The restaurant Noma in Copenhagen is recognized as one of the finest dining spots in the world. On many lists, it considered the best. The Noma cookbook is a best seller and an inspiration to chefs, both amateur and professional, around the world.
Noma co-founder Claus Meyer has produced a new cookbook, one filled with intriguing surprises. The Nordic Kitchen has a very clear subtitle: One Year of Family Cooking. This is not a book of restaurant food, although many of these dishes would grace the menu of any establishment. These are recipes, divided by season, that Claus enjoys personally with his family.
There is a bounty of recipes here, 350 of them. Many of the ingredients are familiar, but used in a different way. For example, here is the Raw Salmon with Lime, Horseradish and Garlic Mustard.
And some of the recipes use a primary ingredient that you’ve probably avoided, like this Leg of Wild Boar.
What you can do with The Nordic Kitchen is play it safe or you can go for that wild board adventure. You can simply pick and choose, knowing that these recipes comes from one of the top food gurus on the planet. Here’s a sampling of ideas, both comfortably familiar and a tad out of the ordinary:
Nettle Soup with Potato Pillows and Smoke Curd Cheese
Pan-Fried Lamb Kidneys
Roasted Duck Breast with Baked Rhubarb and Horseradish
Boiled Leeks with Vinaigrette of Parsley, Anchovies, and Apple Cider vinegar
Rhubarb Cake
Cold Cucumber Soup
Roast Chicken and Braised Peas with Baby Onion, Bacon, and Lettuce Heart
Barbecued Venison
Tartlets with Summer Vegetables in Béchamel Sauce
Those ideas are from the first two chapters devote to Spring and Summer. Fall and Winter offer equally exquisite ideas. The Nordic twists are here in terms of the dairy, cheese, and spices often employed. It’s not a sauce-heavy book. We are north of France here.
The recipes themselves are direct, not stark. Some of the recipes use just a handful of ingredients although there are many where twenty or more are at play. Still, the recipes themselves are written in just four or five paragraphs. The writing is short sentences delivering directions in a punchy, no-frills tone. You can easily understand and follow any of the recipes here. It is a “family” cookbook and it is certainly “family” friendly.
With all the recipes here, there certainly is a year of cooking opportunities before you. It’s a book you can employ with confidence. And, who knows, it’s a book that may have you shopping for a leg of wild boar.