54. Kim Agersten, Mielcke and Hurtigkarl (Copenhagen, Denmark)

THE NORDIC WAVES-SCANDINAVIAN CHEFS: KIM AGERSTEN

The Nordic Waves is the term I used to describe this group of chefs from all of Scandinavia, mainly from Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway. These chefs known for 4-5 years at international level have particularly been at the forefront over the past three years due to the recognition of New Nordic Cuisine and the emphasis on a cuisine close to nature and the local products. All this, without relying on the status attained by the restaurant Noma and Chef René Redzepi. But beyond fashions and trends of the moment, I discovered a high concentration of young chefs, innovative, creative, open to the world and all dedicated to their garden and immediate environment.

It is in an environment dedicated to the creation and beauty in the kitchen as the chef Kim Agersten served his apprenticeship. In spite of the passages at noma, Daniel (NYC) and WD-50, Agersten always returned in the kitchens of Mielcke & Hurtigkarl where he has worked for over 5 years (Now, Head chef for 2 years). There are more than a year, chef Jakob Mielcke mentioned to me the importance of Agersten in the creative process of dishes for M&H.

Kim Agersten has an aesthetic very close to nature, pure, in which one perceives the gestation period before reaching the final result. Despite the primacy of local products of high quality, the cuisine of restaurant is based on the best products from around the world, much like the chef Pascal Barbot, who said in a documentary: “My terroir is the world …”.

There are many ‘‘diamonds” in kitchens around the world, but what is difficult is to maintain this environment, the quality and creativity over a long period. Jakob Mielcke made sure to give Kim Agersten the environment to develop his own style and now he is reaping the benefits. Mielcke & Hurtigkarl is a great restaurant that often goes ‘‘under the radar” outside of Denmark as it does not use an exaggerated ways the social media and the media in general. But I can assure you that we will follow them for a long time with Chef Kim Agersten in the kitchen.

Q+A WITH KIM AGERSTEN (www.mielcke-hurtigkarl.dk):

1-(Scoffier) How do you explain the philosophy behind your cuisine and what is it main characteristics?

KAgersten- Food is so emotional. For me food is about expressing emotions. Sometimes it can be powerful and complex. And sometimes it can be simple and graceful. So i guess you can say that my philosophy is to be honest. It’s not always about pleasing people. It’s about inviting people in to our universe, and hopefully they will feel some of the same things I felt when creating the dishes: surprised, provoked, dreaming, reminiscing, happy etc. If I can touch each guest and in the end of night people feel moved in some way that makes me happy.

I think one of the main characteristics of my cuisine is that it’s always playful in a way. When Jakob Mielcke first started to talk about this restaurant, he wanted to bring the garden and the nature in to the restaurant, and we always did it in a very personal way. Not afraid to bring Japanese, Spanish, Korean, French, etc. ingredients in to the way we interpret the nature and garden surrounds us. Local produce has always being the base of my cuisine.

2-(Scoffier) Do you have a flavour or taste from your childhood that is again memorable?

KAgersten- I have many memories. One of them is waiting for the strawberries to be perfect and picking them before the birds in my parent’s garden. I remember them as the best strawberries of my life, eating them with cream and sugar. So good!

3-(Scoffier) Do you have a particular foods (or products) that you often use in your recipes?

KAgersten- I would say seaweed, ever since my obsession with Japanese cuisine started a couple of years ago. There are so many different variations of seaweed. I always use combo in my stocks to bring out the umami flavor. We get a lot of seaweed from a guy on Vancouver Island, who makes the most beautiful apple smoked dulce seaweed. It’s almost like eating a good jamon!

4-(Scoffier) Do you have a mentor (chefs or anybody else) that inspires your cuisine?

KAgersten- I don’t have a mentor. But when i started cooking i was very inspired by people like Michel Bras and Pierre Gagnaire. I wouldn’t say their food inspires me today so much, more the philosophy and energy that surround them.

5-(Scoffier) You have had experiences abroad (Noma, WD-50, Daniel), but you are always returned to the restaurant Mielcke & Hurtigkarl (or Hurtigkarl before), why exactly?

KAgersten- I have always been very happy here. It’s as simple as that. Working together with people that really love what they do gives a good creative energy in the kitchen. Jan Hurtigkarl and Jakob Mielcke gave me the perfect tools to develop as a chef and find my own style. But also as a leader in the kitchen, which sometimes takes some different skills than cooking skills. And i learned that from them also, so i guess you can say that Jan and Jakob in a way are my mentors…

Today, I spend most of my time creating new dishes and finding the best products available – what any chef wants to do really.

6-(Scoffier) How do you develop (inspirations) your recipes and how did you work with chef Jakob Mielcke (to create)?

KAgersten- Inspiration can come from so many things: a place, a feeling, a beautiful product. Sometimes I taste something which triggers my imagination. Like i said it’s very emotional!

Jakob and I have a very unique creating process because we think very different from each other and get inspiration from different things. But we always end up going the same way. We have worked together for more than seven years which is unique in its self in this industry. I think that gives us a great advantage, always pushing each other to create.

7-(Scoffier) Are you a part of the New Nordic Cuisine manifesto?

KAgersten- I support the manifesto but I am not a part of it. I will always use local products and forage as many things as I can myself, but I am also very fond of some things that you cannot find in Denmark. I could never see myself cooking without using yuzu or making my own kimchi.

8-(Scoffier) Is there a movement or a chef as you watch carefully now?

KAgersten- Maybe it is not so much of a movement, but I think it is very important that more and more chef are thinking about sustainability and raising awareness about it. It is one of our biggest responsibilities as chefs to know what we are cooking and know where it comes from.

The food industry is getting greedier and greedier, producing more discount products for the consumer to buy at lower prices and always hiding the truth about how it was produced, how unhealthy it is or that they had to chop a piece of the rainforest down to make it. It is so important for us as chefs to think about sustainability and treat the products we use with respect!

9-(Scoffier) Can you give us a detailed recipe (Signature dish or other) that is characterized the cuisine of Kim Agersten?

