SWISS takes top cuisine from St. Moritz aloft

SWISS will be delighting its inflight guests with delicacies from Switzerland’s Canton Grisons from today onwards. Frédéric Breuil, the renowned executive chef at Badrutt’s Palace Hotel in St. Moritz and his colleague Reto Mathis of Mathis Food Affairs in Corviglia St. Moritz have created a series of tasty meals for First and Business Class customers in the latest chapter of the airline’s “SWISS Taste of Switzerland” inflight foodservice concept. The new Grisons delights will remain on SWISS flights until March 18.

SWISS offers its guests meals that have been devised by some of Switzerland’s leading chefs under its rotating “SWISS Taste of Switzerland” inflight foodservice concept. Now, coinciding with the 15th St. Moritz Gourmet Festival, the focus turns to fine creations from Canton Grisons in the south-east of the country. The latest exclusive meals, from the repertoires of Frédéric Breuil and Reto Mathis, will be offered to First and Business Class travellers on intercontinental services departing from Zurich and on selected flights inbound to Switzerland from Wednesday, November 28 onwards. SWISS will also be serving Mathis Food Affairs items to its Business Class customers on longer European flights departing from Switzerland.

Frédéric Breuil, whose creations will be served in SWISS First Class over the coming three months, is executive chef at Badrutt’s Palace Hotel and is among the top flight of international chefs. It is thanks to Frédéric and his skills that the hotel’s Le Restaurant now holds 15 Gault-Millau points. And his trademark creations – traditional French cuisine fused with contemporary international flair – will soon be delighting SWISS customers aloft, too.

Reto Mathis, whose creations will be offered to SWISS’s Business Class passengers, is in charge of Europe’s highest gourmet temple, which stands at an altitude of 2 486 metres. La Marmite, probably the best-known restaurant of Mathis Food Affairs, serves its guests Reto’s famed caviar and truffle specialities. Tradition blended with innovation and international flair in regional surrounds: that’s the cuisine of Reto Mathis, and it is amply reflected in the meals that this leading chef has devised for SWISS’s latest inflight fare.

SWISS’s First Class customers will be served an amuse-bouche of tartelette with chanterelles and tartare Bresaola on a grilled baguette. The choice of hors d’oeuvres will include zucchetti stuffed with a seafood terrine and prawns on a pepperoni and artichoke base. For the main course Frédéric Breuil recommends a fillet of beef with shallot-flavoured balsamic jus served with turned potatoes, braised Belgian endives, capuns (a Grisons speciality) and chard stalks à la crème with grated cheese. This is followed by a selection of Swiss cheeses; and the dessert course features an exquisite Palace truffle gateau with walnut ice cream. The whole gourmet experience is accompanied by carefully-selected Swiss and other wines. For example an Amigne du Valais or a Château Pontet-Canet AC Pauillac.

SWISS’s Business Class guests can look forward to a mouthwatering selection of starters that include slices of air-dried venison and gravlax with a dill and mustard sauce accompanied by a ratatouille salad. Reto Mathis’ main course is a fillet steak with herb butter and jus lié, served with red and yellow carrots and a truffle-and-potato timbale. And the dessert is a fabulous chocolate truffle cake served on a blackberry coulis.

Through its “SWISS Taste of Switzerland” culinary concept, SWISS offers its customers an intriguing sample of its home country’s varied regional cuisines with their specialities and local produce. The programme, which was introduced in 2002, has already featured the cooking of various cantons including Vaud, Basel, Valais, Zurich, Ticino and Appenzell. “SWISS Taste of Switzerland” has also earned the inflight catering industry’s Mercury Award for its innovative culinary approach.