Ny Nordisk Mad: Chef Leif Sørensen: The New Nordic food culture is here to stay

Chef Leif Sørensen: The New Nordic food culture is here to stay

28-12-2014

Early in my career, the Nordic Cuisine and local Faroe dishes were not considered good enough for fine dining. Today, Nordic chefs are aware of the quality of our produce, and we continue to win Bocuse d´Or medals. The New Nordic food culture is here to stay, because the knowledge grows rapidly also among consumers, seeking out better and better products. I wish to see a new governmental program for the New Nordic Cuisine. The Ministry Conference should have a food department, because it´s very important to keep a regional institution, supporting us across the borders to develop both our local agriculture and food culture, states chef Leif Sørensen, Faroe Islands.

Early in my career, the Nordic Cuisine and local Faroe dishes were not considered good enough for fine dining. I worked in a restaurant were we got our deliveries from France and Italy, because they were supposed to be “fine”. Then we started this manifesto project and entered into long discussions. I remember Erwin Lauterbach was already focused on working with Danish produce, but others were not so sure. I began to think about my supply back home. Was there enough local produce to create great food? I had my doubts, and I also had no idea of what would happen after the signing of the manifesto.

But I must say we succeeded very well. It really developed in the way we hoped it would, and since then it has been a fascinating journey. A lot of great things have really happened, not the least to myself. The discussions were very inspiring for me, and when we had signed the manifesto, I felt obliged to make my duty.

I had been touring around earlier, working in French and Danish top restaurants, and when I returned home to Faroe Islands, I started up with French-Danish cuisine. I thought the locals were fed up with their own food and wanted something new. But more and more, foreign tourists started to ask for local dishes: “Don´t you have any typical Faroe specialties?” After the symposium in Copenhagen, I realized that it was stupid to serve French food in Faroe Islands. So finally, I changed my style into Nordic. I started a new restaurant, and then another, now working as if the Faroe Cuisine existed, trying to express the tradition in a modern way. Today, it´s no discussion anymore about using local products. First, I became a bit extreme, and refused to use produce that you can´t grow here, like tomatoes. But today I feel more free, the manifesto is not a dogma, and sometimes I use an occasional tomato. I would say that Torshamn´s five top restaurants are all into local Faroe cuisine, and during the last few years, more and more tourists are familiar with the New Nordic concept.

When I was in Paris, there were more pasta restaurants than French! It was a bit strange to see. When people travel to other countries, they want to eat local cuisine. Food is an experience in itself, and we are now rediscovering the way it can express cultural identity and heritage.

The focus on Nordic products has meant a lot for us, being more conscious of what quality in a product really means. It took some time to recognize the very high quality in our products. In Faroe Islands, fish is an everyday commodity that we always have taken for granted, but we didn´t understand that we have the best fish in the world! So why source your fish from some other place? It´s just a matter of thinking.

In the Nordic countries, I see an interesting development with small, local producers starting to compete with the food industry, but in Faroe Islands it´s not that easy. I work hard all the time to get farmers to raise their ambitions, especially with vegetables, because there are not so many around here. I even arranged a conference, trying to inspire them into developing indigenous products, but we are only 50 000 people here, and such a small market can be risky.

We´ve had sheep here since time beginning, but commercial lamb production was allowed only five years ago, and the quality is fantastic. We are also developing fowl farming with good results, but there are always heavy bureaucratic regulations. We move very slowly along the way, and in five years, I think we should approach the same level as the other Nordic countries.

Today, Nordic chefs are aware of the quality of our produce, and we continue to win Bocuse d´Or medals. I think the New Nordic culture is here to stay, because the knowledge grows rapidly also among consumers, seeking out better and better products.

So the future looks good, but I wish to see a new governmental program for the New Nordic Cuisine, now that they are closing the first one. The Ministry Conference should have a food department, because it´s very important to keep a regional institution, supporting us across the borders to develop both our local agriculture and food culture.

Read the New Nordic Kitchen Manifesto

Picture: Honestcooking.com

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