Here in Switzerland, miso soup has been a firm fixture in sushi restaurants for some time. However, the new trend for vegetarian cuisine has meant that miso paste has also found its way into more western dishes. Not least because miso packs a real flavour punch. And as we’re currently seeing a real swing towards the use of regional produce, it’s no surprise that miso is now also being made with Swiss ingredients. Blazing this trail is Patrick Marxer, who has been producing miso under the brand name “Das Pure” in Wetzikon, Canton Zurich, for several years now. While soya beans are the main ingredient in miso paste in Asia, Patrick Marxer uses local beans or grains. Fans of Japanese cuisine will know that the Japanese also love aged miso pastes. But what about those made in Switzerland? “You can’t really generalize”, says Patrick Marxer. “We sell some slightly sweeter, younger miso pastes after just 14 days. But we also have other miso products that take two years to fully mature”. This miso expert loves cooking with miso. He starts his day with an instant miso soup whereby he stirs his paste into hot water. Miso is very healthy as the fermentation process produces bacteria that aid digestion. Marxer often uses pea miso in dishes that require a salty flavour, and sometimes as a replacement for salt. “It’s important not to cook the pastes but instead add them towards the end”, advises Marxer. Cooking them kills the good bacteria. Incidentally, these beneficial components are only found in miso pastes that are unpasteurized – like those sold under the “Das Pure” brand. A speciality of the “Das Pure” brand are miso pastes that Marxer makes from oilcakes. These include his pumpkin seed flour and almond flour miso pastes. “They have a very unconventional flavour”, he adds. Top chefs have even been known to use them in desserts.
Patrick Marxer’s miso pastes can be ordered directly from the online shop: www.daspure.ch