Nordic Food Lab

Written by Julia Sick, edited by Michael Bom Frøst, photos by Yi-Ting Sun. And we did it again! The Nordic Food Lab hosted its 4th Monday Aperitivo at the University of Copenhagen on the 19th of March. Our guest speakers included Rasmus Kristensen from Jalm&B, Associate Professor Emerita Åse Hansen from the Department of Food Science at University of Copenhagen and bartender Hardeep Rehal owning the cocktail bar Blume in Copenhagen. The ingredients for this time’s lecture were flour and water…and some microorganisms, which are most often overseen too easily despite their importance to bring that gluey mass of dough to life. Human’s use of the living culture can be tracked back 5000 years. Back then, people did not have an explanation for the spontaneous rise of bread, and rather explained it by either magic or religion. With the development of scientific microbiology in the 19th century, the rise of … Read more

Participate in GASTRO-SCIENCE-CHEF 2018 – an international two-day symposium on science and cooking hosted by The Department of Food Science (FOOD) at the University of Copenhagen.  In the last couple of decades we have witnessed an increasing interaction between chefs and scientists, fueling new trends in both cooking and research. This two-day symposium brings together chefs, scientists, students, and culinary entrepreneurs to discuss matters of mutual interest with the aim of further cross-fertilization and developing of new ideas for future and collaborative work. A particular emphasis will be on communication and public outreach. The symposium will include workshops with gastronomic and gastrophysical demonstrations and experimentation. Program Date: June 13, 2018 Venue: University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg Campus, Thorvaldsensvej 40, Auditorium A2-81.01 13.00-13.15   Welcome: Scope of the symposium, Pia Sörensen, Roberto Flore, and Ole G. Mouritsen 13.15-13.55   The new role of the chef in the 21st century, Anne McBride (New York) … Read more

The Nordic Food Lab proudly presents Wild Aperitivo as part of the 4th Wild & Feral Food Week 2018 The 4th Wild & Feral Food Week 2018 is founded by our friends at Berkeley Open Source Food. The purpose is to connect produce suppliers, markets, and restaurants to create a space for wild and feral edible plants to provide interesting, delicious ingredients for consumers and chefs. Nordic Food Lab hosts and contributes to the event Wild Aperitivo to showcase the delicious potential of wild and feral foods in our own community. The Wild Aperitivo to some degreee follow our Monday Aperitivo. It is an informal forum, where people can address their views with an amount of passion of a specific subject related to food. A forum from where dialogues and discussions between sciences, craftsmanship and industry take place to stimulate the appetite for progress.  The program for the event We will offer … Read more

Written by Yi-ting Sun, Edited by; Roberto Flore, Louise Beck Brønnum and Michael Bom Frøst.Photo Credits: Roberto Flore, Julia Sick and Jonas Drotner Mouritsen We were very excited to host our 3rd Monday Aperitivo 29th of January after our previous successful Monday Aperitivo in 2017. A concept where science and culinary techniques meet for a kitchen talk to stimulate appetite! This time, squids from the North took the stage of discussion, reflection and our palates. The set-up During the last few months, Nordic Food Lab has been working on Danish squids as part of the project, Smag for Livet.  Our Monday Aperitivo seemed like the perfect occasion to disseminate some of the work from the lab and therefore Roberto Flore, Yi-ting Sun and Louise Beck Brønnum had choosen this subject for our 3rd Monday Aperitivo. One of the presenters was Roberto Flore, the head of culinary research and development in … Read more

Text: Louise Beck Brønnum and Michael Bom Frøst Editor: Julia Sick.Photos: Roberto Flore, Julia Sick, Rikke Højer, Louise Beck Brønnum, Vild Mad A new year is approaching. Throughout December the Lab has been smelling of pine (α-pinene), cinnamon (cinnamaldehyde), cloves (eugenol), oranges (octyl acetate) and gløgg – the Danish mulled wine. It is a time to enjoy meals together with family and friends and to remember all the pleasant memories from the past year, and to make a brief inventory of the activities in the lab.  Therefore, we would like to share some of our best memories from 2017 with you. This year Nordic Food Lab published the book “On eating insects”, about our work with insects and how we explored the deliciousness of insects around the world. We are truly honoured by the positive feedback it has received. We contributed to numerous festivals, symposiums and food events in Denmark … Read more

