SØREN SELIN
« taste of sweet cicely or woodruff is just on another level. I love the idea that it is hand-picked in the woods, but I am not super-dogmatic in this respect; not all my ingredients are from the local area. For example, we use some delicious kombu sauvage from an island in northern Japan. We also use caviar from Bulgaria, or sometimes French pigeons. I would love to use Danish for everything, but it’s all down to quality – and if it’s not right, then I go elsewhere. “My approach has a lot to do with creating straightforward flavours. I have a saying, which is, ‘It should taste like vanilla ice-cream with chocolate sauce’. We don’t actually have that on the menu, so we want to use ingredients and flavour combinations that create the same sensation, but with something new and exciting for the guests. I am not satisfied if the flavour is a little weird; I want the dish to be just right. You shouldn’t have to think too much about a dish – you should know right away if you are going to like it for the long run or not. “For me, the creative journey can start in many, many different ways. It usually always begins in my head, and then it really takes shape when you start working with it in the kitchen. Quite often I have had an idea, and then when you start working with it in the kitchen, the dish or
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the ingredients take me in a completely new direction. That is all just part of the journey you need to take in order to create a dish that you have never made before. It can be a tough process as it takes a long time, and can be very frustrating when you think you finally have it locked in, only to find out that something isn’t working. If you want to evolve as a chef, you have to continue and stick to this journey. “In the end, the results of this should be rewarding because it means that I am then happy with the menus I create. I tend to avoid changing them until I really develop a new and better dish. In fact, some of the dishes on the menu have been there for four years, with just a few added additions such as the turbot with pine, the onion, or the Jerusalem artichoke. With the latter, I made this many years ago while I was trying to do something, and ended up in another place. It’s basically a Jerusalem artichoke puree that has been set with agar-agar, which is then covered in a thin layer of paper that we burn in order to change the whole look, taste and smell of the dish. It starts off being a soft dish, which then becomes a crunchy dish. Right now, it’s with hazelnuts, caramel and Jerusalem artichokes, which makes it a really sumptuous dessert recipe. »