KAgersten- Recipe: Dark chocolate and hops simcoe hops – a chocolate dessert reflecting the garden as it is looking right now, using hops as a fresh and bitter ingredient. I made a very balanced chocolate dessert, making sure that it’s not too sweet and heavy as chocolate desserts often are. At Mielcke & Hurtigkarl we serve it with a stout from Mikkeller called Black Hole, brewed with coffee and vanilla.

10-(Scoffier) What are your goals (ambitions) as chef? Do you think about writing a book, a television show, a restaurant, others?

KAgersten- We are always setting new goals at M&H, constantly evolving. Creating a unique dining experience and severing our guests delicious and beautiful dishes very night is a goal getting repeated every day. And that is very satisfying to me as a chef.

We have a lot of new projects in 2012.

 

 

 

RECIPE: Dark Chocolate and Hops Simcoe Hops

DarkChocolate...

Ingredients & Progression Recipe:

Chocolate ganache

-91 g. milk

-91 g. cream

-91 g. chestnut honey

-23 g. water

-250 g. 70% chocolate

1. Bring milk, cream, honey and water to a boil and pour it over the chocolate. Mix it together with a hand blender and cool down.

Pear Sponge cake

-210 g. pear purée

-360 g. egg whites

-340 g. egg yolks

-60 g. sugar

-70 g. fluor

1. Blend everything together with a hand blender and put it in a chiffon bottle. Fill a plastic cop 2/3 with the dough. Bake it a microwave oven at 900w i 40 sec.

Airy chocolate

-250 g. 90 % chocolate

-250 g. 70 % chocolate

-200 g. walnut oil

1. Melt everything together and cool it down to room temp. Put it in a chiffon bottle with 3 shots. Spray it in and cool metal container and put in the freezer. When it’s frozen, break the chocolate in to smaller pieces.

Pickled green walnuts

1. With a fork put small holes in the walnuts. Put them in cold water for a month. Change the water very day. Taste the walnuts, and if they are still very bitter continue to dilute them. When they are done, cook them in light sugar syrup. Add spices if you like. Pickle them in the sugar syrup for at least 4 months.

Chocolate crumble

-500 g. sugar

-500 g. almond flour

-300 g. flour

-220 g. bitter coco powder

-350 g. butter

-30 g. salt

1. Mix everything together and vacuum pack the dough. When it is cold, grate it on a cheese grater and bake it at 180 degrees for 8 min. When plating the dessert, mix the crumble with chopped whole coco beans and candied chocolate malt.

Powder

-50 g. bitter coco powder

-50 g. chocolate malt powder

-20 g. Fennel seeds powder

Chocolate and hops ice cream

-500 g. water

-30 g. fresh simcoe hops

-500 g. milk

-200 g. 75 % chocolate

-100 g. trimoline

-100 g. bitter coco powder

1. Mix the water and hops and let it rest for 20 min. Sieve the water. Bring the water, trimoline and coco powder to a boil and pour it over the chocolate. Mix in the hops water and put into pac jet containers.

-I used fresh bronze fennel on the dessert because it is very nice with the anise notes to the dessert.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Mielcke and Hurtigkarl/Chef Kim Agersten

Frederiksberg Rundell 1,

2000 Frederiksberg

Denmark

www.mielcke-hurtigkarl.dk

PRESS REVIEW/LINKS

1. Condé Nast Traveller, 25 Reasons to go to Copenhagen

2. Video, Inside Mielcke & Hurtigkarl

3. Best Emerging Chefs, Jakob Mielcke

(NOTE: Credit for the photos: Kim Agersten & Mielcke & Hurtigkarl)

Tous Droits Réservés. Copyright Scoffier ©2008-2012

53. Gunnar Karl Gislason, Dill Restaurant (Reykjavik, Is)

THE NORDIC WAVES-SCANDINAVIAN CHEFS: GUNNAR KARL GISLASON

The Nordic Waves is the term I used to describe this group of chefs from all of Scandinavia, mainly from Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway. These chefs known for 3-4 years at international level have particularly been at the forefront over the past two years due to the recognition of New Nordic Cuisine and the emphasis on a cuisine close to nature and the local products. All this, without relying on the status attained by the restaurant Noma and Chef René Redzepi. But beyond fashions and trends of the moment, I discovered a high concentration of young chefs, innovative, creative, open to the world and all dedicated to their garden and immediate environment.

In a logical sequence, I begin 2012 in Scandinavia to present Chef Gunnar Karl Gislason, “fer-de-lance” of Icelandic cuisine. Like many other excellent Scandinavian chefs, Gislason promotes the best nordic produces in her cuisine long time ago. Moreover, thinking “Nordic cuisine”, I often think at Iceland, Faroe Island  as a starting point. I remember the trip “voyage iniatique” of René Redzepi at the beginning of noma (see the Carnet in noma book).

Child of the place, chef Gislason made his classes in Iceland before to go at noma and with the Icelandic National Culinary Team. In February 2009, he decided to open Dill Restaurant with the sommelier Olafur Öm Olafsson, a wonderful little place in the Nordic House in Reykjavik. This restaurant is a window and a laboratory for the cuisine of Gislason, a cuisine already recognized abroad (he cooked at the James Beard House, NYC) and rewarded in Iceland and elsewhere.

Yet this time, it is a cuisine deeply rooted in the Icelandic & Nordic terroir.  A really modern cuisine which revisits the old methods (traditional) of cooking and preparation. A chef with an unique voice and an universal language. To follow for long time!

 

 

 

Q+A WITH GUNNAR KARL GISLASON (www.dillrestaurant.is ):

1-(Scoffier) How do you explain the philosophy behind your cuisine and what is it main characteristics? What is the concept behind Dill Restaurant?

GKGislason- O well o well ! Icelandic kitchen, new nordic or slow food, it all sounds good and could all work fine with what we are doing. And to tell you the truth I don’t really care which one people use. We try to use our great Icelandic products, if what we need is not available in Iceland, we get them from our neighboring countries.

