V-ZUG Inspirations Magazine - Magazine - Page 35
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after arriving, he became very ill with arthritis. A doctor told him he had to change his diet or he wouldn’t live
long and he was only 20. So, he began eating at a small
vegetarian restaurant run by a German family. He ate
there for three months and he was cured. Today you
might take medication and carry on but back then that
wasn’t an option. The reason we exist at all is because
my great-grandfather decided to become vegetarian.
The head chef there was Martha Gneupel, and since my
great-grandfather was practically the only guest, they got
to know each other, fell in love, married and took over the
restaurant. That’s how it became Hiltl.
DP
If mindful eating isn’t about perfection or performance, what does it really mean in practice, in how
we prepare, share and relate to food?
CJ
Mindful eating is about presence. It can be as simple as
taking one breath before starting a meal. Checking in
with yourself and asking, “How hungry am I? What do
I really feel like eating?” Maybe it means not answering
emails while holding a fork in the other hand. Actually
tasting your food. Slowing down just enough to enjoy it
instead of eating on autopilot. It’s about taking a moment
between the urge to eat and the act of eating, and once
you learn that, it becomes a natural, gentle way to honour
your body.
CL
I think mindful eating also comes down to awareness,
knowing what you’re eating, the quality of the product,
the care in preparation. It’s about creating occasions and
making it something shared. It’s not just nourishment;
it’s something we enjoy together.
RH
A few years ago, I was in Japan, and I was astonished at how
they treat food. In the market they were polishing melons
with such care. It comes down to respect, for the ingredients,
for the earth, for life itself. In German, food is Lebensmittel, it means basically the medium of life. That’s important.
When you cook properly, when your mise en place is done
with care and you’re really thinking about what you’re doing,
it shows. It becomes something beautiful.
DP
Food at scale, whether on airplanes or in institutions,
is often associated with compromise. How do you
maintain care, quality and balance when you’re cooking beyond the small, intimate setting?
PRECISION AND PLEASURE
CL
For me, large scale is really just a reproduction of small
scale. The principles don’t change. It still comes down
to the product and how it’s prepared – it’s just that the
process changes to adapt to large scale production. If you
start with good ingredients and you prepare them with
care and attention, that philosophy can apply whether
you’re cooking for four people or four hundred. The scale
increases, but the mindset shouldn’t.
RH
SWISS airline had a programme where they invited chefs to
create one or two dishes for their in-flight menus, and we’ve
now worked with them for more than ten years developing
vegetarian options. Normally, especially in economy class,
airline food doesn’t have the best reputation. So, we really
focused on creating vegetarian dishes that genuinely taste
good, not just ticking a box. What I love is that SWISS now
tells us they’re serving more and more of those vegetarian
meals. That shows people are choosing them because they
enjoy them, not because they feel they have to.
DP
In the midst of all the noise around food, what genuinely gives you hope about the direction we’re heading?
CL
I think what makes me hopeful is that we’re finally talking about where food comes from. There was a time when
we just used resources without thinking, oceans, farming,
unsustainable agriculture, now they are part of the conversation. At the Gourmet Academy, we don’t just explain
how something was cooked with our appliances, we
explain the origin, the ingredients, the thinking behind
it. It’s a way of showing we care about the resources we’re
transforming and putting into people’s bodies.
CJ
I feel hopeful because I see people shifting toward a more
systemic way of thinking. They’re less interested in quick
fixes or the latest diet. They want balance, something
sustainable in every sense. And I love seeing people go
back to the kitchen. People genuinely want to relearn the
skills we lost for a while. That feels very positive to me.
RH
What gives me hope is the growing focus on using local
ingredients. I find it very interesting when you take what
grows around you and turn it into something international. You don’t have to fly ingredients around the world
to create exciting food. A plant-based diet makes a lot of
sense in that way, you can grow it locally, you understand
it, you can produce it sustainably. ●
“What gives me hope is the growing focus on using local ingredients.
A plant-based diet makes a lot of sense in that way, you can grow it
locally, you understand it, you can produce it sustainably.”
ROLF HILTL
