LAS alumni from 1974 to 2016 almost certainly remember the epicurean delight best enjoyed while taking a break from skiing the powdery slopes above Leysin: Croûte Mayen. Croûte, a traditional Swiss dish made from mountain staples, is found in restaurants throughout the Alps, each with its own variation. So what makes Croûte Mayen so special? 

Food plays a vital role in expressing culture and identity, and taste is deeply intertwined with our memory and sense of a place. Croûte is a rather simple food: bread soaked in white wine, covered with cheese, baked in the oven, and served with pickles. Croûte Mayen, however, is exceptional to those of us who have enjoyed it, perhaps because of its incredible creaminess or the liberal dash of sweet and peppery paprika, but also for the way the memory transports us to a very specific time and place. Even writing these words brings me back to the woodsy coziness of the Refuge de Mayen: the smell of cheese and the comfort of sinking my teeth into a favorite Leysin dish. 

But Croûte Mayen was always about more than the food—the warmth that Marylene and Didier brought to this recipe, to Leysin, to our family and everyone who visited Refuge de Mayen over the years was a huge part of the experience. The recipe has a long family history, created in Savièse in neighboring canton Valais by Grandmother Marie and passed down to the next generation who brought it to Leysin in 1974, where it was operated by yet a third generation until 2016. And it was there, nestled between the Tour d’Aï and the Tour Mayen, overlooking a beautiful glacial lake, that so many skiers and hikers enjoyed this delectable dish in an absolutely stunning location.

You might remember enjoying Croûte Mayen while basking in the sunshine, looking up at the two towers above. Or perhaps you sought shelter in the tiny rustic cottage during a winter storm, piled in and perched on wooden benches while the steaming ski mittens of your LAS friends warmed by the wood-burning stove.

Even though guardianship of the Refuge de Mayen has been passed to another family, the iconic dish remains significant to Leysin food culture. The nostalgia for Croûte Mayen runs so deep that Marylene and Didier continue to serve it by reservation at their home as a table d’hôte. Even some of our current LAS students have delighted in the food and the warmth of the family as this inimitable dish lives on. Bon appétit! 

By Katy Deupree P ‘28, Theory of Knowledge and Visual Arts Teacher