EDITION 30 // 2017_2018

E X P E R I E N C E : G A S T R O N O M Y Tomaten-Experiment im Garten von Caminada. Einer von vielen, die Gemüse- Spezialist Markus Pfiffner pflegt ............ An experiment with tomatoes in Caminada’s garden – one of many being carried out by vegetable specialist Markus Pfiffner 26 // T O W E R R E V U E Schlossküche werden sie geschmort, karamellisiert und getrocknet – und damit zu aromatischen Hochgenüssen erhöht, die eine Reise nach Fürstenau zur königlichen Gaumenfreude machen. Vielleicht möchten Sie vorbeischauen, auf der Rückreise vom Badrutt’s Palace, wenn Sie im IGNIV (siehe nächste Seite) auf den Caminada-Ge- schmack gekommen sind. // e Fürstenau is the smallest town in Graubünden. 3,000 peaks are nearby – Piz Beverin, the Lenzer Horn. “It’s where my roots are”, says Andreas Caminada, “I’m a simple soul.” And simply brilliant, because he behaves like a truffle pig here. At the age of just 25, he went into debt to lease Schauenstein Castle. Such a bold endeavour really requires supreme self-assurance – to simply start cooking in the middle of nowhere in the countryside! But his ins- tinct proved completely unerring. At the age of 27, he was awarded his first Michelin star for his cuisine, which is a sensual celebration of the region’s products: “focused on taste, beautifully detailed”– contemporary. The castle restaurant now boasts three Michelin stars and 19 Gault Millau points – and lots of satellites if you take into consideration all the people giving their best for it. This not only includes Marcel Skibba, who cooks à la Caminada at IGNIV in win- ter: none of these wondrous delights would exist without all the people who share Caminada’ passion and who supply him with the very best ingredients: farmers, breeders, gardeners – “People like Georg, who we’re visiting now!” And off we go in his white SUV. R E G I O N A L , P E R S O N A L , W O N D E R F U L L Y S E N S U A L Georg Blunier was actually an artist in Zurich before he came to take over the farm two years ago. Now he is dedicated to the beauty of Emmer, a type of wheat of which he even grows a black variety. It is the good old types of cereal that have particularly captured his heart. Andreas and Georg stride to the buckwheat field, where they rub, smell and sample the gluten-free knotweed plant while firing ideas at one another. This is because Caminada is planning a bakery which is being built this winter in the castle courtyard. This means that next spring, the region will be treated to the delicious aroma of crusty bread. In Georg’s barn, further ingredients are being dried for Caminada’s kitchen. The chef shakes a fennel umbel until the seeds rattle – “I’m taking it for my soup”, he says. Blunier also grazes Swiss Mirror sheep on the succulent moun- tain pasture, but Andreas Caminada mainly serves sheep raised by Roberto Sterz. He is a breeder of Scottish Blackfaces, small like German Heath sheep with an incomparable taste. His fish supplier, Hans Peter Gubser, catches whitefish and rainbow trout weighing up to four kilos – “he really does go out a long way in his boat! In the near future, he’ll also be supplying us with pigeons from France”, Andreas adds. The fallow deer for Schauenstein Castle are shot on the Heinzenberg mountain and the fruit and vegetables are from old gardens maintained by Markus Pfiffner and include, for example, Czar apples that were once transported individually, packed like jewels, to Russia. In the kitchen of Schauenstein Castle, they are stewed, caramelised and dried and elevated into aromatic delights that make a trip to Fürstenau a regal delight for the taste buds. If you’ve acquired a taste for Andreas Caminada’s creations at IGNIV (see next page), why not pop in on the way home from Badrutt’s Palace? //