Noma, Noma, Ayy

Welcome to Noma, A Look into Nordic Cuisine

     For our second to last class, we went on a field trip to Noma Restaurant in Copenhagen, Denmark. From their website, Norm is a two star Michelin star restaurant run by chef, Rene Redzepi. I found it interesting that "Noma" is a combination of two Danish words, "nordisk" (Nordic) and "mad" (food), and means "Nordic food". Open in 2003 (about 12 years old), Noma is known for its reinvention and interpretation of Nordic cuisine, in which it won the Best Restaurant in the World four times since its opening (2010, 2011, 2012, and 2014). From the tour, I was surprised by how simple the dining room appeared due to its normal brown chairs, fur seat covers, no placemats, and location in a warehouse district. The layout appeared to me to be very simple, but its natural aesthetic and lighting was very cozy and not too extravagant or overwhelming as expected of a world-class restaurant. Next, we went out to the back  of the restaurant and saw their grill station and fermentation lab. I was caught off guard by the use of fermentation (microorganisms) of foods as an important factor to the cuisine for Noma. I would not have expected this approach and technique to be used in a multi-award winning restaurant. From the information session, fermentation is used to produce genuine and unique flavors for their Nordic dishes. Next, we were able to meet with the famous head chef, Rene Redzepi. I was surprised by his young, and simple appearance of the head chef; I was expected a very unique visionary/personality like the head chef of El Bulli. Listening to Rene, I could see how strong and passionate he was for Noma, Nordic cuisine, and its direction for the future. He also explained that many of the chefs present at Noma come from various backgrounds, cultures, and ethnicities and are young (eager to learn) and upcoming in the food world. He talked about how the dishes made at Noma are usually created with ingredients and resources native to the Denmark region, with some exceptions like wines and sugars. I found it interesting that he said other techniques, recipes, and resources from other surrounding countries like Germany are influential towards Nordic cuisine. He also talked about how "poor" and not as rich was Danish cuisine, but emphasized the reinvention and interpretation of Nordic cuisine is stressed in Noma. Also, I enjoyed that Rene and other fellow chefs venture out of the Nordic region and experimented cooking in Japan. He said that they learned many different ingredients and recipes in Japan, but were able to somewhat reproduce Nordic Cuisine but using the native resources of Japan. I enjoyed that he said that we welcomed and appreciated the challenge of opening a restaurant in Japan. I liked how he said that other chefs can be Nordic chefs by learning and training in Noma Restaurant. Overall, I enjoyed the Noma field trip and learned about Nordic cuisine and the Danish foodways of a world-class restaurant.

Going Out on a Tuesday...For Some Smorrebrod

Brunch at Ida's

     For our last Tuesday class, we had a field trip to the smorrebrod resturant, Ida Davidsen. In the Danish culture, smorrebrod (art of famous Danish open sandwich) usually consists of a piece of buttered rye bread and the toppings of cold cut pieces of meat, fish, cheese, and spreads. Allowed into the kitchen, we were able to meet person the establishment is named after, Ida Davidsen, and watch her explain & prepare various types of smorrebrod. She explained that every ingredient we see on the table is fresh and is grown/acquired locally. Some interesting smorrebrod that stood out to me that she prepared was the race car driver influenced sandwich (french baguette, grab meat, two types of seaweed carviar, lemon, and dill) and SAS airlines inspired sandwhich (raw tenderloin, raw salmon, black seaweed caviar, and egg yolk tartare). After the preparation in the kitchen, we joined the rest of the class in the dinind room, and Ida explained the history of the restaurant. Ida Davidsen began in 1888 when Oskar Davidsen openned a wine bar in Copenhagen and started creating smorrebrod for his hungry guests. Continuing the tradition of open-face sandwiches, the fourth generation of the Davidsen family, Ida, decided to opened the restaurant at St. Kongensgade 70, where her, her husband, and starff carry on the 100  yeas old unbroken family tradition of quality Danish food and culture. I am surprised that the restaurant has a menu with about 250 different smorrebrods available, and that the sandwiches are relatively the same recipes (some exceptions/adaptations now) as the smorrebrods prepared by the original, Oskar Davidsen. When lunch was ready, I decided to get the smorrebrod that consisted of raw salmon, wasabi cream cheese, pink & black seaweed caviar, dark rye bread, and crawfish tips, and dill. The food and experience was great and explains a lot about the identity of the restaurant, Ida Davidsen. For example, the identities present in this restaurant are Scandinavian culture/cuisine,  Danish culture/cuisine, traditional Smorrebrod (Danish open-face sandwiches) culture, family & tradition, and the Davidsen family. Overall, the smorrebrod served in the restaurant represent the Davidsen family and their legacy of maintaining quality and accurate to the Danish culture smorrebrods for both Danish regulars and tourists alike.

