So, having completely forgotten about the fact that I'd started a food blog, finding myself in Aarhus with 2 days to kill before a food symposium, I realised that if I were to be in any way credible, I needed to start 'contemplating cuisines' once more. So I have- and here is, if not my first encounter with Scandinavian cuisine, probably my most thoughtful!
Night 1: NFK: Nordens Folkekokken
A menu (at a reasonable price) that took me 2 hours of walking in circles to find. In typical Laura fashion, I did absolutely no preparation, but instead headed off in a particular direction from my hotel opposite the Aarhus Cathedral and walked the streets, as it were. Mine was a pleasant eventual encounter- a set menu ranging from 2 to 7 courses, all of which were paired with wine- I'm in!
My decisions were typical- to start poached salmon paired with a Sicilian white. It came perfectly presented with a Danish cream cheese and lemon curd. I really appreciated this starter because it was light, yet satisfying and came accompanied with freshly baked bread to soak up the excess alcohol as this was my first meal since the plane 7 hours previously. The salmon itself had been cooked to perfection and did not have that overpowering oily fish consistency that is often a problem I have with salmon. The wine- a 2011 Grillo-Inzelia was refreshing and exactly what I needed after my trip about town...
The main course was also fish (Kulmule)- Hake on a chanterelle mash accompanied with fresh chanterelles, peas and a potato mash. This too was cooked to perfection and the fish melted in my mouth. The chanterelles were also not over-powering, but rather brought out the flavour of the fish that I'm used to eating fried back home (see previous blog at some of these attempts :) The only criticism that I can level at this dish was that it was quite rich and could have done with something to break the creamy textures of the fish, mash and chanterelles other than just a few peas. The white accompanying this was also an Italian one, but was a lot deeper in flavour with a smokiness complementing its fruity overtones- Triade Campanien 2010. (You will also note that at this point I remembered that I could also play around with Instagram for my photos :)
The final course was a selection of Scandinavian cheeses with a relish and honeyed nuts. Although I was worried that my choice may prove too much after the rich main course, my fears were unfounded and the variety and size of the portions was quite satisfactory. The blue in particular went really well with the nuts and the softer, Swedish cheese required the relish to bring out its qualities. The Puglian 2009 Passitivo finished the meal off in style.
So, it looks like my culinary experience has gotten off to a good start (as has my relationships with Instagram) and I'm super keen for the next instalment of my Danish food experience. I will try to do some research in the meantime so as to put an academic spin on this in relation to farming systems, which is what we will be discussing at this conference
Night 1: NFK: Nordens Folkekokken
My decisions were typical- to start poached salmon paired with a Sicilian white. It came perfectly presented with a Danish cream cheese and lemon curd. I really appreciated this starter because it was light, yet satisfying and came accompanied with freshly baked bread to soak up the excess alcohol as this was my first meal since the plane 7 hours previously. The salmon itself had been cooked to perfection and did not have that overpowering oily fish consistency that is often a problem I have with salmon. The wine- a 2011 Grillo-Inzelia was refreshing and exactly what I needed after my trip about town...
The main course was also fish (Kulmule)- Hake on a chanterelle mash accompanied with fresh chanterelles, peas and a potato mash. This too was cooked to perfection and the fish melted in my mouth. The chanterelles were also not over-powering, but rather brought out the flavour of the fish that I'm used to eating fried back home (see previous blog at some of these attempts :) The only criticism that I can level at this dish was that it was quite rich and could have done with something to break the creamy textures of the fish, mash and chanterelles other than just a few peas. The white accompanying this was also an Italian one, but was a lot deeper in flavour with a smokiness complementing its fruity overtones- Triade Campanien 2010. (You will also note that at this point I remembered that I could also play around with Instagram for my photos :)
The final course was a selection of Scandinavian cheeses with a relish and honeyed nuts. Although I was worried that my choice may prove too much after the rich main course, my fears were unfounded and the variety and size of the portions was quite satisfactory. The blue in particular went really well with the nuts and the softer, Swedish cheese required the relish to bring out its qualities. The Puglian 2009 Passitivo finished the meal off in style.So, it looks like my culinary experience has gotten off to a good start (as has my relationships with Instagram) and I'm super keen for the next instalment of my Danish food experience. I will try to do some research in the meantime so as to put an academic spin on this in relation to farming systems, which is what we will be discussing at this conference
