If your like me and you grew up in Canada, you've probably been to a Swiss Chalet. When I remember growing up, it wasn't Mc Donald's that captured my taste buds, its was the hearty meals delivered from Swiss Chalet.
Freshly made gravy paired with a perfectly done 1/4 chicken, crispy golden skin mixed with a hint of salt, side dishes of fries, coleslaw, poutine, salads, soups and if your lucky ribs, shrimp, or wings
( IMO some of the best wings I've ever tasted!! ).
From my days working as a labourer the one thing I looked forward to was the end of the day soup.
I found out many years later why I loved that soup so much, while the labour jobs came and went I eventually decided to take a crack at the service industry and see if I could get a job working for this beloved organization I had indulged in for so long.
I decided to try a small take out version of the restaurant as I thought it would be a good start, little did I know it was one of the busiest places I've ever worked at. Quite frequently there would be single orders of 250-400 meals leaving any good person dazed by the intensity and confidence needed to run a business like this.
It was an environment that would show you who could really handle the pressure, It was also the only place I've ever experienced what I believe to be the true feeling of what work should be like. At this particular location, at this particular moment in time, was a job that seemed to have motivation built around every corner, from every employee and even the boss. It was a brilliant way of thinking that brought out the best in the human mind, the food being prepared and the service being given.
If you can imagine a place where employees playfully competed with each other over who can cut the most chickens the quickest, but it didn't stop there, it was who can cut them the quickest right out of the 400+ degree oven while making them look ready for a prime time commercial, who can make the most salads in the quickest time, and win the most awards from secret shoppers, etc,. To this day I am thankful for experiencing that combined group/business dynamic of motivation, for I have not experienced this in any other job after, its quite humorous really, as its not hard to create this atmosphere but without it the product/business potential is nowhere that it could be.
Competition is no new idea, reaching the moon has shown us this, but competition isn't the only quality I found brewing in this business, after many years of moving I grew further and further away and it came time for me to find a new job closer to home, I figured, what the hell, and tried another Swiss Chalet just a few towns down.
This location is actually where I would go for my soup after my long days of landscaping work.
I had the privilege of meting a chef there ( wish I could remember the name now ) that made my soup for all those years, and while if you where to go into any swiss chalet all you would get is a regular package of soup poured out of a foil packet, this did not stop this man, he added fresh tomatoes, onions, carrots, fresh bits of chicken plus a little extra salt and pepper. Later on I learned there was a special group who would stay later one night of the week and just before closing would glaze up a whole chicken (paid for of coarse) with a jerk rub and create a orange sauce made of orange juice, hot peppers ( in this case it was hot peppers used at Harveys since it was a split chain Swiss chalet/Harveys)
boil this down with a dash of salt and pepper until its thick and BAM!, This concoction will be for the heat lovers as any normal person would smell it and think its citrus napalm.
Last but not least, one of my all time favorite pies, the coconut cream.
If you've gotten your pie and it was soft, you've only experienced half the goodness of what this delectable desert can be.
If you ask the waiter/waitress for a slice right out of the freezer (if available), a lot of time there are some in the back ready to go, but experiencing the frozen cream pie is up there with my best after dinner deserts.
Sadly after all this is said, I have switched to an organic lifestyle + no GMO
( more then 15 years now ).
I can now no longer visit/eat at this beloved place of mine, If I have no clue what's in the food I can no longer eat it or put my dollar behind it. This is the idea of practice what you preach, and I intend to keep my word.
I only hope that one day I will get the opportunity to eat another 1/4 chicken combo that is GMO free and void of antibiotics, till then, thank you swiss chalet, you taught me so much more then cooking chicken.
Recipes
1) Coleslaw (no mayo) - fresh cabbage, fresh carrots, salt, pepper, organic vinegar, organic oil, organic raw cane sugar,
Take cabbage, carrots and run through a food processor, take out and place in a bowl adding
vinegar ( about half a cup but this depends on how you like it and how much cabbage is done )
salt (half tablespoon mixed in properly),
pepper ( dash to your liking ),
oil ( 1/4 cup of your choice oil, we use grape-seed for light flavour ),
dash of sugar ( how much is up to you, but it makes this dish when you find the sweet spot)
The key to this is let it sit over night in the fridge, its always best eaten the second day when all the juices and flavours have mixed together. One last thing, if your cabbage taste bad, your dish will taste bad, makes sense right?
2) Shirley Temple ( drink )-
Glass of sprite/7up with a splash of grenadine + maraschino cherry
3) Swiss Chalet chicken-
lather whole chicken in lard fill inside with tablespoon/(or two) of salt. put on spit/rotisserie.
4) special simple orange sauce-
orange juice, Chile peppers, black pepper, salt, reduce to a thicker texture and use as dipping sauce for chicken.
5) Swiss chalet sauce-
No, I haven't cracked the code yet, but when I do I will gladly post it up, and if you have an idea feel free to contribute.
