Back to Copenhagen

Me and the Little Mermaid

Yesterday was mainly a travel day, hence the lack of blog post. We took the ferry back to the main island from Århus. We had a little bit of time to kill so paid a visit to the Little Mermaid, ate some pølser (Danish hotdogs), and then attended a party with some of Scandinavia's top chefs in the "Sky Bar" at Bella Sky, a new hotel just outside of downtown Copenhagen.

Bella Sky Hotel

Today we were back at it, with a chef appointment at Els, a fancy restaurant in the main section of Copenhagen. The building that houses the restaurant was build in 1853 and the confectionery that was located there was often visited by HC Andersen.

The dishes prepared at Els included a roasted venison main course as well as a baked cod dish. After taking several pictures we tasted both dishes; it is not often that one has eaten venison by 11:00 in the morning! Both were delicious and will be an interesting challenge to recreate given some of the flavorings and preparation.

Pølser!

Yesterday's pølser just wasn't enough for us (and being the "french" variety it was not overly picturesque) so not long after the venison we also enjoyed round two of pølser, this time the red variety that "snaps" when you eat it. From not eating much meat to eating two hotdogs in two days might just be some sort of record!

After the hotdog stand we headed to Copenhagen's new market, featuring many produce stands, cheese shops, butchers, fish sellers, bakers, etc. There was even a Paleo fast food stand which is the first restaurant I've seen based on that concept. Apparently the Paleo Diet and Crossfit are big in Europe and the owners of the stand hope to expand outside of Denmark soon. An interesting feature of the produce stands, similar to the grocery stores here, is that they note on the price card what country each item comes from. It's helpful if you're wondering what is in season locally or what has been flown in from far-off places (the corn on the cob, for example, was from the US).

Radishes, grown locally ("Danske" means Danish)

In the evening it was finally our time to take a turn in the kitchen. I had almost forgotten what it was like to be the person preparing the food, rather than the person sitting, talking about food, and eating it! We've had such delicious food prepared for us both in restaurants and at our friends' house that I was worried about matching their quality, but it turns out that when you use fresh local ingredients, food tastes good without too much effort. Thus sums up the theory behind new nordic cuisine, but more on that later (and in the book). We made cod poached in white wine topped with leeks and a side of asparagus and new potatoes. If you're wondering where the butter or cream was featured in that meal, never fear! We went for ice cream afterward.