Holy shit.
Be careful man.
I'm not kidding.
Stop, you're scaring me.
Munchies Guide to Sweden.
New Nordic Cuisine.
Back in 2004,
Claus Meyer,
chef and co-founder
of Copenhagen's Noma
restaurant.
Together with top chefs
form the Nordic region,
came together to
write the new
Nordic Kitchen Manifesto.
And the food
revolution was born.
The main focus of
the new Nordic is fresh,
seasonal, simple, and
most importantly,
local ingredients.
This approach has
encouraged chefs to
explore new flavors.
And Sweden's food
scene has exploded in
recent years.
It's quickly becoming
Europe's culinary star.
Exciting new
restaurants are opening
across Stockholm,
inspired by the new
Nordic philosophy.
At Restaurant Ekstedt,
Chef Niklas is employing
traditional Nordic
cooking techniques.
Restaurant Ekstedt.
Stockholm, Sweden.
So, Niklas.
Ivar Berglin, Munchies.
Yeah.
Where are we?
Well, you're at my place.
Niklas Ekstedt.
Owner, Ekstedt.
Yeah.
This is my restaurant.
Yeah.
And this is like,
kind of like, if you you
say flagship restaurant.
How many restaurants
do you have now?
Three
But
this is your little baby,
right?
This is my baby, yeah.
But this one is
a little different,
because this one focus
on the open fire and
the old Scandinavian
cooking techniques.
So tell me about the,
the basics of the new
Nordic cuisine.
The new Nordic
cuisine is basically
if you'd like
explain it simply,
it's like flipping
the map upside down.
The European map.
I mean originally every-.
What do you mean by that?
Originally, the chefs in,
in the Nordic countries
used to look south for
inspiration.
You looked into the like,
like French gastronomy,
Italian gastronomy,
Spanish gastronomy.
And then you kind mixed
it up a little bit with
the Nordic ingredients,
and
then that was fine
dining high-end cuisine.
Mm-hm.
But in the like,
in the mid-90s and
the end, end of 90s,
there were a few chefs in
the Nordic countries that
got together and
said like,
why don't we work 100%
with the Nordic products.
So they started sourcing
ingredients and
products only from the
Nordic countries, Norway,
Sweden, Denmark.
So in terms of like
the new Nordic Cuisine,
we're, we're like,
we're more focused on the
technical aspect of it
than the product aspect.
What you wanna do?
What do you like,
fish, meats?
What's your favorite?
That's what I want to do.
Turbot and lobster.
Fish, fish and lobster,.
Fish and lobster.
Great.
We get you an apron.
Great.
There we go.
That felt better.
Oh, my god.
We don't have a size for
you.
Oh, you're so-.
Oh, well, you didn't
do it the proper way.
You're so skinny.
Is this like the
beginning of the show?
Isn't that really hot?
No, it's not actually.
Okay, you wanna compete?
Okay.
Okay.
One, two, three.
I think you'll have
a heart attack.
Ouch.
Ahh.
You are mad.
Oh, yeah.
What's that?
I think you add about
that much, right?
Boom, in with you.
This is basically how
all our cooking starts.
Just a cast iron pan.
Boom.
Into the fire and
then we just put in some
lobster into the cast
iron pan.
I just like to move
things around like this
because it makes me
feel like a pro.
It's really, oh.
See?
Try and flip it.
Oh, watch out.
Let, let, yeah.
Ivan, let,
you put that up.
Hang it up on
top of the fire.
And now the fish
is all yours.
Oh, they're in?
There?
Yeah.
When you fry shellfish,
it's really,
really quick.
So you just
sear it a bit.
And then we hang it up
here to give a little
flavor from
the birch wood.
The birch is like the,
the original way of
cooking in
the Nordic cuisine.
I wanted the restaurant
to be very old style,
technically wise.
But I wanted the plate
to be contemporary.
Mm-hm.
I wanted the,
the plating and the food
to compete with the best
restaurants in the city.
This is the,
this is the flambadou.
Seriously?
