My personal highlight: The uniqueness of this event unites excellent international Chefs, creative minds and curious foodies in one special spot up in the Swiss Alps. Chef Nicolai Nørregaard from Denmark was my discovery this year.

Every year in January the Gourmet world of Switzerland points the eyes to St. Moritz. Together with chefs of a variety of prestigious local hotels, nine top-class star chefs from Europe and Asia join for culinary delights.

This year the following gourmet chefs participated at the festival 2019:

• Guillaume Galliot – Restaurant Caprice, Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong, 3 Michelin Stars
• Sergio Herman – head of four restaurants in Belgium & Netherlands: The Jane in Antwerp (2 Michelin stars), Pure C (1 Michelin Star), AIRrepublic (1 Michelin star) and Blueness in Cadzand-Bad
• Philippe Mille – Chef at Restaurant Le Parc, in France, 2 Michelin Stars
• Manish Mehrotra – Chef at Indian Accent, India. Recognized as one of the best chefs in India.
• Sven Wassmer – Chef at Grand Hotel Quellenhof in Bad Ragaz (CH)
• Nicolai Nørregaard – Chef at Restaurant Kadeau, Copenhagen, 2 Michelin Stars and Kadeau Bornholm, (DK) 1 Michelin Star
• Sang-Hoon Degeimbre – L’Air du Temps, 2 Michelin stars
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• Thomas & Mathias Sühring – Restaurant Sühring, Thailand, 2 Michelin Stars
• Mingoo Kang – Restaurant Mingles, South Korea, 2 Michelin Stars

What to choose out of the variety of gourmet Food Events when visiting the the St. Moritz Gourmet Festival – a useful guide

Gourmet Safari Event: For those who love to experience different Chefs in different hotel locations in St. Moritz. This event allows best to interact with other gourmands. Taste a variation of menu in one night in an unforgettable surrounding. Get more inspiration here.

Legendary Kitchen Party at Badrutt’s Palace Hotel: The place to live the most vibrant and authentic vibes of the Chefs preparing the dishes directly in the kitchen. Together with 300 other guests you enjoy culinary highlights standing close to each other, the live music is the cherry on the top! Get some highlights of this year’s kitchen party here.

Side events: Wine & Cheese celebration in the legendary wine cellar of the Hotel Steffani, St. Moritz?
Go for this intimate evening in the Hotel Steffani, St. Moritz. Taste international rarities of wines paired with the amazing French cheese selection that Maître Antony, the world’s best “éleveur de fromages” offersorregarNNroregagararrdstivivalmon

Gourmet dinner with your favorite Chef!

My choice this year: Chef Nicolai Nørregaard from Copenhagen and I am absolutely happy about this selection, since the cuisine from Denmark was a novum to me.
The Gourmet dinners offer a relaxed atmosphere where to dive into a culinary journey. It’s the best way to experience the real food philosophy of a Chef. The dinner comes as a more course menu with signature dishes of the Chefs. Mostly there is the chance to talk in person to the Chefs during the dinner and get detailed explanations about the menu.

About my Gourmet dinner at Grand Hotel Kronenhof with Chef Nicolai Nørregaard

This dinner was an excursion to the Island of Bornholm, where the 1 Michelin Star Restaurant Kadeau Bornholm is located and run by Rasmus, Magnus & Nicolai. Beside Bornholm Nicolai and his partners run the 2 Michelin Stars restaurant Kadeau in Copenhagen.

Bornholm is a small island in the Baltic Sea, to the east of the east of Denmark, on the south of Sweden. Here the neighbors are the forest, the beach and the sea. The flavors of Bornholm were reflected 100% in the dishes prepared from Chef Nicolai. He knows the island best, since he grew up there. Years ago, when he was a kid he says during the interview, he used to spend a lot of time with is mother and his grandfather exploring the nature. That is where he got plenty of the knowledge on how to prepare, process and preserve the precious ingredients that grow on the island.

A lovely story I like to share with you that Nicolai revealed at our interview: back in time, when he was a teenager and he was dating a girl at his house it was absolutely normal, that girls got invited to help out in the garden. Some girls may have found that awkward back in time. The house of his mother was located in full nature.

