A SWISS CHEF'S CAREER: THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE YUMMY (4)

Chapter 4

                     Finale I got my notice again to go in to the military. Here in Switzerland every business has to give you leave of absence for the military and have to keep paying  you for that time and we also get payed from the military, that's a pretty good deal!

                       Arriving and receiving Uniform and equipment to start our 4 months schooling               in the Swiss military to become a Tank soldier.

                     I arrived in Thun, a town on a lake in the Berner Oberland with 100 other recruits. We all been assigned to the Tank division and of course every one of us wanted to become a driver. Our troop had 10 Tanks available, 2 drivers to each Tank, the rest are gunners and loaders. In my mind there was a fat chance for me because normally if you are a cook in your private life they usually stick you in the kitchen in the military too, but I got lucky! 

                     To choose 20 out of 100 we each had to take a driving test in a Jeep on some rough terrain one on one with the Tank driver instructor. After driving only few minutes and finding out about my profession he had all kind of questions about hollandaise, demi glaze, meringues etc, etc. He was a fanatic hobby cook and he made sure that I become a tank driver because he had a lot more of culinary questions in the near future. I was very happy and felt proud and privileged to become a tank pilot!

We had a driving test with a jeep before we got chosen to

pilot a Tank

It looks like special training was exhausting!

For 4 months I was trained to drive a 55 ton Tank

even the picture is not showing it, I had a fantastic time.

My official certification as a Tank driver

                      This 4 Months in 1965 flew by and the time came to say goodbye to all the new friends I met in the military I will probably never see again because we all have different professions and go separate paths and interests.

                      I went back to the Kursaal Bern. Nothing changed there, everybody was happy to see me back and I had a fantastic time, in fact I get promoted to sous–chef. In August 1966, I had my first obligatory military service of 3 weeks.  Every man in Switzerland is obligated every year until I believe he is 42. One other extraordinary experience, I had the privilege to drive the PZ 61, at that time the most modernized 60 ton tank with top speed over 70 km/hour.

                       After that, back in Bern I came to the conclusion that it was time to advance my career! I could stay there all my life, even Chef Bernink try to talk me in to it and take over his job because he was about to retire. I would have had probably a good life there but that’s not what I wanted. Travel, see more, learn more, earn more etc, etc. In February 1967 I found a job as Chef Garde manger at the Lodore Swiss Hotel in the lake district Cumberland in England.

Final Certificate from Kursaal Bern

                       ( As a side note,  to build your career as a chef you need to get a certificate from very establishment you work at. It will help you to prove your professional experience to your future employer.)

                         I resigned at the Kursaal immediately, I quit my apartment, got permission to be absent from the military, a must, because I will leave Switzerland. I also had about 4 to 5 goodbye party's and went for a few day’s to see my Father, Mother and my brother at there home in Vogelsang.

                          Here we Go:
Time for the recipe and what would be better than the famous Militar soup:

                Many years ago I put that recipe on the blog for a dear friend of mine so this will be just a reminder!

                Swiss military soup or Swiss army soup is not a classical Swiss dish and you definitely could not find it in any cook book unless it was written by me.

           

                During my service in the Swiss army as a “Centurion 55” tank pilot, we spent a lot of time training in the alps and jura hills and that was the time we got served a dish called "Suedfleisch Topf" (Boiled Beef Stew) at least 2 times a week. It was a mixed vegetable stew with big chunks of beef and was served with boiled potatoes, fresh bread and mustard. As a professional I understand the convenience in serving the troupes with a one pot meal out in the boonies, but it also became my favorite meal overall during my Service.

                   In my later years as chef I converted this dish in to a beef, vegetable soup and incorporated it in many menu's as Swiss Military Soup. It was served in Acapulco Mexico, 
Pinehurst NC, Jupiter FL, Lake Arrowhead CA, St Louis MO, and finally on Mackinac Island MI

                       Here it is :     about 1 Gallon

                       1 lb beef shoulder

                       2 medium onions

                       4-5 medium carrots

                       1/4 head cabbage

                       1 medium leek

                       4-5 pc celery

                       4 small beef bouillon cubs

                       4 bay leafs

                       salt pepper to taste

          Cut beef in to 4 to 5 oz cubs, place in large soup pot with two gallon of cold water

and bay leaves. Bring to boil. Reduce heath and simmer for 2 hours without cover. Cut all vegetable in small pieces and keep separate.

