FOOD NEWS
Noma's Nordic Food Manifesto Radically Changed The Region's Culinary Identity
By Elias Nash
The Copenhagen eatery Noma, helmed by chef René Redzepi, routinely topped lists of the world's best restaurants and earned the coveted three-star label from Michelin.
The coastline highlights seafood, and reverence for the environment is crucial. Additionally, due to the short harvest period, berries, mushrooms, and potatoes are celebrated.
The restaurant changed the concept of Nordic food in 2004 with the release of the New Nordic Food Manifesto: 10 commandments to define the region's new culinary identity.
These guiding principles focused on using local ingredients and promoting Nordic products. The principles include foraging for ingredients and utilizing elements such as insects.
Noma brought Nordic cuisine to international prominence, but writer Eeva Väänänen Moore notes that the manifesto lumps the Nordic countries together, ignoring their differences.
The blending of cultural influences is natural and exciting, but Moore notes that the perception of Nordic culinary identity is much different outside the region than within it.