My question about the food philosophy that they follow at Kadeau was answered on the one hand by tasting the extremely balanced and delicate dishes during my dinner. My palate experimented different layers of sour, sweet or salty flavors, perfectly balanced and aromatized.
On the other hand, in the interview Nicolai explained, that on the island of Bornholm they follow the rhythm of the cycle of the seasons by observing nature. In Summer everything grows fast, so it’s a lot of work in a short period of time to absolve. Winter instead is his favorite season, because there is time to experience nature slowly. What I also understood, is that at Kadeau a big part of the work goes to fermenting, pickling and drying. They do also make syrups, oils or vinegars as for example the rhubarb root oil used in the soured cream berry dessert. Several tons of items were preserved this year, this to put Bornholm also on the plates in Copenhagen, when the restaurant Kadeau Bornholm closes its doors.

Another secret I love to share with you here, Cooking and experimenting the way Chef Nicolai works, he says, is like a Jazz composition, “sometime you improvise, but at the same time your instinct and experience create a composition that feels harmonic”. This explains to me, why he has chosen to go for a autodidactic education to get there where he is today.

Nicolai’s curiosity for cooking has always been there. He comes from a family with a high gastronomic interest. His granddad’s family owns a smokery, which is common in Bornholm. I was very happy to try a smoked Bornholm Salmon during our dinner with an excellent taste, of course balanced with a fermented tomato sauce, rosehip and fig leafs. On Bornholm the climate is so special, that figs grow, too!
The menu consisted of a variety of seafood as Oyster, salmon or scallops from the , vegetables and reindeer.

You can not imagine, how delicate and intense in the same time Scots pine taste with dried tomatoes & scallops. What about the unique nutty taste of Limfjord Oysters?

Our 7 course menu at a glance:

• Limfjord Oyster, fermented gooseberry, kale & oyster emulsion.
• Young potatoes, codroe, lovage, eldercapers, blue mussel
• Bornholm smoked salmon, fermented tomato sauce, rosehip, fig leaf
• Raw scallop, horseradish cream, scots pine, semi dry tomatoes
• Celeriac, woodruff, oscietra caviar, oxalis, fermented white asparagus
• Reindeer, Barbecue jelly, currant, rehydrated carrot & beetroot, chicken wing sauce
• Soured cream, currant, raspberry, gooseberry, blueberry, rhubarb root oil, seaweed oil

The absolute highlight of my dinner was not only the visual presentation, more than that, it’s the different preparation techniques and the perfectly balanced flavor and taste of every ingredient that fascinated me. The dishes connected mind and soul, it was a surprise with every bite. 

A big thank you to Chef Nicolai Nørregaard and his team for introducing me to the food from Bornholm. A very warm thank you to the Grand hotel Kronenhof and St. Moritz Gourmet Festival for the flawless organization.

Curious to read about other St. Moritz Gourmet Festival experiences, check my stories here.

My personal highlight: Making my own cheese up in the Bernese Emmental – Feeling the origins of this Original Swiss Cheese directly under my fingers

The whole world knows it, one of Switzerland’s heritages is the Cheese. I love to share with you the story of the Swiss Original Emmental Cheese. Let’s get into the history of this delicacy with the famous holes.

The name of the cheese comes from the valley of the Emme located in the canton of Berne. Hundreds of years ago the farmers stayed at the alp from summer to winter. To survive during their stays they needed food! Soon they found out, that with the remaining milk of the healthy cows cheese can be created to still the hunger.

What makes the Emmental region unique

The region of Emmental is famous for its wide green juicy fields and happy cows. They graze peacefully, following their instinct to eat so much that their udders explode. Around 120 farmers belong to a corporation that delivers fresh high quality milk to produce the Original Emmental Cheese. The farmers feed the animals with healthy power food as soy or barley for example but also grass and hay (not silage). The cows live in a healthy and clean surrounding. These farmers know, that the care for their animals is essential to get quality milk for the Emmental Cheese.

How to recognize the one and only original Emmentaler Cheese AOP

It comes with a diameter of 80 to 100 cm, weighs 75 to 120 KG  and follows a maturation of at least 4 month in a selected cheese cellar. He contains little amount of salt and a unique nutty-mild aroma. The holes are probably the most typical feature of the Emmentaler AOP. They are cherry to nut sized and arise during the ripening process. The temperature and the humidity play an important role on the maturation process.