                        Now add more water,so you end up with about 5 quart of liquid.
                      Add beef bouillons cubs.
                      Add onions and celery and let simmer for 10 minutes.
                      Add carrots and leek and simmer for 10 minutes.
                      Add cabbage and let simmer for 10 minutes.
                      Remove beef chunks, let cool for few minutes and dice in to small pieces, place back in                       to soup. Season with salt and pepper. 

SWISS MILITARY SOUP

A SWISS CHEF'S CAREER: THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE YUMMY (3)

Chapter 3

Newly renovated KURSAAL BERN

                My plan for the immediate future was simple. I was already one year behind with my military obligation to the Swiss army. With 19 all Swiss male have to report to a athletic and physical check up and they will assigned you to a military unit they think you will fit best.

                Since I was still in my apprenticeship they gave me permission to go the year after, also in 1964. So I got the letter to report the second week in July at Thun, a nice little town in the Berner Oberland. I packed my stuff in Lausanne and went home to my parents for a week before going to the military.

               Unfortunate it is not going always like planed. The weekend before entering in to the army I played soccer in the backyard with my brother, bare feet I hit accidentally the garden hose instead of the ball and broke my little toe! Of course, the military will not accept you with broken bones and I had to be excused again. That was not a problem but now I had to call the job I had already lined up for after my service and see if they accept me right now and give me leave of absence later. Lucky for me they agreed. For the next two week I could only wear sandals and you are not allowed to work in a kitchen with open shoes. I had on extra two week vacation at my parents house! My Father and Mother didn't seem to mind! I guess they knew that I will be gone for along time after.

                  End of June 1964 I took the train to Bern, the principal town of Switzerland. I did find myself a little apartment near where I got the job. Everything looked great again, my first paying Job and because of my extended apprenticeship also well payed, my foot healed very well and the establishment is one of the best in Bern and well known!

I started my Chef’s career as Chef de Party (Saucier) in Kursaal Bern

Original building  in 1964 when I worked there

The kitchen brigade consisted of 30 to 35 people. We been open 6 days a week, closed on Monday, Executive Chef Jean Henri Bernink became my idol for the future. He was creative, a top organizer, and everything he produced tested delicious, out of this world, he was fair and a superior leader. Right of the bat I got along great with everybody. In the meantime my friend Heinz from Montricher finished his apprenticeship too and I was able to get him a job here in the Kursaal as chef de Party (Entremetier).

Executive Chef Jean Henri Bernink

at this time he was 63 year old

1964/1965 Kursaal's first class kitchen brigade after finishing a banquet

Same group on an outing in our favorite waterhole the Restaurant Spitalacker.

                We where international, the Garde-manger was from Yugoslavia, the Chef Patissier from Austria and we had Commies, (kitchen term for beginner cooks), from Japan, Italy and Germany. Our cuisine was 100% old fashion French-Swiss! Let me explain, French because its based on Escoffier, Swiss because we really perfected the taste with better ingredients and traditional Swiss dishes. I am talking about Chateaubriand, Carre d’Agneau, Filet Wellington etc, etc. all dishes where accompanied with 8 to 10 fresh vegetable all served in a designed arrangement of glazed duchorigionaless potatoes. We had first class meats, produce, charcuterie, dairy products and other specialty items to work with thanks to Chef Bernink.

                 Beside a beautiful Restaurant seating 80 people, we had a giant theater style show room seating 500 people featuring artists every weekends and holidays and also for holding conferences. The big attraction was the sinkable stage big enough to hold a big band like Benny Goodman plus some dancers. On several occasion we brought the stage two floors down to the Kitchen area and set up incredible beautiful looking buffets on stage and ride up to the dinning room and serve the guest. Needless to say, we got always a standing ovation by the patrons and this gives you a great immense good feeling (part of your Pay) .

