ALPINE PORK AND KIMCHI
BY BENOÎT CARCENAT
Who wouldn't dream of working with a chef like Benoit Carcenat?
Elected chef of the year 2023 by Gault & Millau (18/20), freshly awarded with a second Michelin-star, he was trained by the greatest in the industry, and now runs Le Valrose in Rougemont in duo with his wife Sabine.
This friendly and contagious Frenchman, who has put down roots in the magical Bernese alps, never ceases to amaze us with his culinary genious.
The Carcenat signature is a blend of surprises, unique combinations, techniques, and simply beautiful local products.
A CHEF'S WORD
"I am super proud and happy of the collaboration with Madame Sum because I am truly a dim sum lover.
I find this recipe especially satisfying because it's a really unique dim sum that incorporates Asian influences like our in-house, locally-made kimchi. Additionally, it features a completely Swiss ingredient – alpine pork.
These porks are relatively lean, as they are primarily fed on the by-products of Gruyères cheese production. Regarding the kimchi, well, I fell in love with this product when I went to South Korea, and I returned home with my arms filled with it. So when I came back, I said, "let's make a big round of kimchi", that we then buried under the ground! And so to create this dumpling, we took the kimchi out after two years, and it's just a magnificent product.
I wouldn't imagine making any changes; the recipe is exactly as I envisioned it, and it's truly fabulous!"
LE VALROSE, A NEW ADVENTURE
Born in the South of France, Benoît Carcenat tastes from an early age the quintessence of french cuisine and of their "savoir-manger". He trained alongside the biggest in the industry like Joël Robuchon and Thierry Marx.
In the early 2000s, Carcenat put down his suitcases brimming with knowledge in Switzerland, the land of cheese and chocolate. The real reason for his visit was not so much these Swiss delicacies, but the Hotel de Ville de Crissier (3 Michelin stars), often considered one of the best tables in the world, where he was sous-chef for several years.
While perfectioning his craft, he intensively trained for the MOF contest, the highest distinction you can get as a chef, which he successfully obtained in 2015.
A few years later, Benoît and his wife Sabine took over the Valrose in Rougemont, making it a table not to be missed in Switzerland. Inspired by his travels around the world, Benoît Carcenat's cuisine is local, close to the product and daring. His menu is the perfect reflection of a style that is sensitive and full of values.
WE INTRODUCE: A DUMPLING OF CRAFT AND TALENT
Benoît didn't need an introduction to the topic. Having traveled to Seoul and in the rest of china for many months, he immediately got on board with a variety of ideas of how he could make his signature dumpling.
Chef Carcenat's skill of perfectly combining flavours is something unique. His vision behind this traditional yet very complex dumpling is a match made in heaven.
Different worlds come together working with fermentation, local produce and fusion kitchen. Starting with a kimchi made of local white and red cabbage that has been fermenting since 2021 for an uncomparable deep and earthy taste, the juicy minced meat from the local Alpine pork farm brought together with a perfectly executed demi-glace containing all the richness for these three elements to sing in harmony.
We call it the choir of consonance.
KIMCHI, KI-WHO??
Kimchi is a traditional Korean dish made of salted and fermented vegetables. Cabbage is the most commonly used vegetable, although carrots, radish, and cucumber are also used in this flavorful recipe. This mix of pickled and fermented vegetables was used by Koreans to preserve vegetables during winter and is very popular nowadays with varying recipes depending on regions and seasons.
Inspired by his journey in Seoul, chef Carcenat decided to repeat history by following the original Korean principles of fermentation and giving it his unique twist. By burrying the jars at 60cm under the ground, they were in fact protected from extreme temperatures and from daylight, giving the cabbage the ideal environment to evolve into a kimchi with earthy and spicy flavours.