SEK 25 M / 6 YEARS
A HOME FOR SWEDISH GASTRONOMY Carl Jan Granqvist is the founder of the recently established foundation Aptitum Akademi Saxå Bruk. The foundation is to highlight food as an aesthetic experience with the focus on pleasure, in the hope that this will develop enterprises associated with food, hospitality and tourism.
You describe Aptitum Akademi as ‘a home for Swedish gastronomy’. Why is it needed? Aptitum Akademi will become a physical home for those interested in food as an aesthetic experience, with the focus on pleasure. It is largely about bringing together, educating and developing Swedish businesses. By working with six areas of business which have gastronomy as a common feature, Aptitum Akademi will help to inspire and improve skills in many sectors: agriculture, the food industry, grocery retail, tourism and those working in hospitality and lodging. This extends right through to professionals in these sectors and private individuals who want to develop their gastronomic skills. Saxå Bruk is situated close to the School of Hospitality, Culinary Arts and Food Science on the Grythyttan Campus, which provides academic courses. The Grythyttan Campus is a centre for foundation education and research, and has built up one of the world’s foremost gastronomic libraries. Aptitum Akademi is not a competing institution, but will r ather develop knowledge and skills that open up greater opportunities for the industry. As I said, we’re going to highlight food as an aesthetic experience with the focus on pleasure. Isn’t Sweden pretty good at gastronomy already? Absolutely! We have 19 restaurants in the Michelin Guide, for example. But in Denmark – where the pop ulation is only half that of Sweden – there are 27. Why do you think that is? There are a number of reasons. We have a collective
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t radition here that is based on science and t echnology, with strict standards as to what we are and are not allowed to do. Our entire relationship with food is characterised by the fact that Sweden is situated in a climate zone where traditionally we have to stock up supplies to survive the winter. That has brought with it a norm: a moral framework that determines what we are allowed to eat, how we may enjoy it and what it must cost. We are supposed to eat up and be grateful. Whenever we eat something delicious it’s associated with a certain amount of guilt. And this legacy has influenced developments in gastronomy. Sweden has orientated itself towards producing volume rather than excellence, even though we have a unique platform for producing fantastic foods. We have plenty of precipitation and, thanks to the ice sheet, the world’s youngest soils. We also have midnight sun that gives us more hours of sunlight than Bordeaux. Finally, we can thank the Gulf Stream for the fact that we do not have an Arctic climate. In the Latin world food has an obvious status: it’s an art that is practised daily. Just like literature, visual art and music, gastronomy is a natural part of the culture.
Is it possible to make gastronomy an art form here in Sweden too? Yes, and that’s why Aptitum Akademi is needed. The foundation focuses on six areas of Swedish business that have a link with gastronomy. The first is agriculture – our primary produce has to be good. Number two is the food industry. Sweden is actually the best place in the world in which to grow