Babette's Feast: Danish Crusine

Babette's Feast: Reflection of Danish Crusine

    
     In our last Monday's class, we watched the 1987 Danish drama film, Babette's Feast, which was the first Danish film to win an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The movie is centered around two elderly, pious Christian sisters (Martine and Philippa) who live all their lives in a small remote village in 19th century Jutland, Denmark. Having a father who was a pastor and founder of his own Pietistic congregation, the two sisters lived a simple, pious life. In their youths, both sisters were very beautiful and were courted by many suitors (Lorens-officer, Papin-singer). With their father rejecting/driving away their potential suitors, the sisters stayed single and presided over the dwindling congregation after the death of their father. Initially, I thought the film was going to be a romance movie instead of a drama, and was sad that their religion (or their father's influence) drove away potential suitors and their chances for love or starting a family. In my opinion, living a pious life is difficult concept for me to grasp; I feel like it limits people from reaching a certain potential (or love/happiness). For the second half of the film, Babette arrives as a refugee and seeks to be the sisters' housekeeper based on the recommendation of Papin. Agreeing to work for free, Babette begins to blend in more/set up a routine in the small village. When the sisters were teaching Babette about how to prepare their meals, I was surprised by how simple and modest (very pious) their meals of cured fish and mushy, bread & ale pudding were. When Babette wins the lottery, her first inclination is to present the sisters and villagers with a real French dinner. Even though I did not agree with the sisters' fears that the French dinner is full of evil and sin, I was glad that they were able to accept the meal. During the preparation of the meal, I was sad to see a real turtle (I love turtles) and its use as soup in the dinner. I was also surprised by how I got to see how she prepared the quail through the killing, chopping, and decorating scenes. From the dinner scene, I was glad that the congregation were able to relax, enjoy themselves, and find peace with each other again. The meal brought them back together and was a pleasant experience for them. In the end of the movie, I was shocked but very much appreciated that Babette spent all her money preparing a full meal for the sisters and villagers and was formerly the famous chief of Cafe Anglais. I also enjoyed the last quote by Babette at the end of the film: "An artist is never poor.". From the film, I have a better understanding that food is art because food has the power to invoke & communicate emotions, is created/made by an artist (chief), involves imaginative & technical skills, and is an expression/representation of reality that can be enjoyed by others.

The El Bulli Legend

The Legend of El Bulli and its Influence on the Food World:

    
      During our study tour trip in Barcelona, Spain, we have recurrently talked about the restaurant of El Bulli and its influence on the world of food. After watching the El Bulli restaurant documentary (El Bulli: Cooking in Progress) early last Thursday morning, I now have a better understanding of what El Bulli was and what it represented/stood for. From the movie, I learned that El Bulli was a Michelin 3-star restaurant near the town of Roses, Catalonia, Spain. Run by the famous head chef Ferran Adria, El Bulli was described as "the most imaginative generator of haute cuisine on the planet". The restaurant had a limited season of being open each year; and reservations were very difficult to come by, and some were even made years in advance. The restaurant prided itself in accommodating only 8000 dinners a season as well as providing a new menu with different food creations each season. An interesting fact about the restaurant was that the average cost of a meal was about 250 euros or about 325 US dollars. The costs of meals were semi-affordable, so various democratics of people could attend El Bulli if they put in the effort to make the money & place a proper reservation. Due to its renowned ever-changing menu, El Bulli was undoubtedly known for being the most controversial and experimental restaurant in the world as well as its best chef/food genius in the world, Ferran Adria. I would describe the identity that El Bulli was and its influence it has now as "going beyond, innovative, and a catalyst for the food world in order to pursue something greater". El Bulli was the home restaurant of some of the brightest, most creative, and innovative chefs throughout the world; it also served as a school and learning environmental where new knowledge and techniques could be spread and blossom. The attempts at creating and pursuing new foods and dishes was a fresh and new experience for the food world. El Bulli blazed a trail for people to experience (taste and react) and experiment with new dishes/foods. The restaurant pushed the limits of normal or elite foods, and opened the door to new food innovations and reactions for the world to bear witness. Overall, I appreciate the gutsy food, innovations and new perspectives of food that the El Bulli restaurant has revealed to the world and look forward to how its influence will continue to shape and redefine the food world.

