Scan Magazine | Special Feature | New Nordic Cuisine
Photo: Tuukka Ervasti
points was to cook using ingredients with characteristics particular to the Nordic climate. Together, the ten points described New Nordic as an everyday cuisine that could inspire people in the northern hemisphere to eat both locally and seasonally, celebrating tradition while eating food from your own back garden. Yet despite this newfound patriotism for Nordic food, it does not mean food from other parts of the world should be opposed. Rather, it is about valuing local traditions from all the corners of the world, which is why old grain, Jerusalem artichokes and a wide selection of cabbage have found their way to the shelves in most Scandinavian supermarkets. Photo: Miriam Preis
24 | Issue 85 | February 2016
Photo: Simon Paulin
The New Nordic Cuisine Manifesto:
A plate of insects, please
1. To express the purity, freshness, simplicity and ethics we wish to associate to our region 2. To reflect the changes of the seasons in the meal we make 3. To base our cooking on ingredients and produce whose characteristics are particularly in our climates, landscapes and waters 4. To combine the demand for good taste with modern knowledge of health and wellbeing 5. To promote Nordic products and the variety of Nordic producers – and to spread the word about their underlying cultures 6. To promote animal welfare and a sound production process in our seas, on our farmland and in the wild 7. To develop potentially new applications of traditional Nordic food products 8. To combine the best in Nordic cookery and culinary traditions with impulses from abroad 9. To combine local self-sufficiency with regional sharing of high-quality products 10. To join forces with consumer representatives, other cooking craftsmen, agriculture, fishing, food, retail and wholesale industries, researchers, teachers, politicians and authorities on this project for the benefit and advantage of everyone on the Nordic countries
The manifesto’s philosophy very much pleases Jonas Astrup Pedersen, product development manager at the Nordic Food Lab in Copenhagen. “Food and identity are inseparable. Dealing with gastronomy as a consequence of the surrounding geography and the cultural history that has characterised the region through the ages – which New Nordic Cuisine does – is the same as trying to understand where we come from, what has shaped us, and who we want to become in the future,” he explains. “For that exact reason, I really want to exploit the edible potential of Scandinavia.” He and his colleagues therefore experiment with deliciousness and diversity for every single dish. So far this has, among other things, resulted in research into edible insects, vegetables, giblets and fish sauces. Pederson certainly had an appetite for it. “We have experimented with a lot of things. One of the things that surprised me was insects and jellyfish. It might not sound like it, but it really tastes delicious.”
Scandinavian food on the world map Fortunately, other countries can stomach it too. Insects may not be their fa-