Text: Mathias Skovmand-Larsen. Editors: Michael Bom Frøst & Louise Beck Brønnum. Photos Julia Sick.  November 27 2017, we held our second Monday Aperitivo. This time the theme was the kingdom of fungi, in a broad definition. The idea of this Monday Aperitivo was to discuss and engage in the diversity of fungi and their potential for creating deliciousness in foods. In gastronomy, we often mostly consider fungi to be the edible mushrooms from the forest and farmed mushroom. But fungi are most importantly also used for food and beverages preparation and preservation. Methods creating the most unique and delicious flavours and textures. Often, we are not even aware of how many foods, which are made from the biosynthesis of fungi.  Take Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the yeast for making bread, beer and wine, Penicillium roqueforti, the mould for making blue cheese and the mould Rhizopus spp. for making tempe, a traditional food from Java in … Read more

Text Louise Beck Brønnum. Photos Julia Sick. Edited by Michael Bom Frøst Please welcome our new initiative, which has been in the making for a long time: Monday Aperitivo. Take an ordinary Monday, the last Monday of the month. Spice it up with concepts such as “Gastrophysics”, “Interdisciplinarity” and well, “aperitifs” and your Monday is not so ordinary anymore. Monday October 30 this year, we introduced, a new concept to facilitate exactly these concepts under the name Monday Aperitivo. The Idea Monday Aperitivo is an informal forum, where persons can address their views with an amount of passion of a specific subject related to food. A forum from where dialogues and discussions between the sciences, craftsmanship and industry take place to stimulate the appetite for progress. Our plan is to host it the last Monday of the month from 4.30 pm – 6.30 pm, except during holiday periods. It is a ticketed event … Read more

Our friends and collaborators at Smag for Livet are behind this exciting symposium at Aarhus Theater September 4-5. Nordic Food Lab contribute to the organisation of the content and will give a few tasters as part of the conference. More information at Creative Tastebuds More information at Creative Tastebuds This unusual symposium offers a unique possibility for gastronomic reflection on the concept of taste. The symposium will present viewpoints from leading individuals from both the arts and the sciences, and performers from the creative sector will explore and challenge these viewpoints by engaging in a in dialogue with scholars as well as orchestrating experiments with the audience. 4 CREATIVE SESSIONS Molecules and Memory: from sensing taste to remembrance of food On stage: Charles Spence – David Sutton and Marije Vogelzang Nerves and Narratives: taste and story telling On stage: Gordon Shepherd – David Howes and Mark Schatzker Landscape and Learning: building taste into houses and minds On stage: John … Read more

Edited for Nordic Food Lab’s blog by Michael Bom Frøst Manuscript authors: Marta Bevilacqua, Barbara Santos Silva, Michael Bom Frøst, Benedict Reade, Kristen Rasmussen de Vasquez, Andra Tolbus, Mikael Agerlin Petersen, Rasmus Bro Background Spice mixes are cornerstones of kitchens all over the world. The distinct flavours that is most often used in a cuisine are basic principles that determine that cuisine, so-called flavours principles (E Rozin & Rozin, 1981; Elizabeth Rozin, 1983). Some years ago we set out to characterise a good pool of 29 spice mixes of various origins –some classical ones from different parts of the world, some experimental ones that we ourselves at the lab had created and one that was donated to us from noma. The outcome of the sensory descriptions from 26 kind food professionals that donated their time and delicate palates to us is described previously in Calibrating Flavour part I. There are … Read more

by Liis Tuulberg Laphet made from young birch leaves, fermented with whey from acidified milk (syrnet mælk) Burmese people do not only drink a lot of tea, but also eat it. Laphet (also lahpet, lephet, letpet, leppet) in Burmese represents a generic term for fermented pickled tea leaf, whereas laphet thoke/thohk, fermented tea leaf salad, and ahlu-laphet, a laphet snack, are the most common ways to consume laphet (Maung, He and Chamba 2012). Laphet carries a lot of cultural and historical significance in Burma, it is associated with national pride and considered to be a national dish. It is claimed that in ancient times laphet was used as a peace offering or peace symbol between kingdoms at war. In present day Burma, laphet is a habitual dish eaten in various social settings by all Burmese — from traditional ceremonies, monasteries and official celebrations to homes and family get-togethers. It is … Read more