Bündner Nusstorte

The nut tart (also " Engadine walnut cake ", in the Ladin Romansh idioms Tuorta because nuschs ) is a round flat cake made ​​from shortcrust pastry filled with caramelized coarsely chopped walnuts. Nut tart is the most famous specialty of the Canton of Grisons. It is next to the Birnbrot the most important export product of the Grisons bakers and confectioners.

History

The origin of the nut cake lies in the Engadine. The historian Dolf Kaiser describes in his book " Cumpatriots in terras estras " that the recipe was in Samedan already about around 1900 in the family Moggi tester known. Later, the Engadine walnut cake was made in the pastry shop Heinz & testers in Toulouse by emigrated Engadine confectioners and distributed from there soon in France. This pastry also Fausto desk worked, who returned later to Samedan and began in his bakery and pastry shop in 1926, the Engadine walnut cake under the name " cake stand " to produce and distribute. Great success for his cake he earned in 1934 when he presented the cake on the pattern Messe Basel a wider public.

Since the climate for walnut trees in some mountain valleys of Graubünden is less, the nuts were imported. According to one theory should Grisons emigrants have brought walnut trees from France back to their homeland, where they still grow in Bergell. Another theory suggests that the already known Grisons shortcrust pastry Fuatscha Grassa was combined from Engadine confectioners in France with known there nut cake. Perhaps the nuts but were simply bought in other regions of Switzerland.

In April 2012, the office of Culinary Heritage of Switzerland decided to sift through the available documents by a neutral person and checked their veracity. The project is financially supported by the Canton of Grisons.

Production

Grisons nut cakes are manufactured by numerous pastry chefs all year throughout the canton. Almost everyone has their own recipe, which he often guards as a trade secret.

The pastry is made from flour, sugar, eggs, butter, and sometimes a bit of margarine to handle the dough better. For the filling, sugar is caramelized at low temperatures. To make the ground soft and compact, heavy cream is added, some bakers add more honey to it. The crushed nuts are not pre-treated. Uses are often nuts from California; Grisons nuts are considered to be too strong in flavor. The nut filling is applied to the dough ausgewallten, the pastry lid is placed over it. Then the cakes are baked in the oven about 35 minutes at 200 degrees.

In the Engadine, there are still several manufacturers of Engadine nut pies. The cakes each have their own recipe. Thus, there are subgroups of nut cake such as the Engadine confectioners - nut cake, which is one of the most traditional forms of nut tart.

Consumption

The calorie-rich nut cakes are usually eaten for dessert or for tea, coffee or red wine also for afternoon snack.

A feature of the nut tart is their long shelf life; even after two months in the cupboard it still tastes fine. This is certainly one reason why the cake is often sent to order by mail.