It’s impossible to imagine Mathieu and Marc-Etienne Cuendet’s garden crammed with crates of tomatoes in the middle of January. Poets (almost extinct) among growers, they handle fertilizer, work the soil and pamper their vegetables with as much respect as passion. The brothers from Bremblens are fighting for ultra-local cultivation, while large-scale distribution stopped respecting nature a long time ago. Whose fault is that? Consumers, always on the lookout for a full range of fruit and vegetables at any time of year? The supermarkets, who profit from this bargain? But today, customs are evolving, habits are changing, customers are moving on and chefs are delighting. It’s time to restore the reputation of these “forgotten” vegetables. But are they really? <\/p>\n
Let’s be frank: apart from carrots, winter vegetables are far from attractive. The mission of integration seems difficult. Turnips, radishes, chard, cabbage, celery, columbi, Jerusalem artichokes, parsnips or rutabagas… The vegetable parade of these earthy gems suffers from a lack of notoriety. And yet, the craze is real. “There’s a great response from customers, who are keen to discover new things and respect the vegetable calendar. In any case, with us, they don’t really have a choice,” observes Mathieu Cuendet. It’s true that the market gardener and his brother do things well. As proof, every day they bring out of the ground what Mother Nature has been kind enough to give them, with no storage in fridges, and a guarantee of optimal quality and freshness. <\/p>\n
In the world of haute gastronomy, the vegetable revolution began in Paris in 2001, when chef Alain Passard announced with great fanfare that he was withdrawing meat from his menu. It was a 180-degree turnaround for a chef renowned for his roasting skills. With his own vegetable gardens growing outside the capital, he became the forerunner of an autarkic cycle advocating produce straight from the earth to the plate. It’s a change of direction for a milieu that had previously supported a culinary doctrine that imposed foods rich in animal protein on menus. <\/p>\n
At his three-Michelin-starred restaurant L’Arp\u00e8ge, Alain Passard puts the vegetable at the center of the world and places his gardeners on a pedestal. “They are my companions on the road, my partners in life. They’re the ones who enable me to be so creative every day and to produce such fresh cuisine,” he declares in the documentary devoted to him by Netflix. <\/p>\n
Marie Moatti, a bionutritionist specializing in micronutrition and naturopathy, has also noted the reappearance of certain vegetable varieties after a long hibernation. “Their image has long been associated with a dark period in our history. After the Second World War, we tried to eliminate them from our diet, even though they were part of our daily diet.” Filled with good things for body and mind, old-fashioned vegetables are rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, and remain excellent transit regulators. Like the carrot. <\/p>\n
The Greeks and Romans were well aware that its consumption enhanced visual acuity. Today, certain studies recognize its protective virtues for the cardiovascular system and lung cancer prevention with two to four servings a week. Spinach and winter squash contain lutein and zeaxanthin, extracts of which are used to prevent certain eye diseases. Chard ribs, rich in fiber, minerals and antioxidants, lower blood pressure by reducing glycemia. “Parsnips, meanwhile, play a role in cancer prevention, as they contain many antioxidants.” <\/p>\n
Marie Moatti reminds us of the essential notion of respecting seasonality. “From a nutritional point of view, a tomato that grows out of the ground in January contains absolutely nothing. The soil brings a significant quantity of minerals and trace elements to the vegetables, guaranteeing their nutritional value.” Another point, another battle: it’s important to always favor a short circuit to avoid storage and long transport. “Even if it’s stamped organic, a vegetable imported from South America contains almost nothing between the time it’s picked and the time it arrives on a supermarket shelf.” The cooking method is also essential to guarantee the benefits of these winter products. Steaming them gently at 95 degrees or cooking them in a wok is the best way to avoid damaging them. <\/p>\n
In Lausanne, chef Anthony Mac\u00e9 of the H\u00f4tel de la Paix in Lausanne delights guests with his Chioggia beet mille-feuille. Garnished with a Forel fresh goat’s cheese mousse, the starter is accompanied by a hazelnut and fleur de sel crumble, enhanced by a white beet vinaigrette. This former disciple of Bernard Ravet at Vufflens-le-Ch\u00e2teau gives lasagne cold-season colors by garnishing it with winter vegetables and a squash mousse. “Each vegetable is cooked separately to retain its full flavour”, explains the chef. Not far away, Luis Zuzarte is back behind the stoves of the Caf\u00e9 des Philosophes for this vegetal pilgrimage. Served as a dessert, the parsnip is candied and placed on a matcha yoghurt and lemon crisp. <\/p>\n
To be enjoyed:<\/p>\n
Indomitable market gardeners and free-spirited restaurateurs promote local, seasonal produce. From the fields to the kitchens, we take a look at winter vegetables that are good for body and soul. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":19954,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"slim_seo":{"title":"The riches of forgotten vegetables | Restaurant | Edouard Amoiel","description":"Indomitable market gardeners and free-spirited restaurateurs promote local, seasonal produce. From the fields to the kitchens, we take a look at winter vegetabl"},"_slim_seo_primary_term_category":0,"_slim_seo_primary_term_post_tag":0,"_slim_seo_primary_term_restaurants-par-lieux":0,"_slim_seo_primary_term_style-de-restaurant":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"restaurants-par-lieux":[],"style-de-restaurant":[],"class_list":["post-19953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-non-categorise"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amoiel.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amoiel.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amoiel.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amoiel.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amoiel.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/amoiel.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19953\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amoiel.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amoiel.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amoiel.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amoiel.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19953"},{"taxonomy":"restaurants-par-lieux","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amoiel.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/restaurants-par-lieux?post=19953"},{"taxonomy":"style-de-restaurant","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amoiel.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/style-de-restaurant?post=19953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}