How Indian recipes came to dominate the menu of Europe’s oldest vegetarian restaurant

Swiss bankers with a yen for tadka

How Indian recipes came to dominate the menu of Europe’s oldest vegetarian restaurant

At the turn of the 19th century, Ambrosius Hiltl’s all-vegetarian restaurant was frequented only by the peculiar, or the poor. Over the years, despite access to the finest meats, the Swiss turned to vegetarianism in a big way. “People are giving up meat not only for ethical reasons but also because vegetarian food is more eco-friendly,” says Zurich-resident Elisabeth Brem. Today, 114 years on, Hiltl Haus is one of the trendiest hotspots in Zurich. Located in the centre of the Bahnhofstrasse banking district, Hiltl is frequented by bankers as well as Indian travellers who want a home-away-from-home experience, including the likes of late Prime Minister Morarji Desai. Ambrosius, who was recommended a vegetarian diet for health reasons, teamed up with cook Martha Gneupel to cater to the handful of other ‘grass-eaters’ like himself. In 1926, Margrith Rubli joined the staff of Hiltl as a waitress, and later married Ambrosius’ older son Leonhard. She ran the restaurant for 50 years, collecting recipes along the way. “In 1951, my grandmother Margrith, the official Swiss delegate to World Vegetarian Congress in India, returned with a handful of Indian vegetarian recipes to introduce into our kitchen,” says Rolf, a fourth generation Hiltl and the current owner of the restaurant. She was unprepared for the problems that would follow. Getting hold of spices such as curry powders, coriander, turmeric, cumin and cardamom was tough enough, says Rolf. But in the Zurich of the 1950s, the real problem was persuading kitchen staff to cook Indian dishes. “Indian friends brought ingredients with them when they came visiting Switzerland. But for years, my grandmother had to cook Indian dishes in her private kitchen,” he says. Over the years, the number of Indian guests at the restaurant increased considerably. But the real turning point came when Hiltl was asked by Swissair to supply Indian food for its Indian guests. “Today, Indian dishes constitute nearly half of our offerings,” says Rolf. While the Swiss prefer the a-la-carte gourmet creations to go with their draft beer or Swiss wines, Indian tourists usually go for the 57CHF (about Rs 3400) eat-all-you-can buffet. From North Indian koftas and kormas to the thoran and thair-sadam from the South, from the traditional tur-dal to the contemporary couscous salad, the buffet has more than 200 dishes on offer. Besides the Indian fare, there’s also an assortment of salads, starters and main courses with Swiss, German, Arabic, Mexican, Thai and Chinese origins. “This is easily the best vegetarian buffet I have ever eaten — a global feast for the vegetarian foodie,” says Ghatkopar resident Haresh Savla, while tucking into the dinner buffet with his family on their annual European holiday.