An experience for the senses…

17 Nov 2014
|
2 min read
When Nordic cuisine meets German country kitchen

Last weekend saw another two in the packed calendar of gourmet events of the 28th Schleswig-Holstein Gourmet Festival in Northern Germany.

The Seeblick Resort Amrum hosted Danish chef Daniel Peter Madsen, who was full of ideas at the start of the evening: “There are just so many ways to present such a fantastic variety of delicacies for this gala dinner,” he said. But would the guests really be able to eat 30 courses…? And so the gourmet diners were able to enjoy seven courses.

For chef Gunnar Hesse and his team the two evenings meant a lot of work and planning ahead. “For me, this event means making preparations early on in the year and implementing them in the November in order to deal with such a large number of people,” explains Hesse. He’s been trying to find suppliers, preferably from the region, which can provide appropriate ingredients. “But we also forage through nature here on the islands and found plenty of herbs and chestnuts,” he continues. Two of the courses were presented with an interactive component. Pine needles were burnt and brought to the tables, smoking slightly, in order to emanate a pine scent when the bouillon was served.

Guest chef Peter Madsen, winner of the ‘Nordic Fork’ in 2013, specialises in a modern, Nordic cuisine. The 24-year-old refined his style at top restaurants like ACME in New York, noma, Geranium and Amass in Copenhagen and with Tom Aikens in London. Since 2012 he is head chef at the Niels Bugge Hotel in Viborg, Denmark. “For me it was clear from an early age that I wanted to be a chef,” says Madsen. “I would also appreciate a Michelin star, but that’s not the important thing in life for me. I will wait and see,” smiles the Dane.

His menu incorporated Galloway check, smoked cheese, beetroot and chestnuts.


Over in eastern Jutland, Tommy Friis vowed guests with his own culinary creations. After his sensational fish dish at the opening of the 2013 gala, guests at the Ringhotel Landhaus Gardels couldn’t wait to see what magic the Dane would cook up this time alongside local chef Marc Schlürscheid. His natural Nordic cuisine certainly surprised guestwith its clarity combined with outstanding flavours.

As yet little known outside his native Denmark, Tommy Friis won the title of Denmark’s best chef in 2010. Born In March 1978, he trained at restaurant Fru Larsen from 1996 to 1999 near Aarhus. Many stations in Denmark followed, among them famous restaurants like Fakkelgårde and Henne Kirkeby Kro. To explore the scents and flavours of other cultures, he took a break in 2005 and went on a world tour of Australia, New Zealand and Thailand. Upon his return he used his culinary impressions in well-known restaurants around Copenhagen.

Friis’s first position as head chef was at Molskroen, Femmøller until June 2012, at which time he took the opportunity to become independent. With much enthusiasm, Friis and his wife a hideaway in the forests of the Danish hills, Hotel Restaurant Fru Larsen.

In May 2014 he and his colleague Kenneth Hansen won the silver medal at the Bocuse d’Or Europe in Stockholm.

Tommy Friis’s 5-course menu consisted of Crabs with pickled red onions, Havegus (Danish cheese) & dill cream;Roasted turbot with hazelnuts, sprouts, yeast flakes & smoked hazelnut milk; Carrots with elderberries, slices of dried duck breast and foie gras shavings; Glazed beef with cranberries, capers of wild garlic, spinach puée & horseradish cream; Love apple with apple slices, pine cones and pine needles.

For more information on the 28th SHGF visit www.gourmetfestival.de