2-(Scoffier) Do you have a flavour or taste from your childhood that is again memorable?

GKGislason- I was raised in the country side and close to our house was a large field of 2 meters high chervil. I have play there a lot with my friends making secret tunnels and all that. Of course, I ate some of that fine anise smelling green herb and liked it. Even better was the scent of my clothes after one day in chervil.

3-(Scoffier) Do you have a particular foods (or products) that you often use in your recipes?

GKGislason- DILL would be pretty obvious answer, right ? And then there is the beautiful salted cod from my friend Elvar Reykjalín at Hauganes. He is using the old method, so it´s a one year’s pause and it just keep showing up on my menu.

4-(Scoffier) Do you have a mentor (chefs or anybody else) that inspires your cuisine?

GKGislason- My first cook book was given to me by my mother, it was White Heat by Marco Pierre White. I read that book 100 times and I would be lying if said that I didn’t get inspired after that. Then much later I worked for Erwin Lauterbach. His vegetables and philosophy is something, I will always remember and respect him. Later came René Redzepi and then my good friend Claus (Henriksen) that really opened up my mind on a good way.

5-(Scoffier) Can you describe the progression of the gastronomy in the country in the recent years?

GKGislason- After the financial crisis chefs have more and more opened up their eyes about Icelandic products because importing is expensive. And the Icelanders have started to produce more and more and that is very good! Now, it´s the only positive thinking about the financial crisis and at least we obtained something good out of it.

6-(Scoffier) How do you develop your recipes? What are your source(s) of inspiration?

GKGislason- Nothing and everything. It can be everything from nature to something that one of my children said the other day. Usually it just comes !

7-(Scoffier) You seem to have a natural affinity with the chef Claus Henriksen (Dragsholm Slot), are there any similarities in your cuisine?

GKGislason- Well we are good friends and we do agree on lot of things. I guess there are some similarities and that you could say about a lot of chefs using all the amazing raw materials from there nature. But every chef have their unique touch and more importantly there own nature. At the end of the day, the final result will never be the same.

8-(Scoffier) Do you are part of the New Nordic Cuisine manifesto?

GKGislason- Not really, I do use the manifesto as guidelines and I think that’s what it is, a guidelines rather that a rule. But then again I might be wrong, it happens.

9-(Scoffier) Can you give us a detailed recipe (Signature dish or other) that is characterized the cuisine of Gunnar Gislason and Dill Restaurant?

GKGislason- Recipe: Raekjur & Surmjolh uppsk

10-(Scoffier) What are your goals (ambitions) as chef and for your restaurant? Do you think about write a book, a television show, others?

GKGislason- I’m working on a book along with some good friends, when it will be ready, I don’t know yet… But it´s about Icelandic producers, especially those that encourage the very old methods that more and more are fading away.

RECIPE: Shrimp & Buttermilk. Bread crumbs, Wild chervil & Artic Char Roe.

Ingredients & Progression Recipe (6 pers.)

Shrimps.

250 gr raw shrimps

2 tablespoons neutral oil

1 teaspoon apple vinegar

Salt

In a bowl mix all together and season with salt

Butter milk.

300 gr buttermilk

Put the buttermilk on a cloth and let it stand in a cooler for 12 hour

Put the buttermilk from the cloth on a espuma bottle, put gas on it and shake well before service

Whey.

100 gr whey (use the one coming from the buttermilk)

1 gelatin sheet

Put the gelatin in cold water until soft. Clean in new water and then add to they whey

Heat until the gelatin is melted and then put in cooler until firm

Bread crumbs.

150 gr bread

20 gr butter

Salt

Cut the bread in cubes and fry it in the butter until crispy, season with salt an then put it on paper

Char roes.

6 teaspoons artic char roes.

Chervil oil.

50 gr wild chervil leafs

50 gr neutral oil

Put in blender and blend on full power until smoking hot (5-8 minutes). Put on cloth

Chervil.

Leafs of wild chervil for garnish.

 

 

 

FURTHER INFORMATION

Dill Restaurant/Chef-owner Gunnar Karl Gislason

Norraena husinu

Sturlugötu 5

101 Reykjavik (Iceland)

www.dillrestaurant.is

PRESS REVIEW/LINKS

1. Extreme Iceland (Presentation Dill restaurant)

2. T Magazine/NY Times, April 28, 2010

 

 

(NOTE: Credit for the photos: Dill Restaurant)

Tous Droits Réservés. Copyright Scoffier ©2008-2012

52. Filip Langhoff, CIBUS by Langhoff (Helsinki, Finland)

FLanghoff/©GlennKarlsrud

THE NORDIC WAVES-SCANDINAVIAN CHEFS: FILIP LANGHOFF

The Nordic Waves is the term I used to describe this group of chefs from all of Scandinavia, mainly from Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway. These chefs known for 3-4 years at international level have particularly been at the forefront over the past two years due to the recognition of New Nordic Cuisine and the emphasis on a cuisine close to nature and the local products. All this, without relying on the status attained by the restaurant Noma and Chef René Redzepi. But beyond fashions and trends of the moment, I discovered a high concentration of young chefs, innovative, creative, open to the world and all dedicated to their garden and immediate environment.

After to present you Sasu Laukkonen, I repeated in Finland with the chef Filip Langhoff. Barely thirty, Langhoff has been the chef of two of the best restaurants in Finland and Norway: Spisestedet Feinschmecker (Oslo) & Chez Dominique (Helsinki).

Born in 1980 at Helsinki, Filip Langhoff started his apprenticeship in the garden of his grandmother before learning the work in Oslo. After a stint at El Bulli, he entered through ‘’la Grande Porte’’ and pointed as Head chef of Feinschmecker (2005) and Chez Dominique (2010). Through this he found time to win the Bocuse ‘D’Or in 2009. Now he runs his company, CIBUS by Langhoff where he touches on all facets he loves in gastronomy: catering, food styling, education and consulting.

