Visiting chef shares regional Swiss fare

David Puser, a visiting executive chef from the Swiss School of Tourism and Hospitality, and HRIM student Katie Bauer prepare capuns.

3 p.m., March 24, 2005--David Puser, a visiting executive chef from the Swiss School of Tourism and Hospitality, a hotel management school located in Switzerland’s eastern Alps affiliated with UD’s Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management (HRIM) program, instructed 20 students in the fine of art of capun-making during an afternoon cooking demonstration Wednesday, March 23, in the satellite kitchen of Vita Nova.

Flavoring his demonstration with tasty tidbits of regional lore and history, Puser imparted the intricacies of capuns--their various ingredients and shapes, the perfect serving size and presentation--and in the process shared the deeper lesson that cooking, particularly regional cooking, is less strict science than high art.

In between cutting and stirring and folding and sauteing, Puser explained that his original Swiss ingredients--aged meats and cheeses--had been sacrificed to customs officials, and that his usual kitchen knives had been judiciously left behind in Switzerland to avoid potential problems with airport security. Amending his recipe accordingly, Puser made his regional delicacy seem even more authentic.

“Capuns are a regional dish of the Romanish people, who populate the eastern Swiss Alps,” he said, “and because they were mostly peasants and cut off by mountains, they made do with what they had.”

An ambitious-appearing dish involving several ingredients and steps, capuns became quick work in Puser’s and HRIM student Katie Bauer’s hands as the demonstration progressed.

“You can see that someone has a lot of work to do tonight,” Puser joked as he folded leaves of Swiss chard over a filling of spaetzle dough and bacon and gently transferred the bundles to and from a sauteing pan. “Tonight we will have 45 guests,” he added, “so we will be hit really hard.”

Before finishing his demonstration, which ended with a presentation of three perfectly browned capuns in a cream and chicken-broth sauce, Puser ran down the rest of the regionally themed menu, which included rack of lamb, a baked potato dish, lentils with carrots and Toblerone terrine with berries.

Puser began his lifelong fascination with cooking after his first job as a busboy in his native California. He has cooked and traveled widely and spent four years in the Coast Guard aboard an ice breaker before earning enough tuition to fund his studies at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y.

He has worked as a chef in Switzerland since 1989 and has served for more than a decade as the executive chef of the Swiss School of Tourism and Hospitality. In a typical week, Puser teaches three cooking classes in German and two in English. He lives in a village in the eastern Swiss Alps with his wife and two children.

Similar dishes prepared by Puser and UD students will be on the Vita Nova menu tonight. To make reservations, call (302) 831-0500.

Article by Becca Hutchinson
Photos by Jon Cox

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