Nuts about Nut Cake

Last week’s blog – you may remember – was all about the Nut Cake dispute – who invented it, who created it who first chomped through its delicious textures and thought ‘this could go down in history”…

Well actually, never mind that, it turns out, that quietly in the background, our very own Engelbert Hauser – as in Markus Hauser’s grandfather made his own version over 100 years ago. In 1892 he was the master baker of his own bakery and confectionery in Zurich, in fact over the years he and then his son Albert Richard had a string of  bakery shops throughout Zurich.

It was Albert Richard who was drawn to St Moritz in 1955 where he bought the Graubündner Kantonalbank property and turned it into a tea room. And this of course is where his father’s original Nut Cake continued to thrive as the recipe was passed on down from father to son and of course, on to Markus.

As it turns out, when you do a little more digging around, every pastry shop in the Engadin has their own special recipe which makes each one that little bit special and brings to mind the brilliant idea of doing a Nut Cake Crawl to find the top three Nut Cakes in the area… anyone up for that? Let me know!!

The battle of the Nutcake

There appears to be some heated dispute over the actual origins of the mouth-wateringly-good Engadin Nut Cake. In fact there is an enquiry going on as to who should rightfully claim ownership of a delicacy which for almost 100 years has been attributed to Fausto Pult who apparently brought the recipe back following his time spent at the Konditorei Heinz & Tester in Toulouse, France.

According to foodie historians, Pult worked there from 1920 to 1926 when he returned to his native Samedan in the Swiss valley of Engadin.

Now Zimmerman, one of the Heinz & Tester descendants is challenging his claim to being the originator of this well loved cake… he is asking for all claims made by the Pult organisation to be reviewed….it will be interesting to see the outcome, meanwhile, I am off to have another slice of this cake, whoever created it was genius…

Hay Fever sufferers try pine wood shavings

Spring is in the air and so too is pollen, lots of it! All of those who suffer from Hay Fever are torn between the delights of Spring and the sheer misery caused by inflamed sinuses, raw eyes and non-stop sneezing. I have also managed to add a new symptom to my list, a great rattling cough brought on by merely inhaling too deeply or laying my head on my pillow!

Relief only comes about if I go to the seaside, or, as I am finding, if I climb high enough to avoid whatever grass seed is causing the problem. So up here at over 1800 metres I suffer much less – although don’t start stampeding up the mountainside please, because this is not the case for everyone!

Having said that, one of the worst times seem to be in the evening and when I go to bed. My head hits the pillow and I start wheezing. Now last year I wrote a blog about the various pillows the Hauser has on offer and it was at their suggestion that I took one of their super-delux, pine-shaving filled pillow home with me.

It weighs a ton and is indeed crunchy under the head, yet strangely soothing too. There is a gentle pine scent and it does take some getting used to, but, guess what… no wheezing. I lay there waiting for the tightening of the chest – nothing! The shavings come from the Swiss stone pine which is found at very high altitude, so I don’t suggest you start filling a sack with your local pine cuttings, that probably won’t do the trick!

However for anyone who struggles through the nights due to Hay Fever, and apparently other sleep related issues – this is worth looking into. Next time you come here book yourself an Arven pillow and let me know what you think!

A couple of quirky things the Swiss do – well

 Well, OK, they don’t generally take their cows to the car wash for a wax and polish, but this was a special occasion… the cattle exhibition in Aesch BL to be precise!

Horn sled racing falls neatly into that quirky-things-to-do category. These glorious sleds used to be solely for the purpose of transporting wood and hay in inaccessible parts of the mountains. Cumbersome to manoeuvre they are hardly what you would call sleek racing machines but they are funky that’s for sure!

Back in the 1500s cow herders used blades of grass and ivy bush leaves to call their animals – until one young enterprising type hollowed out a young pine tree and the Alphorn was born – it is now one of those iconic swiss objects….

And then there is Hornussen which honestly has to be one of the most baffling sports ever conjured up! Some say it is a mix of baseball and golf. One player hits a rubber Hornuss (projectile) with a long, ungainly fishing rod-style contraption. The opposing team stands in the field and tries to hit the projectile with large wooden paddles. The batter only scores when no one hits it out of the air and is given bonus points for distance. Or something like that!

Marmots and a Spring walk

 

Guess who is making quite an appearance all over the mountains right now? Mr Marmot and his very much extended family are poking their cute little heads up all over the place, taking in the warm sunshine and enjoying the changing vista…

We are in that transition period when all that frenzied activity on the mountains is being replaced with more sedate walking, rambling and of course mountain biking. We have gone from this amount of snow…

….to pretty much this…

Well, OK, not quite so drastic!

We have been for some beautiful walks of late all of which appropriately end at some culinary destination which rewards our effort. Check out this pizza oven that delivered the most delicious, thin crust pizzas I have had for a long time…

  It took about 40 minutes to walk up and out of St Moritz through the pine forests to emerge on the terrace of this Clavadatsch, a mountain cabin or retreat. Whilst it felt like somewhere Heidi would have hiked to we sat sipping champagne so probably not quite the same experience as hers – but pretty wonderful as we watched the marmots doing what marmots do best at this time of the year…. soak up the sun!

Hand picked and local

It would be easy to simply source the best of the best from all four corners of the world but in this day and age it is all the more relevant to check out what is grown or produced locally – especially when the quality is top notch ….from the teas you drink at Hauser’s which come from local producers in  Puschlav, to the coffee from Max Havelaar….

Locally made is all about sourcing the flour for these gipfellis from Graubünden Gran Alpin and the Bolivian chocolate, well, ok Bolivia is not quite local but we get it from a local company – Felchlin – who source the best.

We have always been on the lookout for local products to showcase which is how the idea of having our own ‘gold standard’ came about. The Hauser Etichetta endorses products which are produced locally and tick all our quality and high value boxes. Being an ‘Etichetta’ scout is one of the best jobs about as you have a perfect excuse for tasting, fingering and sipping all sorts of wondrous foods and drinks.

and the regular local markets that are held here are the perfect setting for doing just that..

As you can see, we are never alone in checking out the local wares, although we do have a strict criteria for picking those products that are given the Hauser Etichetta..

So – if anyone wants to put an idea forward we are more than happy to consider it – the more choice we can offer our customers the better and it is all about creating an umbrella brand that delivers what it promises, quality, variety and wholesomeness…a heady mix!

We have our winners!

Thanks to all of you who participated in our mystery guest for breakfast contest… we had some interesting suggestions! The winners were Nina Del Curto and Caterina Lanfranchi pictured here receiving their chocolate prize with Marinda Hauser! Well done…

And so for all of you left wondering, the mystery slalom racer was indeed Daniel Sette – here we are at breakfast along with Markus Hauser…

I know, he has changed somewhat over the years… don’t we all – here he is in his more familiar kit…

and in action…

and finally with his parents and Markus!

Thanks again and hope our winners enjoyed their chocolate!