In talking with Langhoff, it seems that he has 30 years experience in the kitchen rather than this age … and still learning! His cuisine of a high precision highlights the purity of flavors and local produce.

The ‘’terroir’’ is important and social contribution (of chefs) as well, but we’re going to restaurant for the experience and pleasure of the table. With Filip Langhoff, we are in the fine cuisine at its best!

 

 

 

Q+A WITH FILIP LANGHOFF (www.cibus.fi ) :

1-(Scoffier) How do you explain the philosophy behind your cuisine and what is it main characteristics?

FLanghoff- Normally, I like to let other people experience it and then, I explain my cuisine. I believe that everybody experience food and style in different ways but if I have to explain it, I would use three words: ingredient, flavor and story. When you have a great product there is no point of hiding it behind many flavors. Some times I use one main ingredient and other times more but the main line is always that everything else on the dish is there to enhance and support the main ingredients and its flavors.

For me, it is also very important that everything I use and serve have a meaning and a purpose. Food without a story is just so flat and boring.

2-(Scoffier) You were the Head chef of two of the best restaurants in the country, Feinschmecker & Chez Dominique, what have you learned?

FLanghoff- At Feinchmecker, I learned to trust my own ideas and to have respect for the customer.

Chez Dominique “plays in the big league” I learned what is required among the best. At both places, I really learned to push myself and never to stop.

3-(Scoffier) What is the concept/the idea behind CIBUS by Langhoff?

FLanghoff- Through my newly started company CIBUS by Langhoff, I work in four different fields: Consulting, Catering, Food styling and Education. I started the company to be able to work with the things that I am passionate about.

Consulting: As a consultant, I help restaurants to develop and help them to go further with their concepts. It can be new menus, special events or the work routines in the kitchen.

Catering: With our ‘’custom catering’’ as I call it, I plan all the details and menus, especially for the customer. Nothing is too strange or too special! It is the extraordinary events that I want to handle.

Food styling: Food and photography have always been a passion for me so with food styling I get to do two of the things, I really enjoy! Shooting products, dishes and whatever the customer wants.

Education: I give lectures and I teach about food and the restaurant’s life from my perspective and my point of view.

4-(Scoffier) Do you have a flavor or taste from your childhood that is again memorable?

FLanghoff- I will always remember my grandmother’s garden, the fresh parsley, the dill, the rhubarb and the berries. I will also remember how she was able to transform a “simple” meat soup into something fantastic with some fresh chopped parsley.

5-(Scoffier) Do you have a particular food (or product) that you often use in your recipes?

FLanghoff- After almost 10 years in Norway, the fish and shellfish from the surrounding seas were very important to me. But since I moved back to Finland, it is harder to get product of good quality, in fact it is almost impossible. Here I have to relay on other source of ingredients. Fresh water fish, wild mushrooms and root vegetables are ingredients I use a lot.

6-(Scoffier) Do you have a mentor (chef or anybody else) that inspires your cuisine?

FLanghoff- The most inspiring times in my career were the times when I found myself working with colleagues that I liked, who inspired me and that I have inspired. One of the person I worked with is Jon-Oskar Arnasson, an Icelandic chef. I got to work with him for 2 years when I was in Norway. With him I really developed the base of my cooking and we were able to push each other to new heights all the time.

Another time was when I worked as head chef at Spisestedet Feinschmecker and found myself with a superb staff that included chefs like Esben H. Bang (Maaemo) and Sebastian Persson (former Trio). All of them have changed and boost my way of cooking more than any other chef I have worked with over the years. But if I could be single and have no children today I would go and work for Grant Achatz at Alinea.

7-(Scoffier) Can you describe the restaurant’s scene of Helsinski and the progression of the gastronomy in the country?

FLanghoff- In Helsinki, there are only a few top restaurants but there are a group of young chefs ready to start for themselves. Some have already started and more are coming. I also hope that more chefs will dare to start new restaurants with high ambitions outside Helsinki. The average consumer is becoming more and more interested in food and what it is all about. The market for organic food is growing and a lot of small organic stores are popping up so we are going the right way. I believe that in 5 to 10 years from now we will have a completely changed the market, that the organic and the food produced locally will be the logical choice.

8--(Scoffier) How do you develop your recipes? What are your source(s) of inspiration?

FLanghoff- Inspiration can come from anywhere. Sometimes it comes from nature, sometimes from something somebody says or it may come from handling an exceptional ingredient. Then the process starts. The flavor of the chosen main ingredient stays in focus and I start to build up with techniques, flavors and textures that will bring the ingredient to its best. Some times it takes a day, other times it takes a year.

9-(Scoffier) Are you a part of the New Nordic Cuisine manifesto? Now, It is easy to source locally?

I do believe in the importance of the New Nordic Cuisine and the manifesto. Preferably local produce and if possible organic produce should be used. Historically we have been importing products in the Nordic regions so why not use lemons and spices that have been used here for centuries. Now, as then they should be used as an addition to our local products. With time they will become a part of our food heritage.

There are a lot of products to source locally but you have to work on the logistics. In the winter, it snows at least for 5 months and that makes it hard but not impossible.

10-(Scoffier) Can you give us a detailed recipe (Signature dish or other) that is characterized the cuisine of Filip Langhoff?

FLanghoff- I will give you a Norwegian shellfish, a favorite from my time spent at Feinschmecker, which I used in many different variations.

Recipe: Barley cooked in lobster stock with Norwegian shellfish, carrots and sea buckthorn

11-(Scoffier) What are your goals (ambitions) as a chef? Do you think about opening a restaurant, writing a book, having a television show, or others?

FLanghoff- Aside from getting CIBUS by Langhoff to work and taking care of my family, I have a restaurant project. Time will tell if we ever get that one up and running.

RECIPE: Barley cooked in lobster stock with Norwegian shellfish, carrots and sea buckthorn

Recipe/©GKarlsrud

The lobster stock, carrot juice and the acidic sea buckthorn give this dish its identity. Use home-made lobster stock. The carrot juice is best if centrifuged right before adding. The sea buckthorn juice should be uncooked and without added sugar. In autumn, the cold water along Norway’s coast yields the finest quality shellfish.

