Passport & Plate - Maluns
Switzerland | Saturday, March 7, 2015 | 3 photos
Ingredients
Ingredients
• 1 kg potatoes
• 300 g flour
• salt
• 280 g butter
• Apple sauce
• Strong cheese, such as Alpine cheese, Gruyere, Tilsiter
How to prepare this recipe1. Cook the potatoes a day in advance and peel while warm
2. Grate half the potatoes and cut the other half into thin slices
3. Gently mix the flour mixture with a generous amount of salt and mix with all the potatoes until they are covered in flour
4. Melt 50 g of butter in a heavy skillet and add the potato mixture
5. At medium heat under constant stirring fry the potatoes - adding pieces of butter along the way.
6. After 45 minutes you'll get small, crunchy potato crumbs
7. Serve with apple sauce and strong cheese.
The story behind this recipeMy dad grew up in a small Alpine village, which today is part of a large ski resort. His father was a grocer and he was the first of his siblings to go to university, leave the small village and become a lawyer. My parents met in Miami of all places – no place more different than flashy Miami and a small sleepy alpine village.
My father loved food – he would try new foods and loved to seek out traditional foods all over the world. When we lived in a small town in Switzerland, he would serve brunch with pancakes, eggs and bacon – shocking the Swiss visitors with the type of food and the unsavoury hour it was served. This was the 70s and 80s after all. But he also made sure that we knew what the foods were that he grew up with – simple alpine food – potatoes, cured meats and sharp cheeses.
My father passed away a few years ago and this is a meal he served us every time we visited after we left home and moved to other countries. Maluns is a potato based meal with origin in Chur, Switzerland. It was a special meal made by farmers for weddings – it’s very simple, but it takes some patience.
This is my go-to, memories of Switzerland meal. I learned to make this very traditional meal almost as soon as I could stand and stir. It was passed on to me and my sisters, my cousins and nephews. It's a never ending cycle of goodness and glimpse of Swiss Alps as we pass it on to the next generation of kids, siblings or friends. It’s different than chocolate, cheese or even bratwurst – this Maluns you’d have to seek out and would only be able to find in a very small area of Eastern Switzerland.
