LA CHASSE: BEST GAME MENUS IN GENEVA

WHERE TO EAT GAME IN GENEVA

by Sarah Scaddan

Autumn invites you to indulge in the ‘la chasse’ (game) menu at your local restaurant.

Apologies to all vegetarians and lovers of Bambi, but Autumn is game season and it works for me.

A typical game dish is served with spätzli (a kind of soft egg noodle), red cabbage, roast chestnuts and pear poached in wine. Occasionally you will find bison and marmot on the menu, but more regularly the choices are:

Cerf – deer (stag)

Chevreuil – venison

Sanglier – wild boar

Chamois – mountain goat

Lièvre – hare

Pigeon – you guessed it

Perdreau – partridge

Canette – duckling

Choose from dishes such as ‘Médaillons d’entrecôte de cerf en croûte de noix’ or ‘Filet de chevreuil au jus de sureau’. My favourite is chevreuil which is always deliciously tender. Just add good wine and great friends and you cannot go wrong.

Look out for restaurants with ‘La Chasse est Arrivée’ signs outside. Game menus are usually available until the end of November. We share a few Geneva restaurants that you can rely on for a great game menu.

If you’d like to try your hand at cooking your own, see the recipe for wild boar stew or ragu from Taste of Savoie below. The main photograph is also courtesy of Taste of Savoie.

HOTEL LES ARMURES, OLD TOWN

Rich in history, in a 17^th century residence in the heart of the old town, this a fabulous restaurant to treat visitors to. The game menu includes venison with blueberries and wild boar with Sichuan pepper.

WHERE

1, rue Puits-St-Pierre

MORE INFO

http://www.hotel-les-armures.ch/fr/carte-restaurant-armures

CAFÉ DU CENTRE, PLACE DU MOLARD

Always busy, buzzy and consistent, Café du Centre’s game menu consists of médallions of deer or wild venison with the usual accompaniments of red cabbage and spätzli.

WHERE

5 Place du Molard

MORE INFO

http://www.cafeducentre.ch

CAFÉ DES VOYAGEURS, EAUX-VIVES

Cosy and laid back, this cafe has an extensive regular menu and game specials such as deer médaillons in raisins and cognac sauce served with game accompaniments or wild board entrecôte with wild mushrooms and accompaniments.

WHERE

6 Avenue de la Gare des Eaux-Vives

MORE INFO

http://www.cafe-des-voyageurs.ch

The site is under renovation, so best is to call them to book: 022 735 1111.

LE DIX VINS, CAROUGE

Not far from the Place du Marché, is great all year round, but in autumn their game menu is sublime. The meat is incredibly tender and the usual accompaniments are cooked to perfected, including chestnuts, spätzli, poached pear and red cabbage. Service is great too.

WHERE

Rue Jacques-Dalphin 29 bis, 1227 Carouge.

MORE INFO

Dix Vins

LA DILIGENCE

A small old-style bistro offering generous portions of deliciously prepared game such as deer médallions or a deer stew. Informal and unpretentious with great service and great food.

WHERE: 20 rue du Gothard, Genève. Telephone: 022 439 02 54.

MORE INFO: Click here for information.

PREPARE YOUR OWN

la chasse geneva — Credit: Caro Blackwell – Taste of Savoie

If you’re a bit broke or you love cooking, why not prepare your own la chasse dish? We turned to Caro Blackwell chef, photographer and blogger at Taste of Savoie for inspiration.

She shared her Wild boar stew with us – she used three different recipes as a reference to create her own and she thought it came out very well!

It is especially tasty if made a good 24 hours ahead.

WILD BOAR STEW

1 kg Wild boar shoulder meat chopped into 2cm chunks
flour for coating – seasoned with salt and plenty of pepper
Olive oil for frying
100g bacon lardons
1 large onion – peeled and finely chopped
4 garlic cloves – peeled and finely chopped
2 carrots – peeled and finely diced
2 tsp juniper berries, lightly crushed in a pestle and mortar
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs of rosemary
4 sage leaves
500ml red wine – I used Savoie Jongieux Gamay
400g tin chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato puree
2 tsp caster sugar
2-inch strip of orange rind
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas 2

Heat the oil in an ovenproof, heavy-based pan or casserole over a low-medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, and garlic.
Season the flour with salt and pepper. Lightly coat the wild boar chunks in the seasoned flour. Add some olive oil to a separate pan over a high heat and add the wild boar pieces. Fry until the meat is golden brown on all sides, you may have to do this in batches.
When the vegetables have softened, add the bacon lardons, bay and sage leaves, rosemary, juniper berries and orange rind to the pan. Cook for about five minutes until the bacon lardons and the vegetables have browned a little around the edges.
Add the browned boar meat to the vegetables. Pour the red wine into the frying pan used to brown the meat. Cook over a medium heat, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen any charred bits of meat.
Add the tin of chopped tomatoes, tomato purée and sugar to the ragu and stir it through. Cook for two minutes stirring regularly to avoid burning.
Pour the warm wine into the ragu, and add approx 150ml of water and bring to a simmer.
Put the lid on the pan and place in the preheated oven for at least 2 hours, or until the meat is meltingly tender and the liquid reduced. Check once or twice in this time and stir to prevent the meat on the surface drying out.

If you have a favourite game recipe or restaurant where you’ve tried the la chasse menu in Geneva, we’d love to hear from you. Leave your comment below.