Riz Casimir
Casimir rice, a Swiss specialty!

Those who have visited Switzerland and its restaurants will have noticed, in many menus, the presence of a dish with a particular name: Casimir Rice.

And whoever ordered it, finding it on the list of Swiss specialties, will probably have been puzzled to see a dish of curried meat and fruit served on a bed of rice!

Yet this dish is a Swiss creation and has been present in the kitchens of restaurants and Swiss houses for almost seventy years.

The story of this specialty it is linked to the history of Mövenpick and, in the end, to Swiss catering.

It was 1948 when Ueli Prager opened the first Mövenpick restaurant in the Claridenhof, an office building in Zurich.
A restaurant that started from the then innovative idea of ​​not offering complicated multi-course menus but unique dishes that fully satisfied the guests.
The idea was also successful because it was accompanied by an offer of quality wines offered not in bottles but in bulk, by the glass.

It was a time when he started traveling again or just dreaming of traveling to distant and exotic places.
And so it was that, in 1952, Ueli Prager added to his offer of unique dishes this dish that recalled the East:
a rice accompanied by a veal curry and exotic fruit whose scents and name referred to India and Kashmir; hence the name Casimir!

The idea was a great success and with many variations it is still being proposed throughout the Confederation.

It seems right to me that I too will present my interpretation and therefore, starting as always with the ingredients, let's start cooking!

Ingredients. for two people:

Preparation:

Prepare the rice as for the Chinese rice (Here the recipe) having the foresight to add a pinch of salt with a hint of curry and to season it, at the time of serving, with the flakes of fresh butter.

Season the chopped chicken (but it could also be veal, as in the original recipe, or pork) with salt, pepper, nutmeg and, if you like, even a little curry (you will put less in the sauce!).

Sauté in hot pan clarified butter and season with a little pineapple juice and canned fruit salad.

Let it shrink and keep warm already covered with fruit and pineapple.

In the same pan add more clarified butter if necessary and fry the chopped onion.
While the vegetables are cooking, mix the cold broth with the milk and cornstarch in a small bowl.
As soon as the onion has softened and colored, without absolutely darkening, generously sprinkle it with curry and pour over it the mixture of milk, broth and curry.

Cook the sauce over a low heat and, as soon as the rice is ready, add the pieces of chicken with the fruit to the sauce and let them flavor for a couple of minutes.

If necessary, adjust now with salt and pepper.

Arrange the ring rice on well-heated dishes.

Pour the chicken and fruit curry into the center of the ring and serve.

 For a fuller flavor decorate the curry with banana slices, soaked raisins, flakes of almonds and strips of freshly blanched pepper.

Buon appetito!

ADVICES AND NOTES:

• Recipe, text only: to print or download.
• Curry: a thicker curry can be obtained by adding whole Greek yogurt to the sauce; in this case use only the broth to dilute the cornstarch.
• Instead of chicken you can also use veal or pork.
• Vegetarian variant: replace the meat with fresh shi-take mushrooms and sliced ​​champignons accompanied with cubes of tofu flavored and heated in the curry sauce!
• See also: Chicken with curry.

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