Janina Bauer, Philippe Rossier
For the trained chef Sandro Kalkhi (38), two things are important when it comes to eating: It should taste good and look good. Finally, the eye eats too. He was all the more shocked when a few years ago he visited his grandma in the nursing home and saw what she was being served there.
The old lady was diagnosed with dysphagia, a swallowing disorder that prevented her from eating solid foods. Their meals consisted of three blobs of porridge in different shades of brown, slapped lovelessly on the plate. “My granddaughter stopped eating in the home. And that despite the fact that she was passionate about cooking and eating all her life, ”says Kalkhi. That hurt the young cook who was working at the Schweizerhof in Lucerne at the time. He decided to do something.
It all depends on the consistency
Kalkhi started working as a sous-chef at the Emmenfeld senior citizens’ center in Emmen LU eight years ago, where he worked on dishes in puree form, which he calls smooth food. “The individual components must not lose their taste or color when they are pureed. Every product has a different structure, so it is sometimes difficult to get a good consistency, ”says the chef. But his experience in molecular cuisine, which is known for playing with the consistency of food, helped him. Just like the tips and tricks he learned in the team at the Cercle des Chefs de Cuisine Lucerne (CCCL).
After pureeing, the components must be returned to their original shape as precisely as possible. “A slice of bread should look like a slice of bread, a piece of cake like a piece of cake – regardless of whether it has been pureed beforehand.” Since the corresponding molds were not available on the market, Kalkhi made his own silicone molds for croissants, bread slices, chicken thighs and the like.
“Very easy method”
Today the cook works in the Senevita Pilatusblick residential and care center in Ebikon LU. The menu for the first week of January hangs in the restaurant. Every day there is soup and salad in advance. Then dishes such as salmon slice with rice, vegetables and dill cream sauce or roast pork with noodles, herb jus and tomatoes. “This is available for all residents – even for those who have chewing or swallowing problems,” says Sandro Kalkhi. He has been a sous chef in the Pilatusblick’s kitchen since March 2021. In the meantime he has come to the point with his smooth food that he can reconstruct almost every dish. One of the few exceptions: “Bloody meat, such as beef entrecote.” In such a case, however, another type of meat is substituted.
The process is the same for most products: puree with binding agent and liquid, season to taste if necessary, pour into the mold, freeze and poach in the oven at 99 degrees steam before use, serve. «The method is very easy and is ideal for stressful home operations. We always have the basics ready in the freezer and can then vary, ”says Kalkhi.
Smooth food ambassador
This is a great added value for the Senevita Group. Michael Fleischhacker, Responsible for Gastronomy at Senevita, says: “Five percent of our residents need this food, and the trend is increasing. Because of demographic developments, people are getting older and sicker. ” Sandro Kalkhi therefore trained the chefs of all Senevita establishments in Switzerland, followed in February by the chefs from the Austrian partner organization Senecura.
Despite his success at Senevita, Sandro Kalkhi has not yet reached his goal. He wants to make smooth foods available to everyone who needs it. He makes it clear: “It’s not just the elderly who need pureed dishes. Also cancer patients, butterfly children and many more. ” Kalkhi believes that tasty pureed dishes should be standard in every hospital. That’s what he fights for. As an ambassador for smooth food, he is also on the go on Tiktok. “I want to show the people at home, especially the boys, how easy it is to make delicious pureed food and encourage them to do it.” Over 500,000 people like his videos.