Signature winter dish of the canton of Vaud and one of the emblems of French-speaking Switzerland: leeks and potatoes slow-stewed with butter, white wine and a little cream until they collapse into a soft, melting savory mash (the "papet"), with a saucisse aux choux (cabbage-and-pork sausage) nestled in and cooked through.
A rustic farmhouse dish from the Vaud shore of Lake Geneva, eaten from mid-September into spring. Its heart is the cabbage sausage: by tradition, 18th-century meat shortages led cooks to stretch the sausage filling with blanched cabbage, and the saucisse aux choux — now a Vaud IGP-protected specialty alongside the saucisson vaudois — was born.
Silky leek-and-potato mash that almost spreads, soft and faintly sweet; the dense smoky cabbage sausage on top supplies the salty, meaty counterpoint.
Long stewing draws water out of the leeks and breaks their fibers down into the melting potato base; the sausage, nestled into the mash, gently poaches through, taking on the leeks' sweetness while releasing its own fat and smoke back into the dish.
Variations
A glass of Chasselas blanc from Lavaux — the same wine used in the stew — is the classic pairing. Butter and cream are adjusted to taste, and a Vaudois cook finishes the pot with a splash of vinegar to lift it.
On the Palate
Where Papet Vaudois sits in the Swiss flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4How it's made
4 steps · 30 min active + 1 hour waiting
- 112 min
Slice 1 kg leeks (white and pale green) thin; sauté in 60 g butter 12 min.
Watch outSweat the leeks low and slow until they collapse soft and sweet without browning — this melting sweetness is the backbone of the whole dish.
- 235 min
Add 800 g cubed potatoes + 500 ml white wine + 200 ml stock + salt + pepper; simmer covered 35 min.
- 325 min
Place 4 saucisson vaudois on top; cover and simmer 25 min more — sausage steams in leek juice.
Watch outNestle the sausages down into the mash and let them poach gently in the leek juices — they should stay plump and just heated through, never boiled hard.
- 43 min
Crush potato-leek base lightly with fork; serve sausages whole on top.
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