Cholermues
A thick pancake batter, cooked in butter then torn into golden bites in the pan, and dusted with sugar. This simple dish from central Switzerland, said to come from Obwalden, is served as a dessert or for breakfast, with stewed fruit.
In the pan, butter sizzles under a large, thick pancake. As soon as the underside has browned, two spatulas come into play: they break it into bite-sized pieces, which are left to brown a little longer before being dusted with sugar.
Origin
Cholermues belongs to the two half-cantons of Nidwalden and Obwalden, and according to swissinfo.ch it comes from Obwalden. Its past remains poorly documented: the Culinary Heritage of Switzerland inventory gives it no entry, and none of the sources consulted dates its appearance. The umbrella association of Swiss farm women presents it as an Obwalden dessert, with the recipe of a woman farmer from Sachseln.
Making
In Sachseln, the batter owes its lightness to egg whites beaten until stiff, added last to the salted flour, the yolks and a mixture of half milk, half cream. Half of it is poured into very hot clarified butter. When the underside is golden and no longer sticks, the pancake is torn to pieces with the two spatulas and left to finish cooking. The first batch waits in the oven, set to 70 °C, while the other half cooks in turn. The version published by swissinfo.ch uses whole eggs, cream and whole milk: the thick batter rests for at least an hour to swell, then it is spread by swirling the pan, turned over and broken up with a wooden spoon.
At the table
The pieces are piled, still hot, onto a dish. The Sachseln recipe makes do with sugar and serves a rhubarb compote alongside, simmered for a quarter of an hour until the stalks fall apart. The swissinfo.ch recipe stacks the bites in layers and dusts them with sugar mixed with a pinch of cinnamon.
Today
In English-speaking countries, it is often called a “Swiss pancake”. It has even made a name for itself in the United States, swissinfo.ch reports, listing it among the country’s traditional breakfasts: in a hit American television series, a character makes some to get his stomach used to Swiss cuisine, which he finds exotic.
Sources: Swiss Farm and Rural Women’s Union, recipe “Cholermues et compote de rhubarbe (dessert obwaldien)”, published by Swiss Milk Producers; swissinfo.ch, Advent calendar, “Türe Nummer 11: Kantone Nid- und Obwalden” (2019).