Chügelipastete
Fly to Lucerne
The Lucerne vol-au-vent, the city’s festive dish.
The Chügelipastete comes to the table like a small monument: a tall, round, golden case of puff pastry, topped with its hat, which you lift to find a steaming stew. Inside roll the Chügeli, the “little balls” that give it its name: dumplings of fine sausage meat, veal and pork, poached in stock. They swim with pieces of veal and mushrooms in a creamy sauce, and soaked raisins are slipped in too, which come as a surprise the first time.
It is served with peas and carrots, rice, noodles or chips, depending on the household. In the Lucerne dialect it is called Lozärner Chögalipastete. Its oldest mentions date from the 18th century, and its recipe has never stopped shifting since: the shape, the filling and the proportions have changed from one generation to the next, but the puff pastry case, the meat, the mushrooms and the raisins have stayed.
It has another name too, Fritschipastete, after Fritschi, the figure who opens the Lucerne carnival. Fritschi stands for one of the city’s old guilds, the saffron guild, and the pie is part of its traditions. On Fat Thursday, at five in the morning, he arrives by boat on Lake Lucerne with his family, and a bang kicks off the festivities.
In the butchers’ shops of Central Switzerland, by the way, the Chügeli are sold already rolled, ready to poach.
Sources: Wikipedia, “Luzerner Chügelipastete” (German); RSI, “Dal Chügelipastete all’Holdrio, il Carnevale di Lucerna è una festa da gustare”.
Finding the chest
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Every site of Lucerne is discovered: the chest is waiting for you near the town.