Ingredients & Progression Recipe (10 servings)

Lobster
-3 lobsters (750g / 1 ¾ pounds)
-50 g (2 ounces) butter
-30 g (1 stalk) celery
-30 ml (2 tablespoons) white wine

-Maldon sea salt

King crab
-300 g (10 ounces) king crab meat (cleaned legs)
-30 ml (2 tablespoons) sunflower oil

-30 g (1 ounce) butter
-10 ml (1 teaspoon) lemon juice
-Maldon sea salt

Shrimp
-200 g (7 ounces) Raw shrimp (without shells)
-30 ml (2 tablespoons) extra virgin olive oil
20 ml (4 teaspoons) sea buckthorn juice
5g (1 teaspoons) Maldon sea salt
1 stalk dill, chopped

1. Boil the lobsters in salted water for 2 minutes. Remove the tail and claws and pick out the meat. Save the shells for the stock and the claws for the risotto. Vacuum the tails with butter, celery and white wine. Poach in water bath with an immersion circulator at 59 C (138 F) for 10 minute
2. Season the crab with salt and sauté in oil until caramelized, around 2 minutes.
   Add butter and lemon and cook over low heat for around 2 minutes more.
3. Add all ingredients to the shrimps and mix well. Vacuum, then marinate for 20 minutes.

Barley
-300 g (10 ounces) pearl barley soaked over the night
-50 g (2 ounces) shallots
-20 g (1 ½ tablespoons) tomato paste
-40 ml (3 tablespoons) extra virgin olive oil
-300 ml (1 ¼ cups) lobster stock
-300 ml (1 ¼ cups) water
-20 g (1 ½ tablespoons) butter
-Lobster claw meat
-Salt and pepper
-Lemon juice
-Chives

4. Chop the shallots and sauté with tomato paste in half of the oil. Add barley and stock. Let simmer until all stock has been absorbed by the barley. Add water, little by little, cooking until all is absorbed before adding more.
5. Add the claw meat and let simmer for 2 minutes.
6. At the end, stir in the olive oil and butter.
7. Season with salt, pepper and lemon juice and garnish with chives.

Pickled carrots
-10 tiny carrots
-2 carrots
-60 ml (1/3 cup) carrot juice
-20 ml (4 teaspoons) sea buckthorn juice
-40 g (3 tablespoons) sugar

8. Heat carrot juice, sea buckthorn juice and sugar until the sugar dissolves, stirring constantly.
9. Peel the tiny carrots and cut to 5 cm (2 inch) lengths. Place in a vacuum
   bag with half the juice mixture. Poach in water bath with an immersion circulator at 85 C (185 F) for 40 minutes.
10. Peel the carrots and cut into 2 x 2 x 10 cm (3/4 x ¾ x 4 inches) lengths.
    Cut into around 20 1 mm thick slices with a mandolin. Place in a vacuum
    bag with the remaining juice mixture. Poach in water bath with an immersion circulator at 85 C (185F) for 30 minutes.

Carrot reduction
-300 ml (1 ¼ cups) carrot juice
-30 ml (2 tablespoons) sea buckthorn juice
-10 g (2 teaspoons) sugar

11. Reduce the carrot juice over high heat until it becomes syrupy and about
    20% of the original amount remains.
12. Combine sea buckthorn juice and sugar with the carrot syrup and keep stirring until sugar dissolves.

Sea buckthorn froth
-300 ml (1 ¼ cups) sea buckthorn juice
-200 ml (¾ cup) carrot juice
-20 g (4 teaspoons) sugar
-5 g (1 ½ teaspoon) lecithin

13. Combine all ingredients at low speed in a thermomixer at 60 C (140 F) for 10 minutes.
14. Strain, then whisk to froth with an immersion blender.

Garnish
-Thin shreds of celery
-Olive oil
-Dill peaks

Plating

Brush carrot reduction across a plate. Place all ingredients on the reduction. In first, lobster and king crab then the carrot ribbons, mini carrots and shrimp. Garnish with dill, celery and olive oil. Top with the sea buckthorn froth and serve the barley risotto alongside.

 

 

FURTHER INFORMATION

CIBUS by Langhoff/Chef-owner Filip Langhoff

info@cibus.fi

Helsinki (Finland)

www.cibus.fi

PRESS REVIEW/LINKS

1. COCO Book, Phaidon

2. Chez Dominique

3. Restaurant Feinschmecker

4. Bocuse D’Or 2009 (press)

 

Tous Droits Réservés. Copyright Scoffier ©2008-2011

51. Sasu Laukkonen, Chef et Sommelier (Helsinki, Finland)

SLaukkonen/©LiisaValonen

THE NORDIC WAVES-SCANDINAVIAN CHEFS: SASU LAUKKONEN

The Nordic Waves is the term I used to describe this group of chefs from all of Scandinavia, mainly from Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway. These chefs known for 3-4 years at international level have particularly been at the forefront over the past two years due to the recognition of New Nordic Cuisine and the emphasis on a cuisine close to nature and the local products. All this, without relying on the status attained by the restaurant Noma and Chef René Redzepi. But beyond fashions and trends of the moment, I discovered a high concentration of young chefs, innovative, creative, open to the world and all dedicated to their garden and immediate environment.

With this Series, I discovered several young chefs and parts of Scandinavia, but I have not had a chance to present an emerging chef from Finland. Here is by ‘’the front door’’, the chef Sasu Laukkonen.

Born in 1975, this young chef has a long experience in the kitchen. Without repeating his curriculum vitae, I will note its short internships at Château Carsin (Bordeaux), Lux and F12 at Stockholm, but mainly his work as head chef to La Petite Maison and Loft Restaurant & Lounge in Helsinki.

In 2010, Sasu Laukkonen decides to open his own restaurant, Chef & Sommelier. A restaurant ”human (grandeur)” where the chef (which makes the service too!) and his team decided to focus on organic products, local and close to nature.

