Metzgete Lucerne: A recipe for success with tradition

The butcher’s tea from the region – a recipe for success with tradition

A slaughter platter is a popular meal in autumn. Although the number of traditional Metzgete restaurants is decreasing, the offering remains large. Also thanks to clubs.

The heart laughs. Autumn is not only the season of harvest, fog and yellow leaves, but also of cuisine with sausage, sauerkraut, bacon and hash browns. “After the barbecue season, people want variety again and might be looking forward to a Metzgete menu. From now on there will be pork in all variations on the plate,” says Daniel Bisten, owner of the Engel restaurant in Hüswil, giving his view on the popularity of the butcher’s meal.

The trained chef and his wife Mila are the fourth generation to run the “Engel”. Their Metzgete is one of the first in the canton of Lucerne. This is always served the week after the day of prayer. The innkeeper couple took over the restaurant from Ruth and Paul Bisten-Schmutz in 2001. But not the butcher’s cake. “This was no longer an issue for my predecessors for many years,” says the innkeeper.

Landlady Mila Bisten serves Silvia, Urs and Remo Arnold a butcher’s meal.

Image: Dominik Wunderli (Hüswil, September 20, 2024)

Formerly a house butcher, then nothing for many years

At some point in the 110-plus years the family has been running the business, there was a home butcher shop. “But that was a long time ago and not documented. What is certain is that the Kilbi was slaughtered at the same time. “It was on the first Sunday after the day of prayer,” Bisten quotes from the history of the house. The tradition of slaughtering cattle after fattening in the summer months has disappeared. “It’s a shame,” said Bisten and a colleague, which is why they dug up the “Metzgete im Ängu z Hüsu” and the Kilbi together again in 1998, when Daniel and Mila were still employed at the Engel. Since then, Metzgete has been served on Bernstrasse near the cantonal border in the week after the day of prayer from Wednesday to Sunday, at lunchtime and in the evening.

Without making a reservation, we go to see the angel on Friday lunchtime that week. In the restaurant, four people eat different Metzgete dishes at two tables. In the Säli, the Arnold family from Egolzwil had a meat platter served: blood sausage, liver sausage, bratwurst and a Wädli with sauerkraut. «Yesterday we fancied one of Daniel’s Cordons bleus. All around us, people were eating Metzgete, that inspired us, which is why we are here again today,” says 64-year-old Urs Arnold, who is accompanied by his wife Silvia, 61, and son Remo, 31. He treats himself to the butcher’s meal as a highlight at the end of his vacation. «Daniel and Mila are doing it sensationally. I like your selection and the sausages are a reasonable size.” There’s nothing left, everything cleaned up. The landlady is happy: “Ah, the weather remains nice.”

Daniel Bisten with two plates.

Image: Dominik Wunderli (Hüswil, September 20, 2024)

In Hüswil the plates are not overloaded. “You can always order more from us, which is better than throwing away the leftover food,” says Mila Bisten. In general, there are hardly any leftovers on the plates of the restaurant, which is now almost fully booked. Apart from the bone in Marlies Stöckli’s plate. The 83-year-old from Gettnau raves about the Säuli’s cutlet, while her husband Hansruedi, 82, prefers the meat plate. Like their table neighbors Rita, 61, and Richard Aeschlimann, 64, from Fischbach, the older couple eats one or two Metzgete every year, even at home. Almost all of the guests at this lunchtime are over 60 years old. The average age is not necessarily typical for a Metzgete, even if it seems that way at Engel this afternoon.

You can also eat meat and game at the same time

“In our experience, younger people also like this autumnal cuisine. We welcome a fairly mixed audience at our Metzgete, both in terms of age and gender,” says Max Lustenberger junior, host at the Gasthaus Thorenberg Littau, where the Huus-Metzgete has a long tradition. These tend not to be very young people, but rather the middle-aged generation aged 30 and over. It should be mentioned that in the “Thorenberg” the wild card is also available at the same time as the Metzgete, which is served three times a year in the months of October and November from Wednesday to Saturday. “We have been doing this for over 60 years and it has proven successful,” says Lustenberger.

Max Lustenberger prepares a typical Metzgete plate.

Bild: Pius Amrein (Littau, 11. 10. 2024

The Huus-Metzgete is rightly named. Until a few years ago, a sturgeon butcher slaughtered in Thorenberg. The company was equipped with equipment for this purpose. Blood sausages, liver sausages and bratwursts were produced on site, as well as all other work steps involved in slaughtering. Today, the Lustenbergers have a pig slaughtered by a butcher, who prepares the meat according to the former sturgeon butcher’s recipes and smokes the bacon. Max Lustenberger senior prepares all products the way his father gave him. The menu features creations such as the Buureschmus plate or a slaughter plate. If you want to prepare for a longer evening, you can order a six-part Metzgete menu with pea soup and gnagi in advance.

The aspect of sustainability plays a role

The popularity of the Metzgete is unbroken, and the closure of some traditional restaurants does not change that, as Sandra Zettel, co-president of the Gastro-Luzern association, says. “For this reason, the offer has become smaller.” In return, the restaurants that offer the butcher’s menu are well booked, she believes. From her point of view, one point that speaks in favor of the Metzgete is people’s eating habits: “The Metzgete is a fresh product from the neighboring village or from the region. The short distances and therefore the aspect of sustainability definitely also play a role here.”

With her statement, the landlady of the Löwen inn in Grossdietwil hits the nail on the head. Most recently, the Schlossberg restaurant in Wikon closed at the end of September. The Metzgete buffet was widely known and sought after. Anyone who didn’t reserve early had to stay outside.

This is what a typical Metzgete plate looks like.

Bild: Pius Amrein (Littau, 10. 10. 2024)

Slaughter plates in the country and in the city

The “Ochsen” in Roggliswil, the “Wetzwil” in Schlierbach and the “Rössli” in Triengen, to name just a small selection, are also known for butchers with a buffet. It is just as popular in the city. Two examples: The Metzgete buffet à discretion in the “Stadtkeller” on November 8th and 9th is full except for a few seats – it has space for 130 people. In the “Old Swiss House” from November 5th to 7th, only a three-course platter will be served for lunch and dinner. The traditional event was always fully booked in previous years, but reservations are currently still possible.

It’s not just restaurants that ensure that the demand for Metzgete is met, as Marco Wechsler from Wechsler Metzg AG Nebikon, which supplies various companies, points out. “We have been receiving regular orders from clubs and other organizations for years. There are just a lot of people who enjoy it and this fall is no different.”

A traditional event is that of friends of old tractors in Schötz. They invite you to the tractor hall on November 2nd. According to President Sämi Barmet, this butcher shop has been around longer than he has been a member. So over twenty years. The Knutwil military association also maintains a long-standing custom that ends with a butcher’s get-together. President René Hummel estimates that around 65 people are hungry after the shooting: “When we send off with the announcement of the ranking, we serve mashed potatoes with black pudding and liver sausage in our shooting room. All kinds of people meet at this banquet.”