Did you buy a piece of Emmental? Want to know where your Emmentaler AOP was made? It’s easy and unique to track that. On every piece of Emmentaler AOP, you will find a cheese number on the bark, that is the number of the cheese dairy in which your Emmentaler AOP was made. Find out where your Emmentaler AOP comes from. Get more here.

Why does the AOP Emmentaler Cheese have these typical holes?

The bacteria begin to ferment and get trapped in the milk. They give give off carbon dioxide, and the carbon dioxide forms bubbles in the cheese. The Emmentaler AOP exists in various degrees of maturity. There are mild and more aromatic ones. The aromatic “reserve” one is matured for at least 8 months, the extremely aromatic “Höhlengereift” (cave-aged) are matured for at least 12 month.

What means AOP

The Emmental is AOP certified. AOP means: Protected term of origin. This official quality mark is reserved for traditional products with deep-rooted regional origins. Once protected designations have been registered by the Swiss Federal Office of Agriculture, they may only be used for products that meet the specified requirements regarding origin, production and quality. Independent certification centers check that these standards are adhered to. For the AOP cheese the use of any additives is prohibited, as is the use of genetically modified ingredients.

Where to experience best how this Swiss Original Cheese is made from scratch – The Emmentaler Schaukäserei

Find four cheese dairies from different eras at the Emmentaler cheese factory The Küherstock (1741), the Chäshütte (1900), the old village dairy (1954) and the show dairy (1989). We start our tour at the old Küherstock, where Karin introduced us to the authentic way of creating the cheese called Mutschli.
I am fascinated about the ancient huge pot where the milk is fired on the wood and cheese processed to the shape of a round loaf. We have the privilege to help her in the production steps of the cheese making.

It’s a unique sensation to have fresh produced soft cheese under the fingers.

As of 1989 the fabrication takes place in modern production facilities. This is where our tour continues. Here we have the honor to put the original label on a huge original Emmental Loaf. Beside that we learn about the importance of hygiene and security tracking of every single instrument used for the production of the cheese.

Are you planning a trip with friends & family to Emmental?

Absolutely consider to stop at the showdairy from April to October: 09.00 – 18.30 and from November to March: 09.00  – 17.00. Get all of the information here.

On our trip we had the chance to visit one of the 120 farmers that deliver the milk to the cheese factory. It’s the farm of Roland Ryser he manages in third generation with his family. The house is from 1766. A typical construction from the region of Emmental. The garden transmits much care and love in every detail. I can feel why cows here are happy, they get professional care and are fed with high quality food. Brand ambassador and “Schwingerkönig” Matthias Sempach introduced us to the food concept chosen for their animals. I was curious enough to even try one of their feed sort!

In the Emmental the large residential houses with stables attached are traditionally built in wood. The enormous hipped roofs are very typical. They reach down low on both sides of the building.

Where is the Emmental stored until it gets his unique Original taste?

Every Emmentaler AOP loaf ripens naturally for at least 120 days to develop its mildly nutty flavor and the typical holes. This happens first at the cheese dairies and then in a larger cheese cellar such as the one from Gourmino AG we visited. Here the “affinage” takes place.

Affinage: The art of aging your cheese gracefully

You cannot imagine the intensity and variety of odors that come together in such a cellar. Here is where I tasted the first piece of a 3 years old Emmental Cheese ever in my life. An intense aromatic Emmental never tried before. Unique.

The last step on our Blogger Trip was the visit of the an historical mill. Caci’s Mühle is a construction from the year 1969, today renovated to a true pearl for events. The house is managed by a wonderful family that puts plenty of care and creativity you notice at first sight. The house is open to public and can be rented for special events. Here we had the honor to cut the a piece of a aged Emmental Cheese and enjoy a true Emmentaler brunch Caci style!

A special thank you for this unforgettable tour goes to Mimmo Caci. He shared with us all of his knowledge and passion of the Emmentaler Cheese story and Luana Monopoli. And of course to the wonderful staff of Compresso that organized our days to be magic & unique.

In the mood to get inspired by more  blog stories & Swiss specialities? Get more here.