The Swiss Jerky ancestor was born in the beginning of the 19th century.
In his Normandy-based delicatessen, Robert Baratte, my great grandfather, developed the first beef jerky recipe. The “Chique” accompanied the heroic fishermen of the “Big fish”, also called the Terre-Neuvas.
The fishing expeditions lasted several months, without setting foot on land, in extreme meteorological and working conditions that required the stocking of small products with a long shelf life and high nutritional intake. Off the frozen and stormy “Terre Neuve” coasts, these brave sea workers chewed the earth’s hearty by-products. They benefited from the best immune defenses and all the needed energy to achieve their task.
The love of beautiful products and cuisine has been passed down from generation to generation. Since this period, every Baratte is a captain of industry in the gastronomical domain.
25 years ago, after a round-the-world trip on the seas as a Head Chef, my passion for the mountains led me to move to the Swiss Alps. I opened a restaurant and a jerky production factory in Champex-Lac.
There, I rubbed shoulders with elite athletes such as the participants of the Ultra-Trail du Tour du Mont Blanc (UTMB), the Patrouille des glaciers ainsi que d’autres expéditions alpines populaires.
Simultaneously, I continued to devote myself to the sailing world alongside the skippers of the Vendée Globe Challenge.
Thanks to our discussions about their expeditions’ preparation and nutritional needs during and after their efforts at sea, I began to brainstorm the ideas to resurrect the “Chique”, adapted to todays specific demands.
3 years of hard work, dedication, tests and refining processes have been essential to, I must say, totally reinvent the beef jerky recipe. Nevertheless, the “Natural” flavor is still ever-present thanks to the generational knowledge.
I chose the most suitable Swiss piece of beef: 1st choice and low fat (in the past, they would have prefered high fat meat!)
I reduced the salt and refined the spices in order to create 3 different flavors:
- Original: a spice mix from the “Traditional” family recipe
- Piquant: aux piments sélectionnés pour leur parfum et force
Proteins and Iron have been intensely studied in order to preserve them during the production and drying process.
Swiss Jerky was born:
A mass of proteins (45%), low-fat and sugar
Nutritional values, the production process and preservation (several months at ambient temperature) have been approved by analysis laboratories: Eurofins and NaturaChimica.