Yeah, no joke,
this is extremely hot.
Oh, it was extremely
hot in there.
No, no, no, no, no.
It's extremely hot
in here. No, no, no.
This is really.
Don't, I mean,
I'm not kidding.
Okay.
Don't burn yourself.
Safety first kids.
Yeah.
Okay.
So what we're doing is
like we're taking the,
the, the tool
out of the fire.
Mm-hm.
And
then we adding fat
into the, to the,
to the glowing metal.
All right, sounds yummy.
And that, the,
the fat will burn and
then land on the hay.
And the hay
will burn down
in this meat in
the bottom of the hay.
Was that a butter?
Oh, that's cool.
Is there any butter
coming out of there?
Whoa.
Blow it out?
It's really warm here,
Niklas, come on.
This is totally medieval.
Oh, I missed the flame.
Blow it out.
Oh, I've got
smoke in my eyes.
Don't burn yourself.
Oh, blow that one out.
I was blowing
on this thing.
I might have burnt it
just slightly there,
huh, Niklas?
I think it looks
delicious.
Oh, you cut it.
No, you cut it.
You do the honors.
No, you cut it.
Oh, that looks so nice.
It's perfect.
It's like
Swedish sashimi.
The flambodou,
it's my new thing.
I'm getting one for home.
So what's different about
this restaurant compared
to your other
restaurants?
Well, my other
restaurants I tried to
make money.
Oh.
There you go.
It always comes
down to that.
It takes so
much longer to run
a restaurant like this.
It's actually
pretty stupid.
It sounds stupid, yeah.
Can you tell me
something that's
not stupid about
the restaurant you own?
The food tastes amazing.
Yeah.
So, the next dish is
the lobster that we
cooked earlier.
Hm, the one,
the one I did.
Yep.
But I'm not getting
the one I did.
It is,
it is the one you did.
Oh, really?
Yeah.
Mm.
This is your lobster
with some brioche and
turbot with some pickled
mushrooms on top.
And actually, my little
thing there looks
pretty good.
Taste it.
Come on, taste it.
See if you like it.
A subtle smokiness,
isn't it?
It's not bad.
No.
It doesn't punch you.
Cuz that's the most the,
that's most
important point.
Both from the,
both from the tail of
the lobster and, and
with the bread.
You're having a bread in
there as well hanging?
Yeah, deep fried in
the coaster and pan.
Really sweet, the,
the mushrooms, huh?
Yeah.
You're the skinniest guy
we've ever had in here.
Just throw that,
I'm not-.
Sorry.
Why, you can keep
on feeding me.
I have no problem
with that.
But this movement isn't
limited to Sweden's
capital.
It's growing across
the country.
So my next stop was
Koka in Goteborg.
Koka.
Goteborg, Sweden.
Which I'd heard was
one of the best
restaurants in Sweden.
In Goteborg, and
being on the west coast,
seafood is a big thing.
And it's a big thing
here as well, right?
Johan Bjorkman.
Head Chef, Koka.
We have like an
expression that you dig
where you stand.
So here is the sea,
the sea is just
outside the door.
So we can get fresh
seafood alive every day,
and that the quality
is super good.
Like, people are talking
about new Nordic cuisine.
Like to make great food,
you need to,
to take what you
have in your area.
Yeah.
But you're going,
you cannot find
everything here.
But we try to, to take
like 30 Swedish miles,
and work with that.
So we got Ugglarp
with the vegetables.
And you got
the producer of lamb and
cheese and milk and
everything here.
It's all locally sourced.
Yeah.
I'm just waiting for
my first course.
So here's the first
course on the menu.
We got crab.
The claw meat
is underneath.
And we got some
thin-sliced carrots, and
a, a pate made of crab,
flavored with
a horseradish, and
then frozen.
Another hard day at work.
Mm.
The thing is,
this thing is awesome.
I mean horseradish
usually just like
takes over a whole thing.
It's just there,
like subtle.
So nice.
It's like a crab,
like a crab salad but
more refined.