Vineyard Times in Barcelona

Good Vibes, Good Times, & Good Wines

    
     On Wednesday night, our Food and Identity class traveled to the city of Madremanya and took a short break at the Hotel El Raco de Madremanya. After receiving a tour of the city, we hiked through the country side and had a great dinner in a Spanish vineyard. Served by our awesome hosts, we had various sliced meats, bread, seasoned olives and nuts, seafood spread, appetizer wine in a porron, soda, grilled lamb, salad, dessert wine, and roscon fruit bread. From the experience, I learned more about the wine porron & its use and the purpose of roscon sweet dessert. For example, the porron is a traditional glass wine pitcher that is typically used in many regions in Spain like Catalonia and contains a spout that tapers off to a small opening. To drink from a porron, a person starts by bringing that spout very close to the mouth, tilts it forward slowly, pours the wine into the mouth, and pulls away & lowers the porron when finished drinking. Referring to identities, porron is a symbol of wine-drinking culture, Spanish culture, farming/vineyard culture, and social (family, friends) culture. The porron is used to drink various wines, so people who like wines can use this instead of the normal glass. For Spanish culture, the porron is used commonly for drinking wine at various occasions like work or social get-togethers. For farming/vineyard identity, the porron can be used on the go and for less spilling opportunities. And finally, the lack of contact with the lips allows a group of people to share the same vessel without offending the sense of hygiene. The challenge of distancing the porron from the mouth also can be used for social times with friends and family. The roscon bread is a sweet bread dessert filled with guava paste and decorated with fruits and jellos. This dessert pastry can be used as a symbol/identity again for sweet-eating/dessert culture, Spanish culture, Christmas/special occasions culture, social (family and friends) culture. Overall, I enjoyed the experience of drinking from a porron and eating the traditional roscon breaded dessert.

Study Tour Destination: Barcelona, Spain: Straight Cheesin

"Let's Talk About Cheese"

     During our week-long study tour trip in Barcelona, we visited the Mercat de Saint Josep de la Boqueria, or simply the La Boqueria. La Boqueria is a large public market located in the Ciutat Vella district of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. One of the city's foremost tourist landmarks, the market offers a diverse selections of goods, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, sliced meats, rare spices, dairy products, wines, candies, chocolates, and raw seafood. To further our understanding of the market and its vendors, we (our class) were assigned the task of investigating and research products from our predetermined region of Spain. Given the region of Catalonia, our group of Courtney, Christina, and I collected information on one meat product, one unique to the region cheese product, and one random item or product specifically from Catalonia. Our protein product was meat sausages made from goat; our random Catalonian product was Ratafia liquor. For our cheese product, we bought 10 euros worth of goat cheese, Formatge El Cantell. During our interview with our Italian vendor who sold us the cheese, we discovered that the cheese came from goats raised in the Catalonia region and that goat cheese is very prevalent and popular in Barcelona. After we regrouped with the class, we gathered together in a public area for cheese, wine, and discussion of our experience in La Boqueria. My experience in the market was a great visual experience; I saw so many delicious/tempting foods, but was also a little unprepared for all the raw, various types of fish and the different, severed parts of various animals for sale. Overall, I enjoyed the cheese we bought because it was seasoned in ash/spices and tasted very earthy and goaty.

Food Identity Weekend Roundup #1

My Food Weekend Roundup Analysis #1:

     For my first Food & Identity Weekend Roundup Analysis, I will be analyzing the Copenhagen Street Food Market. Over the weekend, I attended the Red Bull Cliff Diving event at the Copenhagen Opera House. After the event, my friends and I walked over to the Copenhagen Street food Market for a quick afternoon snack. Not surprised due to the proximity to the Opera House, there was a huge lingering crowd of both Danes and what-I-assume-were tourists in the market area. In front of the entrance, there was a dj performing his music remixes as well as additional chairs/tables/sitting areas set up. When we entered, the aisles were packed with people. Due to some of my friends never been to the market before, we walked through by every food truck to see our present food options. Each with separate food cravings/tastes, we split up and got in line for the food that we wanted. I decided to get potato fries, double deep-fried in duck fat with ketchup, spicy ketchup, garlic, and homemade mayonnaise sauces. In order to get a bigger plate (one order of fries holder did not look so easy to use on the go), I had to purchase two orders of fries. I shared the fries with my friends as we decided to eat on-the-go back to our apartment.
     From this recent visit at the Copenhagen Street Food Market, I better understand and can analyze the food, identities, people, and culture present. From the food, the food trucks offer various genres of food such as: South Korean, Brazilian, Turkish, Gluten-free, Beer/Imports, Berlin/German, French, Belgian, Burgers, Surf & Turf, Danish, Italian, Colombian, Thai, Organic gourmet meats, Chinese, Shawarma, Mexican, and Japanese. From the various types of food, I can assume that the cooks and workers are of the nationality of their foods and/or inspired by and like the ethnic foods they sell. For identities, I believe that the food trucks share a cultural identity of the food they cook, identities of being part of a street food truck community, and identity of living in Denmark. Overall, I believe that the food they serve and the cultures of working in the food industry and the genre/nationality of the food are important factors to their own individual identity(s).