Back to Basics

Copenhagen is staking its claim as culinary capital of the world, with Nordic traditions inspiring a new generation of super-chefs.

I n show business, the acronym Egot refers to the elusive achievement of winning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award. If there was a culinary Egot, Copenhagen would be vying for the red carpet these days. The Danish capital has bagged some up the most illustrious awards for its city’s eateries, including the world’s best restaurant (Noma) and the world’s best chef (Rasmus Kofoed). This has positioned the Danish capital as one of the prime gastronomic hotspots and the key showcase for a new innovative Nordic cuisine.

So what is it about the food that has propelled these restaurants into the premier league of the culinary world? Much of the success can be traced back to Rene Redzepi, the chef and creative mastermind behind Noma. The restaurant, located in an 18th-century warehouse on the waterfront in the Christianshavn area, has championed a terroir-based kitchen that reinvents classic Nordic cooking traditions and has an almost dogmatic approach to rationality and seasonality.

Shortly after its launch in 2003, Noma’s co-founder, the chef and food entrepreneur Claus Meyer, drew up a 10-point manifesto for the new Nordic cuisine; a blueprint not just for the fine dining scene, but also a wake-up call to the public, politicians and producers. Among its aims was the idea of promoting Nordic produce and to ‘express the purity, freshness, simplicity and ethics we wish to associate with our region’.

Noma is the most genuine manifestation of these tenets and its food is innovative (dried sea scallops served with squid ink and oats), challenging (live fjord shrimp) yet always brilliant. In his cookbook Noma – a time and place in history, Redzepi describes how many Scandinavians all of a sudden recognised something that was trapped in their memories.

‘Maybe they tasted the same gooseberries as when they walked in the forest as a child. For foreign visitors it all of a sudden made sense to visit a restaurant with a Nordic-based kitchen. They had an experience they couldn’t get at home. Several have said it was as if they heard a new language and understood what was being said.’

If you manage to get table a table at Noma (on the first day of every month it opens for bookings three months down the line) you will discover a plethora of locally foraged beach herbs and plants, but don’t expect to find olive oil or lemon on your plate. The restaurant’s allegiance to provenance means that only ingredients sourced in the Nordic region make the cut.

It is the combination of nature, biology and heritage which creates a distinct gastronomic approach for the Nordic region. ‘This extremely talented young generation of chefs are defined by all the work they have done developing food culture outside the kitchen,’ says Kasper Fogh Hansen from the Food Organisation of Denmark, a not for profit organisation set up to support innovation in Danish gastronomy. ‘They have engaged botanists, biologists and zoologists to reinvent the way nature is the fundamental resource in the kitchen. They have developed new cheeses, experimented in brewing and fermentation, replanted ancient herbs and species, developed new feeds for animals, and charted edible wild flowers. Knowledge is so sexy. Also in food. And when you eat at some of these places you learn about new flavours and consistencies every time.’

They have developed new cheeses, experimented in brewing and fermentation, replanted ancient herbs and species, developed new feeds for animals, and charted edible wild flowers

Not all of Copenhagen’s culinary élite take the same dogmatic approach as Noma when it comes to foraging and sourcing local ingredients. ‘I like foie gras too much,’ says the chef Thomas Herman, who has earned a Michelin star for his eponymous restaurant, located in the luxury hotel and restaurant complex Nimb in the historic Tivoli amusement park. Herman, 36, is passionate about the Danish food culture he grew up with and tries to adapt the classics for a modern audience.

‘Traditional Danish kitchen is very basic,’ Herman says. ‘It doesn’t seem as exclusive as the Spanish or the French kitchen. Here people have grown up with brined veal breast and creamed horseradish sauce... Our cuisine in Denmark today has become a lot lighter – otherwise you couldn’t get 11 courses on the menu.’

Over the years, Herman has created Cinderella-like transformations of classic Danish dishes. The lunchbox favourite of liver paté has been transformed into foie gras confit with elderflowers, while his own favourite meal, a mix-match of fried bacon, potatoes and pickled beetroots known affectionately as ‘burning love’, was dressed up for the ball with cep mushrooms and brandy when it won the award for best Danish main course in 2006.

These days Herman describes his kitchen as Danish-international, but it is still crucial that the food can help stir emotions and connotations among the diners.

‘When I experience a meal it’s great to trigger a memory, because then you create something personal instead of just admiring how good the food is. Danish cuisine can evoke these feelings. A traditional pudding of red berries can remind you of childhood summers, of your grandparents. If you do it in the right way, you can evoke some feelings among the guests which make it more than just a meal. But it shouldn’t just be fun and games. You can’t play around with people’s dinner or their money. First and foremost it has to be great cooking.’

‘People’s interest changes from country to country, so we have been very blessed that people want to come and eat the new Danish and Nordic kitchen now. And it has brought a lot of focus which has meant that Denmark has developed in an extreme way and it has just been very enjoyable to be part of.’

Words: Staff

The Facts

Rasmus Kofoed at Geranium
Having previously finished third and second at the Bocuse D’or in Lyon, Rasmus Kofoed can now lay claim to the title of ‘best chef in the world’ after winning the coveted cooking competition earlier this year. His restaurant, Geranium, is located in one of the towers of Denmark’s national stadium with views over the leafy Faelled Park in the heart of the capital.

Claus Henriksen at Dragsholm Castle
Unlike his city-dwelling colleagues, Claus Henriksen has been blessed with nature right on the doorstep. Dragsholm is a 13th-century castle-turned-gastro hotel located an hour’s drive outside Copenhagen, and Henriksen, a former protégé of Redzepi at Noma, makes the most of the local produce on his vegetable and herb-driven tasting menu. Located amid the fertile soils of the Lamme Fjord, Dragsholm has direct access to some of the best suppliers in Denmark (asparagus and carrots from the nearby fields are hailed as the best in the country and end up at many of the Michelin-starred tables in the city).

Christian Puglisi at Relæ
Puglisi has earned his stripes at some of the most prestigious kitchens in the world (from Taillevent in Paris to El Bulli and Noma), but his own restaurant, located in the bohemian Nørrebro district, is a much more casual encounter. It has a deep-rooted respect for ingredients and treats them with an idiosyncratic playful touch. Relæ offers a tasting menu (including a vegetarian option) which changes according to season and matches up inventive pairings, such as seaweed with veal shank and pickled mackerel with hazelnuts.

Bo Bech at Geist
Last year Bo Bech gave up the Michelin star he won for his restaurant Paustian to open a new place, Geist, in Copenhagen’s central Kongens Nytorv Square. Unlike some of the city’s more minimalist dining room, Geist has an imposing metropolitan feel with its large bistro-style space, including a slick dining room and bar seating. The food is bold and brilliant, with a stripped down à-la-carte menu where you can dictate the pace and intensity of your meal. The turbot with ravioli made out of cheese is a stunner and has rightfully been nominated for best Danish dish of the year.

Dining: Great Danes; Copenhagen’s top restaurants

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