We think that if you come
here to Goteborg and eat
it's not that interesting
to eat haupia.
It's much more fun to
eat something that we
have here.
Yeah.
If you want Hupia,
you can go to Spain.
They serve it perfect.
But here,
it's better to serve
something that's
in our blood.
We have Swedish squid.
Potatoes pure of
leeks and parsley,
and then whisk egg yolks
with apple vinegar.
Wow, this is the best.
I need to do this
with a spoon.
It's just like a spoon
full of gooey greatness.
This is my favorite for
sure.
So eating in Koka right
now was bloody amazing.
I'll tell you that.
Just fantastic.
Its a great example of
the new Nordic cuisine
as well.
It's so good.
It is.
It is, yeah.
Yeah, I've never eaten at
such a place like this.
So did you eat there now?
Yeah-.
I just,
I just had dinner
there right now.
Yeah.
This is the best place
in Goteborg.
Yeah, it is.
I worked in restaurant
for ten years.
Oh, really?
This is yeah.
That's good.
We came to the right spot
then, huh?
Yeah.
Thanks.
Have a great evening.
Hey, have
a great evening.
Oh, hugs, yeah,
of course.
Saved her.
And so, there you got it.
How can you get a better
review than that?
Koka, the best place to
get new Nordic cuisine in
all of Goteborg.
Fine.
But the new
Nordic cuisine
isn't limited to
high-end restaurants.
In Malmo, chefs Pernilla
and Jens are putting new
Nordic food on
the lunchtime menu.
Nordic Street Food.
Malmo, Sweden.
Pernilla
tell us about it in
the food you have,
you're serving
here today.
Pernilla Emnquist.
Nordic Street Food.
Yeah, today, I'm serving
Nordic street food.
You should always use
your local produce in
season, and keep
the food very simple.
And let the produce
speak for itself.
Don't cook it too much.
Don't make it
too complicated.
All right.
If, if you use, for
example parsnip when
it's just pulled out of
the earth,
in the right season,
it's fantastic flavors.
Instead of, of taking
something that they flew
in from somewhere else
that's been wrapped in
plastic.
And you know, it's, it's,
it's such a common sense,
actually, I think.
We've been looking
abroad because we,
I think we've been pretty
bored with our potatoes,
and our root vegetables,
and all that.
But then suddenly,
we got tired of that.
So then we started to re,
to realize that we have
a fantastic kitchen
on our own here.
You can actually take
the same quality of,
of, of Nordic food that
you have in the nice
restaurants to people
on the streets.
It was lunch time,
so Pernilla showed me
how to cook a seasonal
chanterelle mushroom
wrap.
So what you do
you take a-.
Handful or-.
Handful, two handfuls
without any butter in
the beginning.
If they are really fresh,
they have a lot of
water in them, so
you want to get
the water out.
Chanterelles are actually
my favorite mushrooms.
This is the .So
you put it on.
Right now,
you can put on some
butter with the mushroom.
Oh.
Put it here.
Okay?
Now, you put some
sour cream on.
Is this Västerbottensost?
Yes, it's
Västerbottensost.
Oh, this is.
But you're gonna, first
you're gonna have some-.
It's a great cheese,
Västerbottensost.
First, you're gonna have
Swedish cheese.
Oh, first this.
Sorry.
You have,
you have to listen.
I'm not listening now.
Now, you say, yes, chef.
Yes, chef.
All right.
First,
you take some of
the sour cabbage.
Put it on there.
And then you take
your chanterelles.
So now, it's hot.
Now, you grate
the cheese over it.
Yeah, now we get
the cheese going.
I'm so
excited about this.
And then you also put
some of the onions on
top here.
Oh, yeah?
In the middle.
Now, you're gonna make
that into a wrap.
And now this is where
you want the last
bit of the chanterelles,
right?
And now,
you put the last bit.
This is what I mean
to pimp it before
it goes out.
Got to pimp it
before it goes out.
It has to be beautiful
for the eye too.
Yeah.
Right?
Yeah.
Can I try it now or
keep holding it?
Yeah.
