Bryna Corcoran .com

Canadian Cravings : Swiss Chalet Sauce Recipe

As a newbie almost American, there are some creature comforts I miss about growing up in Canada. The cravings and memories come and go, but when the hit — it’s almost impossible to get me to shut up about them until I am fulfilled. Satisfaction usually comes in 3 forms: either by getting a delivery from home, finding the long lost product in a remote isle at the super market or finding another Canadian (or Brit or British influenced country- resident) who I can commiserate with at minimum.

Lately, my target has been Swiss Chalet Sauce.

I tried explaining what this liquid heaven tasted it like to a Dutch friend the other day and the closest I could come up with was an almost “Au Jus”, “Gravy-like” sauce, but any Canadian knows there really is no comparison.

I know there is a powered supermarket version that Canadians can buy, but the last time I asked my family to send me some goodies — they bought it (which was nice of them) but it sat in someones house for 6 months. Did I mention we are a family of procrastinators? Anyways, by the time it got to me most of the goodies were stale or unusable :(

The other option is to order it from http://www.canadaonly.ca – but they want $32.99 .. yes read it.. $32.99! for a pack of 10.
So rather than rely on importing — I thought we’d try our hand at making our own Swiss Chalet Sauce and see if we can get the taste, well.. to taste.

By the way, it seems like I’m not the only one craving it? They have their own Facebook page! with this quote I found particularly similar to someone I know.(ok, me)

The gravy is sooo good, that I know someone who thought it was soup and drank the whole thing by itself!

Me too. Swiss Chalet is one my favourite places to eat, but I always make sure I am with people who won’t be disgusted by my glutenous display. I always ask for two and dip everything on my plate in it.

I’m afraid of what I might do to myself with access to unlimited amounts of sauce

A quick Google search and here is what I’ve found (thanks to Andrew Keebler for this post)

SWISS CHALET SAUCE RECIPE

3 C. water
1/4 C. tomato juice
1 chicken bouillon cube
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp white sugar
1/4 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. parsley
1/4 tsp. poultry seasoning
1/4 tsp. thyme
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. dried mustard
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1 bay leaf
3/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
6 drops Tabasco sauce
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp water
1 tbsp vegetable oil

Pour water and tomato juice into a 1 1/2 qt. saucepan.
Add all but the last 4 .
Stir with a whisk thoroughly mixing .
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes.
Remove bay leaf; stir in lemon juice.
Mix cornstarch with 1 tbsp water; stir into sauce.
Cook, stirring constantly until sauce thickens.
Whisk in vegetable oil.
Makes about 3 cups.

We’ll give it a try this weekend and follow up with an IRON CHEF like analysis.