New Danish cuisine

The New Danish Cuisine is a component of the New Nordic Cuisine (Danish: Det nye nordiske køkken) which has been developed in the Nordic countries and Scandinavia in particular since the 2000s. New Nordic Cuisine was propelled by and found inspiration in ideas and a manifesto written by food activist and entrepreneur Claus Meyer and a number of Scandinavian chefs in 2004 in Copenhagen. New Nordic Cuisine has been used to promote local, natural and seasonal produce as a basis for new dishes both in restaurants and in the home. As a result, a number of Denmark's restaurants have introduced local ingredients, some often new to the usual palate, in combination with traditional foods prepared in new ways.

In November 2004, on the initiative of the Danish chefs René Redzepi and Claus Meyer of the then newly opened Noma restaurant, chefs and food professionals from all the Nordic countries met in Copenhagen to discuss how best to develop what they called the "New Nordic Cuisine". In particular, they sought to emphasize the need for what they described as "purity, simplicity and freshness" as well as increased use of seasonal foods. Restaurants were encouraged to develop traditional dishes making use of ingredients benefitting from the local region’s climate, water and soil.

Meeting in Copenhagen in 2005, the Nordic Council's agricultural and food ministers from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and dependent territories gave their support to these developments, launching what they called the "new Nordic Food Programme". In 2006, this led to funding of EUR 3 million for a number of related activities.

The evolving cuisine has sought to take advantage of the possibilities inherent in traditional Scandinavian recipes for fish and meat dishes, building on the use of local products while reviving and adapting some of the older techniques, for example those for marinating, smoking and salting. Products such as rapeseed, oats, cheeses and older varieties of apples and pears are now being prepared with greater attention to safeguarding their natural flavours. These steps have been taken by the proponents of the New Nordic Cuisine in parallel with their awareness of a growing interest in organic foods throughout the region. In addition to concerns for "purity and freshness", they have also aimed to make maximum use of seasonal produce such as new potatoes, strawberries and asparagus in the summer and baked goods and seasoned meats during the Christmas period.

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