Some chefs spend their careers searching for complexity. Ralph Schelling has spent much of his career proving the opposite. He has cooked for private clients, international brands and culinary events across the globe. Some readers may also recognise him from his regular visits to Gstaad, where he and his team are frequently engaged for private events in both summer and winter.  Despite a career that has taken him from some of the world's most celebrated kitchens to private dining tables in the Alps, his approach to food remains remarkably uncomplicated. For Ralph, the best dishes begin with ingredients at their seasonal peak and a respect for letting them speak for themselves. In this new GstaadLife series, Ralph shares recipes from his book Simple is Best, alongside kitchen wisdom and the stories behind the dishes that inspire him. The journey begins with one of early summer's most distinctive ingredients: rhubarb.

My mother's rhubarb plant was one of the most prolific residents of our garden. Year after year, it produced far more than we could possibly eat, and to my young palate that was something of a punishment. Whether served raw with sugar, baked into a tart or cooked into a compote, rhubarb always seemed overwhelmingly tart. It wasn't until my apprenticeship at Kunststuben in Küsnacht that I learned to appreciate this remarkable vegetable, and how to tame its acidity. One of my favourite tricks is pairing it with grenadine syrup, which not only softens the sharpness but also gives the rhubarb a striking ruby- red colour. With its vibrant appearance and balanced acidity, the rhubarb is the perfect companion to this delicate, snow-white almond blancmange.

Images from the book Simple is Best
Author Ralph Schelling
Published by AT Verlag

ALMOND BLANCMANGE WITH GRENADINE RHUBARB

INGREDIENTS

Almond Blancmange
• 300ml almond milk (or regular milk)
• 1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped out
• 125g blanched almonds
• 125g raw cane sugar
• 3 gelatine leaves, soaked in cold water
• A pinch of salt
• 200ml double cream

Grenadine Rhubarb
• 400g rhubarb
• 400ml grenadine syrup
• 600ml water
• 1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped out
• 1 star anise seed

METHOD

Almond Blancmange

1. Place the almond milk, vanilla seeds and pod, almonds and sugar in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat, cover and leave to infuse for around 30 minutes.

2. Remove the vanilla pod and blend the mixture until smooth. Pass through a fine sieve or muslin cloth pressing well to extract as much flavour as possible. Discard the solids.

3. Squeeze the excess water from the gelatine leaves and dissolve them in the still-warm almond milk. Season with a pinch of salt.

4. Cover and chill until the mixture begins to lightly set around the edges, about 20 minutes.

5. Whip the cream until softly whipped, then carefully fold it into the almond mixture. Pour into rinsed moulds, cups or glasses.

6. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

7. To serve, gently loosen the blancmange from the moulds and turn out onto plates, or simply serve in the glasses.
 

Grenadine Rhubarb

1. Trim the rhubarb. Peel away the skin with a knife, then cut the stalks diagonally into pieces about 1cm long.

2. Bring the grenadine syrup to the boil in a saucepan with the water, vanilla seeds and pod, and star anise. Add the rhubarb, bring briefly back to the boil, then remove from the heat. Cover and leave to infuse for at least 5 hours.

3. To serve, lift the rhubarb from the poaching liquid, or blend

RALPH’S TIPS

For a quicker version of the blancmange, replace the almonds and raw cane sugar with 250g marzipan
(containing at least 50% almonds). This eliminates the need for blending and straining.

For a subtle bitter-almond note, stir 2 tablespoons of Amaretto into the almond milk before chilling.

If serving the blancmange in glasses rather than turning it out, you can reduce the gelatine by one leaf. Although gelatine is almost flavourless, I prefer to use as little as possible.

To speed up setting, cool the almond milk mixture over an ice bath before folding in the cream.

The leftover grenadinerhubarb syrup makes a wonderful drink when diluted with sparkling mineral water and served as a homemade lemonade.

Follow the series in the upcoming issues of GstaadLife in July, August and September
Jeanette Wichmann

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Ralph was photographed by Lukas Lienhard