Norwegian Wood

Scandanavian cuisine has always taken some getting used to as well as some ribbing over the years.Yet this ancient way of cooking and spicing is taken on a new form.Call it Nouveau Nordic .It's creating a stir in New York and getting palates excited again for this northernmost of European foods. Jeff Gordonier explored this as well as experimented with it in his column in today's New York Times Dining section.New Nordic, as it's known, has been around since the early part of this century.It sparked with the famed Marcus Samuelsson bringing a fusion of Ethiopean and Swedish cuisine to Harlem. Rene Redzepi came out of Denmark, bursting with new spins and old ideas such as curing ,foraging pickling and plating. Now, more than a handful of chefs from all over the Scandanavian arc are opening up restaurants throughout the city and its' boroughs.Most eateries are relying on the strong flavors of sea and land.As with Viking cuisine of a millennia ago, the flavors center around twigs, berries,roots, weeds, bark ,hay, grass along with kelp, fish soil and a kind of barrel fermented funk. That said , these add to the dishes ,making them customer favorites. What are these imported chefs creating? At Brooklyn based Luksus,Daniel Burns (who is really not Scandanavian,and has also cut his culinary teeth at The Fat Pig in London,England) gives us aebleskiver, a fritter made with duck confit and mushroom.Another chef, Swedish born Fredrik Berselius relied on his upbringing of foraging to influence his style.His most famous dish is a milk sorbet ,with a forest medley of spruce, yarrow and wild berries. another popular dish, known and loved by all Scandanavians is blood pudding.This is a sausage made with dried blood and filler, such rye and oats and then flavored with onions and molasses.It's a hard sell be cause it's not as popular here as it is in most of Europe.Skal offers a more friendlier charred broccoli, easily made at home too.This is breaded florets ,charred and then brushed with aoili sauce. NouvelleNordic is gaining its fair share of foodie fans.It is reflects the old with new ideas.Together it brings a new form of Scandanavian cuisine to New York Palates.

Learning From The Masters

Yesterday's New York Times Dining section featured some of the greats. There was an article about the truly legendary French chef, Jacques Pepin along with a De Gustibus article by the equally legendary food critic Mimi Sheraton. Reading the two pieces was like taking a master class in cooking. There was so much knolwedge given out, definitely to be stored away for later use.

The first article was about Pepin and his new cookbook coming out this month. The interview, conducted by Dining regular, Jeff, Gordenier, tells of what's going to be in it as well as learning from the master.The articles even comes with how to pictures dealing with sharpening knives along with the proper way of separating a garlic clove . There is also a pictorial how to for making the perfect French omelet.. It is all about technique, how to crack the eggs, how to hold the pan. It's really turning the body into a machine to create the perfect dish. Pepin executes this as wonderfully as a ballet dancer. Even the way he sliced a simple baguette was insightful (slice on an angle facing outward. It keeps the air in the bread's middle fluffy. )

Mimi Sheraton, another master, is featured too. Her De Gustibus article is all about that little known cuisine Danish cooking. Ms. Sheraton has been a food critic for over fifty years and has eaten at some of the world's best restaurants.She explores the current trend of Nordic cooking; one that has actually been around for a long time. There is nothing new, she explains. The Scandinavians basically invented these now followed trends of foraging and locavore dining. It is big again though thanks to chef Rene Redzepi who will be demonstrating how to create the fare this Saturday in lower Manhattan.

Yesterday's Times dining section was a true salute to classic chefs and critics along with simple but elegant dining. In these celebrity chef laden tomes it's refreshing to return to the pros of the industry.Seek their advice.It's always the best.

Norwegian Good

Norwegian - and actually any Scandanavian cooking has always been maligned. People make fun of the supposed overuse of herring or lutefisk. There are always jokes about reindeer meat and lingonberries. However the Scandinavian peninsula is suddenly a culinary hot spot. It's featuring fresh dishes cooking the way the Vikings cooked and foodies are loving this modern Viking invasion.

This was the subject of Julia Moskin''s article in today's New York Times Dining section. In it, she explores the old techniques of drying, smoking along with pickling and curing. Even modern utensils are nixed for the more classic shells, juniper, hay and twigs as kitchen tools. Garden scraps are also used as decorations as opposed to fancy sauces swirled into patterns, The food itself wouldn't be out of place at a Viking feast. Yes there was reindeer but also moose and bear cooked with vegetables. This last is a true Lapp dish that 's now turning culinary heads.

Modern classics are also made however they have a distinct Northern European twist, Creme brulee is baked but it's with Danish cream. There is also a sourdough battered haddock served on juniper branches. Root vegetables , another Nordic staple, are plated with a sauce of cream whisked with vinegar, fermented beer and garnished with salted cod roe. Sweet dishes such as lemon shortbread is placed on a cloud like bed of perfumed lavender cream. Apples and oatmeal are scented with earthy hay and pine aromas. These were seen in the Manhattan restaurant Compose and created by Nordic chef Marcus Phillips.There seems to not be a dearth of salmon and creamed herring. The new batch of cooks want to stick with the idea of purity, freshness along with simplicity and ethics in cooking. Simple but effective.

Scandinavian cooking is now the hottest cuisine on the planet. Chefs and foodies are appreciating the rustic yet sophisticated way of using natural ingredients and equipment to create unique dishes. It's a take on the modern with roots going back one thousand years.