It all began when the phone rang in Michéle Müller's office. SWISS was on the other end and asked if she would be interested in taking part in SWISS Taste of Switzerland. The excitement was immediate, she recalls: "It was Christmas time and my family was visiting me. I ran home and told them that they wouldn't believe who had called today." Born in Berlin, she has travelled quite a bit and has worked as a chef in Abu Dhabi, Italy, Ireland and Qatar. But Switzerland holds a particular appeal for her, as Engelberg is already her third stop in Switzerland. She came to Pontresina straight after her apprenticeship, then eleven years later and a few stops in between, she moved to Saas Fee. And since January 2021, she has been living in Engelberg, where she has made a culinary mark on the opening of the Kempinski Palace. She feels incredibly grounded here: "I think it's the mountains that make it special. They are so huge, you feel so tiny. Everything around you seems so much smaller when you're surrounded by huge mountains."

 

Well-travelled and lots of inspiration in her bag

Her inspiration for dishes always comes from the environment in which she is currently living – in case of Michéle Müller, these have already been quite a few. Before travelling to a new country, she always tries to explore the local culture and "do her homework", for example by researching what people in that country traditionally used to eat in the past. And then she does what she would describe as her own personal signature: she takes these traditional dishes and tries to interpret them in her own way. She constantly stresses the importance of getting to know the local area really well, as this is the key to being able to tackle local dishes.

Getting to know the area has also been a great pleasure for her in Engelberg. Even before the Kempinski Palace opened, she got to know many local producers who presented their products to the hotel. During their visits, she gained a lot of new knowledge, saw some things for the first time and learnt how things are produced. "This gives you a totally different relationship towards the product and makes you far more excited to put it on your plate," she reveals. In general, Obwalden has made her life a little easier by allowing her to use lots of products from the surrounding area. She makes sure that as many ingredients as possible come from the Engelberg valley and the neighbourhood. Whether it's honey, cheese or meat - she attaches great importance to regionality and seasonality.

 

Obwalden "with a twist"

When Michéle Müller writes recipes, she sits at the table in the old-fashioned way with pen and paper and puts all the thoughts and ideas she has collected along the way on paper. Her inspiration rarely occurs in the kitchen. She often has flashes of inspiration for her dishes when she is out and about, which she writes down and then collates to create a new dish.

When it came to the menu for SWISS, she didn't have to think twice. One product she absolutely wanted to include was Ham hock aspic, a classic from her hometown Berlin. However, as the processes in a hotel kitchen and a large-scale kitchen are massively different, she was initially unsure whether she could realise this according to her ideas. Unlike usual, she had to bear in mind that these dishes had to be cooked in large quantities every day. She was therefore all the more pleased when Gate Gourmet gave her green light and she was able to conjure up a very traditional dish.

However, she also attached great importance to representing the canton of Obwalden, her adopted home: "It was incredibly important to me that passengers have the opportunity to get to know the canton and its products more closely." One dish that particularly reflects this is the veal fillet. This has also been part of the menu at the Kempinski Palace Engelberg from day one, and Michéle Müller knew right from the beginning that she wanted to bring it onto the aircraft. "The finished menu actually tells the story of my career," she remarks. Every dish has an underlying theme or tells a story about one of the places she once lived. The carrot cake for dessert, inspired by her time in Ireland, confirms this theory once again.

When travelling, she not only takes a lot of inspiration with her, but also an appreciation for her own life and all the things she is able to experience. When she flies with SWISS, she is particularly struck by the hospitality, the passion for food and the perfection. She has also noticed these things during the collaboration. She found SWISS to be very detail-orientated, precise and accurate. "I really appreciated this because I believe I work in the same way," she says. The collaboration was therefore also very enjoyable and a lot of fun. "We have something in common. It's perfection."