Sasu Laukkonen makes a ‘’cuisine of heart’’, all handmade with the best products in Finland. Under the guise simple, her cuisine carries a unique background. The chef said ‘’Pure in taste’’, I would say also Purely Finnish! When everyone is rediscovering its ‘’terroir’’, this is the talent and creativity that emerges, and this is the case at Chef & Sommelier!

 

Q+A WITH SASU LAUKKONEN (www.chefetsommelier.fi ):

1-(Scoffier) How do you explain the philosophy behind your cuisine and what is it main characteristics? What is the concept behind Chef & Sommelier Restaurant?

SLaukkonen- The Chef & Sommelier concept is all about giving people a choice to eat a good organic (and wild) dinner in a laid back atmosphere in Helsinki. The restaurant is very small ( 25 seats ) and cosy, and we want our guests to feel welcome.

I’ve been talking about finesse-dining for a long time now, which I still keep as a term for what I do. It means that one can get fine dining on the plate but feel relaxed and even have a bit of fun while having a great dinner and with the Chef, his sommelier and his kitchen team.

My cuisine is very ingredient-based and natural. Actually, without good ingredients it’s impossible for me to do what I do. My philosophy is to think of ingredients as a whole and make the best out of them and let guests sample different parts of them. For example, buying half a limousine bull is lot different as an ingredient as buying just tenderloin, right?

I also try not to do too much to the ingredients so that one does not lose contact with the real thing. We are very vegetarian friendly, so I don’t use (for ex.) gelatine for anyone.

We use a lot of the less respected/valued ingredients and make them into something new and interesting and we put a lot of time and effort into foraging and picking ourselves so we fully know where the ingredients come from.

2-(Scoffier) Do you have a flavour or taste from your childhood that is again memorable?

SLaukkonen- Yes, several actually. One was just last August when we were picking peas from our garden and when tasting them I remembered
how it felt and tasted when I was just a little boy. Another one is wood sorrel, every time I taste it.

3-(Scoffier) Do you have a particular foods (or products) that you often use in your recipes?

SLaukkonen- Yes, indeed. Lemon has been my all time favorite. Also rosemary and horseradish, especially wild horseradish – the leaves and the stem have very certain flavor compared to the root (which is commonly used). But I am very seasonal, and of course one has his favorites, too.

Celeriac/©LValonen

4-(Scoffier) Do you have a mentor (chefs or anybody else) that inspires your cuisine?

SLaukkonen- My cuisine is inspired by everything I see, hear and read. Mentors, yes, many. But I’ve always been the kind of a chef that has more or less been going his own path.

I think my biggest inspiration has been to be able to see chefs that are creative and brave and to let their food and style inspire me into finding my own inspirations.

5-(Scoffier) Can you describe the progression of the gastronomy in the country in the recent years? Is the terroir in Finland
is very different from that of its neighbors (Norway, Sweden…)?

SLaukkonen- Gastronomy in Finland has taken a big leap within the last five years, but it is still quite Helsinki-based. There are some really good restaurants outside Helsinki, but really only a few compared to the amount in the capital.

Customers nowadays have seen quite a bit already, and one as a restauranteur has to be awake. There’s no easy way out anymore. People demand value for their money. 

I’m glad that quite many chefs have made their own restaurants, because they make them look, feel and taste how they want.

The terroir here is almost the same with other Nordic countries, except that some countries are further down south, so they get a couple of extra days of growth period before winter comes. Ideal place for foraging and gardening certain varieties of vegetables, pure waters for great fish and lots of forests for game.

6-(Scoffier) How do you develop your recipes? What are your source(s) of inspiration?

SLaukkonen- I am very spontaneous. Ingredients inspire me, so when I come to think of a new one is start examining them. My recipes and ideas come to me when they come, I never force them out. Usually the best ideas come to me in the shower during mornings, I spend some time there relaxing and drinking coffee.

7-(Scoffier) Do you are part of the New Nordic Cuisine manifesto?

SLaukkonen- No. To be frank, I’ve never even read the whole manifesto with thought. Maybe I should do just that.

8-(Scoffier) You have a focus for the organic products It is now (in 2011) easy to source locally?

SLaukkonen- I’m very happy now, since I feel that finally the circle is starting to close – the first product to find me (without me trying
to find it) just came to me a couple of weeks ago – a finnish organic shiitake mushroom. Incredible ingredient!

Yes, sourcing for me has become easier this year, but mostly because I’ve started to get to know the right people behind the great products. But I worked for 3,5 months before we opened in August 2010 to find the right people, too.

I have been very lucky since I found Jukka Ahonala, who is a farmer, but also sources for me. He also can supply organic products from Europe if I am in need of them during the long winter. And still I am in direct contact with the farmers.

9-(Scoffier) Can you give us a detailed recipe (Signature dish or other) that is characterized the cuisine of Sasu Laukkonen and Chef & Sommelier?

SLaukkonen- Recipe: Celeriac & Nuts

I can give you a recipe for a dish that is on the menu now, since I am very seasonal chef. It is a recipe for a starter of celeriac and nuts. I use the celeriac as a whole so guests can compare the different tastes of the different parts of the same root vegetable. This recipe is for 8 people as a starter.

10-(Scoffier) What are your goals (ambitions) as chef and for your restaurant? Do you think about write a book, a television show, others?

SLaukkonen- Well, actually I have been cooking on tv every other saturday morning now for three seasons and will possible continue that
next year.

Books, maybe. I have a vision about a vegetarian cookbook that is based on ingredients and seasons.

Ambitions as a chef – to be able to do what I do right now and to just take that forward and to keep it real. To stay focused. And to attend MAD Food Camp next year! Ambitions for the restaurant – to stay as intensive without losing “the grip” and to set up a tiny Chef & Sommelier organic bakery at some point (maybe).