                             Its time again for the promist recipe, I like to coordinate and share a recipe from every place I worked. We cooked so many incredibly delicious items and after all it is now 50 years ago, but I still remember Items that were always in demand!

                Here we go:             

                                  

Swiss Oxtail Soup

Perfect amount of oxtail for about 8 to 10 portion of bisque

Ingredients:

1 lb Oxtail cut in chunks

2 oz olive oil

2 ea medium onion cut in small cubes

2 ea medium carrots peeled cut in half and diced

2 ea medium celery stick cut in half and diced

1 ea small leek thoroughly washed, cut in half and diced

3 small pieces Garlic diced

2 sprigs fresh thyme

2 ea bay leave

6 oz tomato paste

2 cups red wine

2 tablespoon flour

2 Quart water

4 cubes Knorr beef bouillon

2 med russet potatoes, peeled and finely diced

For Garnish:

5 oz sour cream

4 oz Gruyere

sauté cut up oxtail in olive oil until golden brown, add onion, celery, carrots and

leek and sauté them until there get also brown and tenter. Add tomato paste,

mix well and sauté for about 3 to 4 minutes until paste gets dark. (this will

add nice color to the sauce) Declace with red wine. Reduce until nearly dry,

add flour, stir well and add water and beef cubes, bring to boil and let simmer

for 2 hours. ( stir occasionally and add a little bit of water if necessary)

remove oxtail and let cool, remove thyme and bay leave.

Strain remaining liquid to a fine sieve , ad the potatoes and put back on the the stove until

potatoes are tender but not mush! Remove all meat from the bone, dice and return to soup.

Season with salt and pepper if needed.

Serve soup with grated Gruyère and sour cream.

Finished Product



A SWISS CHEF'S CAREER: THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE YUMMY (2)

CHAPTER 2

  

With the help of my parents and my boss Herman Himmel, we assured a continuation of my goal to become a chef. We found a first class boutique hotel in the French part of Switzerland to complete my apprenticeship as a cook. That was my chance to learn French beside cooking. Living there and going to school there I had no choice but to speak and write French. I'd say 85% of the population in that part of Switzerland could not speak Swiss-German!

Hotel Restaurant "Les Deux Sapins"

 This is a picture of the original building when I arrived

in 1962

After celebrating my certification for 1 week, my mother and father drove me on May 1, 1962 to Montricher and dropped me of at the Restaurant Les Deux Sapins.

Le Patron (Owner, Chef) was very nice and spoke some broken German and I new that will help me. At that point I was very nervous and insecure of myself. Only 19 and for the first time at least a year away from home! I remember getting a room assigned, getting changed in my uniform and start working the same day!

Believe me, the beginning was tough! Especially not  being very good in school at the French language and then not using it for 3 years, I was totally lost!

But this lasted not very long. I met this awesome person who started his apprenticeship a year earlier. His name was Heinz, he was born and raised in Bern, he was here for the same reason as me , to become a chef.

We where room mates and became best friends. Being here a year he spoke French perfectly and also could show me the ropes of this new territory I found myself in. 

The hotel got renovated in 2002 and even changed the name to

"Auberge Au 2 Sapins"

 The window with the open green shutters was my room for nearly two years. Of course I had to share again with my “Oberstift” Heinz.

The working schedule is totally different in a restaurant than I was used to. We had to work from 9am to 2pm, rest for 3 hours and work from 5pm to 9 pm. Usual I was off on Monday, and also every Wednesday we had to take the train all the way to Lausanne studying at the Ecole Culinaire. Of course, it is without saying, on Friday, Saturday and Sundays you can't count with your 3 hour rest in the afternoon, There was always to much prep to do. Also I can’t think of one day on these weekends we finished at 9pm. I know this sounds kind of tiring and harsh but believe me nobody ever complained or was even tired. We had on awesome team and for some reason we were always happy and the adrenalin kicked in when you see all this happy guest leaving and getting lots of compliments. This satisfaction will be a part of your salary all your life.

