. I asked whether there were different conditions
for gastronomy – you can’t put advertisements on the table! But there were no
exceptions.
So I tinkered for about two months with different flours, yeasts, rising
times. The end result was «Neffayasse». The dough contains a little more
water than other bread dough, but less yeast, it is best with white flour and a
little bit of dark flour. We leave it to rise for at least 24 hours in a plastic con-
tainer in the refrigerator; then we cut off small loaves with the spatula, twist
them and immediately put them in the oven.
Normally we bake fresh bread every day; in the evening, we put it into
the oven for two, three minutes so that it is fresh and crisp for the guests. The
bread has got to be from the same day, though. We bake the bread for breakfast late in the evening.
There is always something new. In the beginning, we used to bake
bread with poppy, sesame and pumpkin seeds, with onions and so forth; then
two, three years ago I said, okay, only three kinds of bread rolls from now on,
and now, there are four kinds again: lye bread rolls, Neffayasse, onion-tomato
rolls and one rather dark roll.
Apart from that, we bake braided bread and cake for breakfast, three
different loaves for daily use and the cheese course: White bread, white loaf
(with butter and milk), sourdough bread, fruit bread, brioche to serve with
Foie Gras, and Raj bread.
Raj bread has its own history. Earlier, we used to bake a dark, almost
black wholegrain bread in addition to the rye bread. At that time, we had a
trainee from the hotel management school in Bluche (Montana, Valais), by
the name of Raj. This was an abbreviation of his real name; he came from
South India and his skin was very dark. I showed him the bread and said: we
will call this Raj bread. He asked why and I said, because it is as dark as you
are. He laughed and said that he was honoured but that now, we had to call the
bread by this name forever. The guests liked the Raj bread so well that we
have stopped braking rye bread altogether. Raj often calls and says, «Chef! I
like to come to Switzerland again!»
It astonishes me that some first-class restaurants do not serve home
made bread. If our place is heaving, there is always one person who bakes
nothing but bread the whole day; he has got it tough, the poor guy.»
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Gwäss and Resi, Lafnetscha and Himbertscha
Chanton’s Universe of Ancient Grapes
Any discussion of the Valais as a winegrowing region will sooner or later lead
to the exceptional number of grape varieties that are native to the Rhone valley above Lake Geneva. The Valais Wine producer’s Association lists 47 varieties on their website, many of them are little known now but all of them
have been cultivated and reported at one time or another.
It has long been taken for granted that it was the Romans who introduced viniculture to the valley (there are no known enological relics left by
Hannibal crossing the Alps on his elephants). More recent finds, however,
point to a time much further back. In the sediment of the Lac du Mont d’Orge
above Sion, archaeologists have found grape pollen that can be traced back to
800 to 600 B.C. There have been occasional finds of wild grapes that date
back even further, to 7000 to 3500 B.C., but the pollen in the sediment of Lac
du Mont d’Orge impress by their sheer abundance, which points to human
activity; in other words: viniculture.
Which of these 49 grape varieties are Valais natives and which of these had been introduced to the valley, for example from the Aosta valley via
the Grand St. Bernard pass, remains an open question. Much of what was held
to be true has since been proved wrong by genetic analyses and these analyses
are ongoing.
There are some ancient grape varieties – whether native or not, is beside the
question – which have not been forgotten. This has been mainly due to the
efforts of Josef-Marie «Josy» Chanton. The winegrower had taken an early
interest in the old varieties, especially those of the Upper Valais. In his cellar
in Visp, connoisseurs could taste grape varieties that were as difficult to spell
as they were to find: Resi, Gwäss, Lafnetscha, Himbertscha, Plantscher... Josy
Chanton is rightly called the «Archaeologist of the grape varieties of the Upper Valais».
The most well-known variety is Heida, Païen in French, basically a
Traminer. It is related to the Savagnin of the French Jura and, depending on
the growing method, is more or less similar in taste. Chanton has made his
name with Heida. The hardy grape thrives on the highest located appellations
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74
in the Valais, in Visperterminen up to 1150 metres above sea level. But the
Chantons, whose business is now managed by son Mario, also produce wines
from their appellations in Varen and in Leuk.
There has been a steadily growing interest for the old, predominantly
white grape varieties. Resi, la rèze or uva raetica – the Rhaetian grape – is dry
and slightly resinous. Gwäss alias Gouais Blanc or Heunisch is according to
genetic research the oldest grape in the world known by name. This variety
had been quite common before it suffered badly though grape phylloxera.
Together with Pinot noir, Gwäss has generated at least 77 younger grape varieties, amongst which Chardonnay, Gamay, Rhine Riesling und Furmint.
With its note of lemon and green apples, the light, crisp Gwäss is the complete opposite of the candied vanilla juices of the New World. Gwäss can be
enjoyed as an aperitif as well as a thirst quencher.
Lafnetscha is a hybrid of Humagne blanche and Completer, currently
considered the only grape variety that definitely originated in the Valais. It is
a little mellower and more full-bodied than Gwäss. Ist name is a contraction
of the patois «Laff nit scho», meaning «don’t drink yet». Himbertscha could
be a hybrid of Humagne blanche and a Muscat-variety, which no longer exists
in the Valais. Chanton recommends a drop of Himbertscha to accompany fish
or Alpine cheese. It is more aromatic than Gwäss, if also a little more herbaceous. Plantscher is also considered an old native, even if it is, to all intents
and purposes, identical to Gros Bourgogne and Bordeaux Blanc – but then,
vintner’s paths have crossed far back in time. It is a lusty wine, resilient and
ideal for the mountains.
Josy Chanton has saved these and a few other varieties from falling
into oblivion. His son Mario carries on the work in all its variety. «That is
important», he says. He vinificates each variety separately, using wild yeast,
which is present in the grapes and in the cellar. Mario is somewhat more interested in the reds than the whites; especially, however, in the dessert wines:
«I am fanatical about them».
We are at the counter of the cellar in Visp. Mario towers over all of us;
Charlie paces back and forth, he seems unnerved by Mario’s serenity. We are
drinking Gwäss and Mario tells how they planted the vines that survived the
grape phylloxera along the roads in order to deter thieves who might want to
steal the superior grapes behind them.
But how did he develop this penchant for dessert wines? «I once told
my father that I could do it better than him.» The father demanded proof and
so, each of them produced a barrel of vine and sent it to a Wine Degustation.
Mario made second place, Josy ninth. «A clear victory», says the son, «the
dessert wines were now my domain». Today, Chanton proposes Heida Spätlese Mario N° 3, oak-fermented, Gewürztraminer Spätlese Mario N° 4, oakfermented, Eyholzer red, oak-fermented and to top it all, ice wine. «Your
dessert wines are a hit», says Charlie, «as soon as they’re there, they’re gone.»
75