RECIPE: Celeriac & Nuts

CeleriacRecipe/©LiisaValonen

Ingredients & Progression Recipe

-1 whole organic celeriac (lifted from underground max 1,5-2 months ago)

-Unrefined sea salt

-Organic olive oil

-½ dl organic hazelnuts

-½ dl organic pistachio nuts, gently roasted and peeled

-Unrefined seasalt

-Organic unrefined sugar

-Organic Balsamico di Modena

-2 dl organic double cream

-1 g Texturas iota

1. First wash and rinse the whole celeriac really well. Also scrub the bulb so that one can use the peel.

2. Pick the leaves separate, cut the green stems into 0,5 cm pieces and reserve them separate but keep a little bit of the stem connected to the bulb.

3. Cut a 1/4^th piece of the bulb with the stem-part intact and wash it very thoroughly, use a toothpick to get in between the stem parts. Peel the bulb with a peeler and keep the peels separate. Also cut off the worm-shaped roots and slice them raw and keep them separate in a moist place.

4. Cut the well peeled bulb-root in to 1 cm cubes and cook them in boiling water until soft, for about 20 minutes. Sieve off the water but save it for later. Puree the cooked bulb pieces with unrefined sea salt to taste and use the cooking water to smoothen the texture if necessary. Chill the puree in a container with a lid on.

5. Cook the leaves in boiling water for 2 minutes and lift them in to ice water directly to cool down. When cold, squeeze of any excess liquid from the leaves and puree them with the chilled bulb cooking water to a smooth puree. Reserve in the fridge.

6. Heat clean deep frying oil (or canola oil) until 180c and deep fry the peels of the bulb until crispy and darker brown. Place them on kitchen paper and season them with unrefined sea salt before they cool down. Keep them in room temperature.

7. Cook the 1/4^th piece in salted water until al dente, about 10-15 minutes and keep it underwater with something on top. Don’t let it boil too hard when cooking. Chill the piece in ice water and slice into 8 pieces afterwards.

8. Fry the green stems in a bit of olive oil very hastily and to cover with water. Season with salt and cook for 1 minute. Sieve and chill them.

9. Put half of the hazelnuts in to a little pot and on the stove. When they start to smell and roast a little bit, put in a pinch of salt and sugar. Take off the stove and drop little droplets of Balsamico di Modena in so that it evaporates but gives a little glaze on top of the nuts. Cool the nuts on a plate and slice them into smaller bits before serving.

10. Make the hazelnut cream:

Put the other half of the hazelnuts in to a pot with the cream and season them with a little bit of salt and sugar. Cook it up and leave it next to the stove in a warm place so that is stays hot but doesn’t cook, about 10 minutes. Mix the cream for a bit with a blender – just a couple of pulses and sieve the cream. Mix in the iota. Cook up to 82c, sieve and pour into little silicon moulds. Cover with cling film and let set at room temperature.

11. Finish the sauce:

Heat the leaf puree until 50c, check for salt and/or sugar. Add 0,5 dl of olive oil but don’t emulsify, leave it a bit split. Cut the pistachio with a knife and add in to the sauce.

12. Serve all the different parts of celeriac with the hazelnut “panna cotta” and the hazelnuts.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Restaurant Chef & Sommelier/Chef-Owner Sasu Laukkonen, Sommelier Johan Borgar

Huvilakatu 28

00150 Helsinki (Finland)

www.chefetsommelier.fi

www.sasulaukkonen.com

PRESS REVIEW

1. Delicately Organic, We Are Helsinki magazine, March 2011

2. Valio Kotiruoka (Finland TV show), May 2011

3. Finnair Blue Wings,

Tous Droits Réservés. Copyright Scoffier ©2008-2011

50. James Lowe, The Young Turks (London, UK)

JamesLowe/©JLowe

THE GAME-BRITISH & SCOTTISH CHEFS: JAMES LOWE

The Brits have been preparing for some time the after Gordon Ramsay and Marco Pierre White cuisine. Not that there is a british style but we can certainly say that the emerging chefs are pro-locavore and that they are sourcing the best products of the island of Albion. In the very cosmopolitan London, the influences of young chefs are many, which give them a unique culinary personality.

I had the pleasure to discuss with the other two members of the Young Turks (Isaac McHale, Ben Greeno) a past few months, and to finish off and complete the trio, I invite youto discover the excellent chef James Lowe.

In talking with James Lowe, I discovered an ‘’Électrons libres’’ (probably as McHale & Greeno) with a very simple philosophy, an iconoclast with strong opinions about ‘’sa cuisine’’ and the gastronomy in general. Some thought that the chefs develop after several years only.

Lowe’s cuisine is strongly influenced by his time as Head chef of St John Bread & Wine and his work with the chef Fergus Henderson, but also with its passage in the kitchens of Fat Duck and noma. He shares with Henderson the philosophy ”Nose to Tail’‘ and it is completely guided by market products, the British market’s of course!

Follow this chef, its events, its future restaurant because that will be for chefs like James Lowe that we will go to a restaurant in a few years: a simple cuisine, creative food, a strong personality and a social conscience in harmony with its environment.

 

 

 

Q+A WITH JAMES LOWE (www.youngturks.co ):

1-(Scoffier) How do you explain the philosophy behind your cuisine and what is it main characteristics?

JLowe- I would say that my food is a very commonsense’ in attitude, it’s heavily produce driven, quite pared back and uncomplicated. I like using British produce the majority of the time because I’m proud of being British and I honestly believe that we have not only some of the best, but also some of the most interesting produce in the world.

2-(Scoffier) How do you explain the philosophy behind your concept The Young Turks?

JLowe- With the Young Turks we wanted to draw attention to a new kind of British cooking, one that focused on our excellent native produce, brought vegetables to the fore and sought to be creative without being pretentious or complicated. We want to encourage collaboration and helpfulness and use it as a platform to share ideas as a way of moving forwards.

3-(Scoffier) Do you have a flavour or taste from your childhood that is again memorable?

JLowe- Well, my parents love telling everyone that ‘all I used to eat was bacon’, so I’m going to go with that. A bacon sandwich is certainly still one of my favourite things!