Heinz and I had to take this train to Lausanne and back every Wednesday

for one and a half years starting April 1962

Going to school on Wednesday was like a day off to to us, the two hour trip to Lausanne was, rain or sunshine, always very pleasant with beautiful scenery. We had to change trains in the city of Morges on the lake of Geneva. Of course we took advantage of that and always grabbed some fresh coffee and croissants from a famous bakery across the street from the train station. Unforgettable memories!

My buddy Heinz

All trade apprenticeships last 3 years in Switzerland, but since I was on my second I got 1.5 year credit and believe me this one and a half years flew by! Unfortunately, something happened!

Part of the apprenticeship is keeping a controlled recipe book, menu writing, purchasing log, and food cost control. I had no problem with the menu writing because it was fairly simple.  Purchasing and food cost are mostly numbers and I had no problem with that.  Different was all the recipes. I have to admit, my recipe book, written in French, was a total disaster. It was full of wrong words and mistakes. At that time in Switzerland the culinary teaching was based around Auguste Escoffier’s “La repertoire de la cuisine”.  This books we have to present on our final exam and are one quarter of our final grade.

To make the story short, I met a girl and she offer to rewrite my entire recipe book and I accepted it gladly! On September 18^th we had the theoretic exam and turned in our books .

On September 25, 1963 I had my final exams in the culinary school in Lausanne. There where 6 of use and at 7am we each had to pick a different 4 course menu out of a basket, write a order list, go get all the ingredients from the storeroom and start cooking. They left us by ourselves, only occasionally checking if we needed something. We where permitted to help each other and I remember clearly making all 6 dessert. At 2pm to 3pm we each had to present our dishes to 7 judges sitting in a big empty room like kings! Very intimidating.

So far so good, I came out on top and was praised by all 7 judges. After we could take a break to 5pm and were asked to be back for our grade!!

Finally we were all sitting there anticipating receiving our cook diploma and to get ready to go party. Everybody got called up to get their diploma and left the room. Everybody was gone but me, I knew something was wrong and I was very nervous. I was called and informed and interrogated at the same time about my recipe book. They assumed it belong to somebody else. Believe me, I had the most attractive recipe book of all the apprentices and that was the problem, I think, that's why they compared it with my other paper work.

I was exactly 20 years old and demoralized at that moment. My explanation was not accepted and the book has to be written in my own hand writing.  (What a joke, in today's age, with all the computers, some kids don't even know how to hand write anymore, ha)

Anyway, I had to extend my apprenticeship another 6 months!! and rewrite the book.

My boss and owner working in the rotisserie at the hotel 

seating capacity was only 18 people, very exclusive and reservation only.

The main restaurant had 60 seats and we had a

banquet facility for up to 150 people 

I finished the last 6 month in the Buffet de la Gare in Lausanne. I started November 5th and finished April 15 1964.  There is nothing worth mentioning about this short time of my career, but there was one very sad event I will never forget! Only in my second week there I walked home and there where vendors in the street selling news papers . (They never sell news paper on the street before or after this time in Switzerland) At that time the whole World got informed about John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s assassination! Everybody, not just America , loved him!

I finely received the diploma without anymore exams or tests,

I only had to present that faithful, idiotic recipe book!

 And I worked 6 months without getting payed.

          It's time again for the recipe:

It would definitely be the montricher dressing but that recipe is already in this blog.  Montricher Dressing was loved by the people then and it seems to me they still love it now. I remember from my time there of a big successful dish was the Croute aux champignon. We used Champignon, chanterelles, morels, boletus or any other available mushroom according to the season or personal preference.

   Fry the french bread slices in butter until golden brown.  Quickly saute some mushrooms and a little chopped shallot seasoned with parsley and thyme.

   Deglaze the pan with a little dry white wine and reduce slightly. Add heavy cream and reduce until sauce is getting thick. Finish with a pinch of curry powder and some Cognac.  Pour over the fried bread.

         

Always delicious!