Eat before it gets cold.
Mm.
Now you have like all
the things in your beard.
Yeah, I bet I do.
Typical street food
way of eating.
Yeah, right?
The notion of new Nordic
is constantly evolving.
And there's a new wave
of chefs in Sweden who
are standing solid on the
principles of new Nordic,
but interpreting them
in their own way.
Like Andreas Dahlberg.
Bastard.
Malmo, Sweden.
Head chef of restaurant
Bastard in Malmo,
who is embracing European
influences to bring more
variety into his
new Nordic menu.
Andreas Dahlberg.
Head Chef, Bastard.
I don't really the new
Nordic cuisine,
there you go.
It's kind of style
of cooking, but
we're not really
doing that.
With cooking,
we have more influences
from France.
And you know,
we keep mixing them up,
mixing it up.
But we use produce
from here to do it.
Cheers.
Thanks for having me.
Let the romantic
dinner begin.
Absolutely.
Huh?
Yeah.
Here it comes.
Here it comes.
Whoa.
So this is
cured mackerel.
Small tender
poached leeks.
Yes, dressed in
a mustard vinaigrette,
some boiled egg,
and dill.
This looks so good.
We have raw beef.
On knäckebröd,
crispbread in English.
This is actually very
new Nordic cuisine.
It is, huh?
It is, but
I was thinking that.
But it's not stiff.
So dig in.
Yeah.
What do you think the new
Nordic cuisine is, then?
Stiff, boring.
Doesn't taste very much,
lack of seasoning.
Fry a carrot and put
it on a plate and ooh,
that's a dish.
It's food put on
a ceramic plate.
When we opened up
here five years ago,
we were kind of the
bastards in this town.
Because we were
doing something
completely different.
Five years ago,
the Molma scene wasn't
what it is today.
It's better today.
It's not as good as
I want it to be, but
it's getting there.
And we just wanted to
start up a restaurant
that we would like
to go to ourselves.
How was the food scene
back then when you
started, five years ago?
We had all of these
restaurants that was
kind of average and
boring.
And then we
had the really
fine dining restaurants.
So that was kind of
nothing in the middle.
Mm-hm.
And that's where
we came in.
What's that?
Kale?
That's kale,
cabbage, roasted Brussels
sprouts, and we have
the tuna after sauce,
the tuna fish sauce.
Dig in.
It's getting better and
better.
I think maybe Molma
is like, we're so
close to Copenhagen, so
I think that's our
big brother, so.
And they're the big,
big brother?
Oh, we're, yeah.
Or is there,
there has to be a lot
fo exchange between-.
Yeah.
Between the countries
down there
that's rich in-.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
We, we're over there all
the time and we have
a lot of Danish people
coming here as well.
Drink up.
Okay, boss.
Yes, chef.
All right?
There's no messing
around with this guy.
Drink up, eat now,
do that, do this.
It felt appropriate
that I was ending
my trip at a restaurant
called Bastard.
Because it defines how,
for a long time,
Sweden's cuisine was
perceived from outside.
Not sure of its identity,
and
looked down on by
the rest of Europe.
I'm so full.
It just kept on coming,
the dishes.
Oh, man.
But as I've
traveled up and
down my long and
varied country,
I've discovered a Swedish
culinary identity that's
redefining itself.
But never forgetting
where it has come from.
From the indigenous army
people to spettekaka,
I've found my
country's protective
of its traditions and
proud of its quirks.
I think we'll always love
our pickled herring and
our hearty food like
meat and potatoes,
as our history has always
been important to
our food here.
Even as far back
as the vikings.
But we're ready for
something new.
And today's chefs
are the neo-vikings.
Looking right
where they are for
the best ingredients and
creatively using our
culinary past to redefine
its future.
New Nordic cuisine is
continuing to evolve and
it's an exciting time
to be eating in Sweden.
But after all that
food and traveling,
I'm pretty full and
exhausted right now.
So there's only
one thing for it.
Hot tub time.
A Munchies Production.
2015 Vice Media, LLC.