4-(Scoffier) Do you have a particular foods (or products) that you often use in your recipes?

JLowe- I would say that there are certainly suppliers that I use often, I have specific farms that I buy pork, lamb and beef from. Then there are the suppliers that take on the ‘middleman’ role, these people are massively important since they are able to find and tell
you what is currently at its best. When it comes to foods I would say that it varies with the seasons. In winter I use all sorts of game and load my menus with it, whereas in the summer I do far more vegetables dishes.

5-(Scoffier) Do you share the philosophy of Fergus Henderson ‘’Nose to tail eating’’? Do you have another chefs or anybody else that inspires you in your cuisine?

JLowe- Absolutely, Fergus is brilliant, my first meal at St John was one of the things that made me want to be a chef.  I think ‘Nose
to Tail’ fits in with a common sense approach to foods, it’s very satisfying to break down an entire animal and fit all the parts into your menu in various ways. Heston (Blumenthal) has also been a huge inspiration, both in terms of eating at The Fat Duck before I started cooking, and talking about food and restaurants whilst working with him.

6-(Scoffier) I saw that you have strong opinions on the restoration and the cuisine, and it is a difficult business! How do you see your first restaurant: small, fine dining, several important partners?

JLowe- I’d like the style of the restaurant to be fairly similar to the food: pared back, unfussy and honest. The menu will be around £30 for four or five courses at dinner and more of a list menu at lunch that would allow people to snack or eat more quickly. I’m hoping that people will be as receptive to the idea of no choice in a restaurant environment as they are at one of our events. I also want to somehow recreate the vibe and atmosphere that we have at a Young Turks gig in the restaurant – it’ll be a real challenge to maintain that energy in a permanent location.

7-(Scoffier) How do you develop (your inspiration) your recipes and construct your menu with Isaac McHale for each event?

JLowe- Each time we plan event we look carefully at what produce is available at that time and then where can we get it from. Next, we look at where we’ll be working and what limitations that places on us. The inevitable restrictions are what make the menu writing
process for a temporary event so interesting. The food has to fit the venue and be feasible to pull off to our standard. As an example our last event was on a car park rooftop in a very small kitchen equipped with a small oven and a massive grill, so we based the food loosely on a Turkish Ocakbasi, but done in our way.

8-(Scoffier) I know you were in MAD event (August 2011), what have you learned? Before, have you been influenced by René Redzepi and the New Nordic Cuisine manifesto?

JLowe- The MAD symposium was very interesting, there were talks on plant neurobiology, agricultural policy and farming sustainability.  Combined with the energy of the people in attendance and some great meals in Copenhagen I think it would be hard not to come back inspired from the event.

I didn’t eat at noma on this last visit but I think René has certainly had an influence on me. I first ate there about six years ago and was amazed at the quality and type of produce that was on display, I felt that what he was doing in Copenhagen was definitely possible in the UK, surely the same sort of ingredients would be available over here? People are just so busy in the restaurant industry that it’s hard to stop, think and look around for alternative ways of doing things. I think that was also one of the goals of MAD – to make people stop and think about what they were doing, the consequences of their choices – and I’m sure most of us who were there have done.

9-(Scoffier) Can you give us a detailed recipe (Signature dish or other) that is characterized of your cuisine?

JLowe- Recipe: Raw forerib, oyster, elderberry capers and chickweed

10-(Scoffier) What are your goals (ambitions) as chef or for The Young Turks? Do you think about write a book, a television show, an event outside of London?

JLowe- Personally, my main goal is to get my restaurant open, get cooking for people and to be busy. I’d like to do other things in the
future but for now I just need to get a site! As for the ‘Turks, we have invites and plans to do a few things outside of the UK including Australia with the TOYS crew, Sweden at Bastard restaurant and to cook in Paris, which I really hope we get round to sorting out because it would be great to take British food to these places.

RECIPE: Raw Forerib, Oyster, Elderberry Capers and Chickweed

RawForerib/©PaJorgensen

Ingredients & Progression Recipe

-400g Well marbled, aged forerib

-Dijon mustard

-Olive oil

-Unripe elderberries

-Coarse salt

-Cider vinegar

-3 native oysters

-150g vegetable oil

-Vinegar from elderberry capers

-Salt

-Beef dripping

-200g Sourdough

-Chickweed or wild watercress

Method

Beef

1. Separate the beef from the fat and connective tissue. Chop the beef fairly roughly into 5mm dice. Chop the fat into 2-3mm dice.

Elderberry capers

1. Pick the unripe elderberries after the blossom has fallen but before the branches (and obviously the fruit) turn red. Mix with twice the weight of coarse salt, cover and refrigerate for 2 weeks. Rinse the salt off the berries. Bring to the boil enough cider vinegar to cover the berries completely. Drop the berries into the pot, bring back to the boil and pour into preserving jars and seal.

 

Oyster emulsion

1. Open the oysters. Strain the liquid from the oysters and keep. Blend the oysters to a puree then add the oil at a slow rate (as if making
mayonnaise). Continue until the emulsion is very thick. Add some vinegar from the elderberry capers and salt to season.

To serve

1. Allow the beef to come up to room temperature (over 21C), add olive oil, mustard, salt and pepper to season. Place on the plate in a very shallow layer. Pour half the reserved oyster juice over the beef. Blitz the sourdough into crumbs and fry in the beef dripping until brown and crispy. Scatter these crumbs and the elderberry capers over the beef. Pipe blobs of the oyster emulsion evenly over the beef. Add a layer of chickweed or wild watercress tops.

 

 

FURTHER INFORMATION

The Young Turks/Chef James Lowe (London)

www.youngturks.co

PRESS REVIEW

1. A New Movement…, by Bruce Palling, WStreet Journal, April 2011

2. The Young Turks at Franks Cafe (Video), August 2011

3. Catch them if you can, by Nicholas Lander, Financial Times, April 2011

Tous Droits Réservés. Copyright Scoffier ©2008-2011