Gourmet in the snow

A new breed of chalet owners are putting the gourmet food to the top of the menu, so there's no longer any need to settle for school dinner-style meals after a day on the slopes. Lucy Crisp finds out what's driving the ski cuisine revolution.

Blame Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsey, but we've become a nation of foodies obsessed with eating well. Whether we're at the (gastro) pub or settling down after a day on the slopes, we want excellent food, skilfully presented and chalet cuisine has evolved to meet our changing tastes.

Chalet cuisine used to conjure up images of hearty cottage pies and stodgy lasagnes cooked by fresh-faced students who were just getting to grips to boiling an egg. Twenty years ago, it was a standing joke that you would probably be helping the person running the chalet to cook. But while some tour operators are still employing spotty teens with very little experience, smaller chalet companies have realised that today's discerning holiday maker is looking for top quality cuisine in luxurious surroundings.

Since the celebrity chefs arrived on the scene in the late 80s/early nineties, good food has become fashionable. British cuisine has steadily evolved and improved, while the British public has become addicted to food porn in the form of endless TV cookery programmes, glossy recipe books and luscious food magazines. This new attitude to food has raised people's expectations and canny chalet companies have realised that to stay ahead in the increasingly competitive winter sports market, the key is to focus on top-end accommodation and fabulous food.

“Our guests expect high quality food,” explains Helen Raemers from The Alpine Club (thealpineclub.co.uk) in St Martin de Belleville in the Three Valleys. “Many of them are city bankers and lawyers and they are used to dining out in the best restaurants. They are used to exceptional food that is beautifully presented. We recognise that and know they want an equally impressive gourmet experience when they are on holiday.

“This is why our policy is to employ passionate and motivated chefs who have a love for food, rather than seasonal staff who've been sent on a quick cooking course. We are passionate about food. It is one of life's greatest pleasures to experience wonderful food with friends, cooked by people who have a real love for food, as this shows through in someone's cooking. We want to delight our guests and exceed their expectations. By employing committed professionals, we can ensure that our guests' extremely high standards are met, and often exceeded.”

Another Three Valleys operator who has chosen to distinguish themselves by their food is Purple Ski (purpleski.com). “Being based in Meribel,” explains owner Karen Broom Smith, “which is perhaps the most fiercely competitive resort in Europe, we have found that providing excellent food has always been key in pitching ourselves above the rest.

“By remaining a very small operator (and also by paying and treating our staff well), we have been able to maintain a really high standard and have always been able to get excellent chefs, often from Michelin star or two AA Rosette rated restaurants and five-star hotels. We are one of only a very few companies who promise qualified chefs and who publish the names and resumes of their team.”

For many people, a gourmet chalet holiday is concept conceived in heaven. Winter sports holidays are one of the few times people feel they can indulge in their passion for good food without guilt as they have been out exercising all day and so can enjoy a four-course extravaganza without worrying about their waistline. However, an increasing interest in health and knowing where their food has been sourced does mean that while people want to eat well, they want to be reasonably healthy too.

Claire Marsh from Scott Dunn (scottdunn.com) explains. “Chalet food has changed without a doubt. People now think in terms of locally-sourced food, and also about fat and sugar content. People are also interested in super foods. I think these changes are driven by more exposure to food on television and in the media and a greater awareness of health issues.”

Purple Ski has also noticed changing trends. “Many of our clients eat out often as part of their work,” explains Karen Broom Smith, “so when they're on holiday, they may prefer simpler, more "homely" food. This means our chefs need to be much more versatile than before in being able to cater to a range of tastes and styles.”

The desire to have some control over what they eat has led some operators to allow guests some collaboration with the chefs in order to cater for particular tastes and preferences. The Alpine Club has taken this one step further by running an offer which allowed guests to choose their own gourmet menu.

“We've always tried to work with guests to create menus that really reflect their own personal likes and dislikes,” says Helen Raemers from the Alpine Club, “but we thought it would be great fun to really make a feature of this. So, this season, we ran an offer which allowed our guests to tell us their favourites, and our chefs then devised a set of mouth-watering menus specially-tailored to that group's tastes.”

Other companies have also noticed a change in preferences which ties into the general trend of people wanting to eat local-sourced food which can be traced and their desire to tap into more regional flavours.

“In a generation, chalet holidays have gone from innocent fun for a few quid to smooth professionalism for a grand,” says John Yates-Smith from YSE (yseski.co.uk) in Val d'Isere. “The food has gone from your favourite school dinners to top restaurant standard in your own dining room. Things are always moving though, and the trend for lighter, healthier food is continuing.

“People may feel they can eat more than at home when they're skiing, but they still don't want stodge and there's also a trend towards food that has been less fiddled with. Now, people are happy to enjoy the taste of the actual produce. Our greengrocer goes to Lyon three times a week to get the sort of fruit and vegetables whose flavour doesn't need tampering with.”

The trend for gourmet meals on the slopes has also been fuelled by rise in the luxury market and the perception that skiing holidays are expensive. By offering exceptional cuisine, chalet operators have found that it increases the value of their product and can often be a vital selling point for smaller operators who are competing with the big name package brands. This intense competition has clear benefits for the consumers. With chalet operators all vying to outdo each others' products, the quality keeps improving while the prices remain keen, making gourmet holidays incredible value for money.

Where to find out more:

The Alpine Club: Thealpineclub.co.uk
Purple Ski: Purpleski.com
Scott Dunn: Scottdunn.com
YSE: yseski.co.uk