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Papua New GuineaFlavors · Grisões
Chard leaf rolls filled with spätzli-like dough and Bündnerfleisch (air-dried beef) or local salami, cooked in broth and milk and gratinated with cheese. Emblematic dish of Graubünden, originating in the Surselva, with as many recipes as there are families.
Traditional dish from Grisões
Also known as: Capuns sursilvans
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
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Capuns — Grisões, Switzerland
Capuns are one of the most characteristic dishes of Graubünden. They are small chard leaf rolls that enclose a soft dough, similar to spätzli, mixed with Bündnerfleisch (air-dried beef) or cured local salami and herbs. After being rolled, they cook slowly in a broth with milk and, in many recipes, finish gratinated with mountain cheese.
The dish comes from the Surselva, the Romansh-speaking region in the western part of the canton, along the upper course of the Rhine. Graubünden tourism describes it as originating there, and the Romansh name became associated with the whole canton. In Surselva, capuns have always been home cooking: every family has its recipe, and some say every farm has a different one.
There is no single recipe. The dough contains flour, eggs, milk and water, seasoned with chives, parsley or mint, and includes pieces of Bündnerfleisch, the canton’s air-dried meat, local salami or cured sausage. A spoonful is placed on each chard leaf, which is folded and rolled like a small cigar. The rolls cook in broth and milk and are served with some of the cooking liquid, grated cheese and fried bacon, or baked in the oven with cream.
Rolling capuns is laborious, so preparation usually brings the family together. In the canton’s mountain restaurants, the dish is served mainly to visitors; for residents, real capuns are the ones made at home.
Modern versions replace the chard with other leaves, change the filling or serve capuns in individual portions, keeping the basic idea of a green leaf roll with dough and meat.
Grisões
Emblematic dish of Graubünden, originating in Surselva, the Romansh-speaking region.
Chard leaves; flour, eggs, milk and water for the dough; Bündnerfleisch (air-dried beef), salami or cured sausage; herbs (chives, parsley, mint); broth; milk or cream; mountain cheese; and bacon.
Hot, with a little of the cooking broth, grated cheese and fried bacon on top, or gratinated in the oven with cream. Main course.
Year-round, especially in autumn and winter; a family dish and common in the canton’s mountain restaurants.
Your questions
From Surselva, the Romansh-speaking region in the western part of the canton of Graubünden.
Traditionally, chard leaves. Modern versions use other green leaves.
Yes, the traditional recipe mixes Bündnerfleisch (air-dried beef), salami or cured sausage into the dough. There are vegetarian versions.
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