UP until my recent trip to Switzerland, I was unimpressed with Swiss food.
In Singapore, I had one Swiss experience that didn't go down well (salmon tarter that reeked and cheese spluttered and overflowed down a pile of potatoes like an engorged river of yellow mud) and that coloured my views on the country's cuisine.
I swore that it was an experience I wouldn't repeat.
Well, after my visit to Switzerland, I have to eat my words (and cheese).
You see, I just hadn't been fed right.
The turnaround happened in Graubuenden. This is the biggest canton in Switzerland and from here, I discovered two lovely dishes you ought to try.
In Chur, a bustling city (the oldest in Switzerland and the capital of Graubuenden) with lots of life and sunshine, I ate at Romantik Hotel Stern (www.stern-chur.ch).
This is a small hotel with 64 rooms but it comes with a 300-year history.
The restaurant there called Buendner Stube serves traditional Swiss food. Try the capuns.
Capuns are like our popiah, only instead wrapped in a leaf. And instead of turnips and other savouries, the filling here is doughy.
I also found good capuns in Bever's Chesa Salis (www.chesa-salis.ch).
Another dish I must share with you is wine soup.
This warms you up instantly and is intense with flavours.
The recipe sounds simple but the key is to get the best white wine.
Swiss whites are wonderful - sweet, fruity and it goes down with ease - the sort that is best for making the soup.
The next time it gets chilly in Singapore, cook these and invite your friends over for a meal.
Pretend it's the Alpine air and not cold air thanks to the aircon and greet your guests with: 'Gruezi!' (hello)
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THIS recipe comes courtesy of the book Swiss Cooking, released by Romantik Hotel Stern.
Ingredients:
40 silverbeet leaves (try Cold Storage or the German Market Place (609 Bt Timah Rd, next to Coronation Plaza, tel: 6466-4044; or use spinach if you really can't find the leaves)
300g white flour
3 eggs, 150ml milk
40 g butter
salt to taste
1 small onion, finely chopped
150g bacon (try The Best Butchery In Town at 32, Greenwood Ave for Swiss bacon)
100g white bread, cubed
5 teaspooons chopped mixed herbs
50g currants
100g Sbrinz (a very hard Swiss cheese; again, try Cold Storage)
50g butter
Instructions:
1. Cook the leaves in boiling water, strain and rinse with cold water.
2. Beat flour, eggs, milk and salt until dough bubbles, then season with salt. Leave to stand for 30 minutes.
3. Lightly braise onions, bacon and bread in butter, stir in dough mix, with herbs and currants.
4. Put 1 tablespoon of filling on each silverbeet leave. The rolled-up item is capuns.
5. Bring to boil salted water in large pan, add capuns, poach in low heat for 20 minutes. Remove and sprinkle Sbrinz and remaining herbs over it.
