Welcome to New Nordic Food’s newsletter
August 2009
New Nordic Food’s newsletter will be published monthly with news from the projects, from the New Nordic Food ambassadors and the steering committee, and from partners and interested parties. The newsletter will also help to form networks in the growing group of people interested in promoting Nordic food and Nordic produce.
Dietary advice influences shopping habits
SWEDEN: New dietary advice has resulted in the Swedes buying more butter instead of margarine and more peas. TT has conducted a telephone survey on shopping habits in the biggest chains Ica, Coop and Axfood which have noticed major changes in consumer purchasing habits. Amongst other things, sales of beans, peas and lentils have risen in recent years. The survey also showed 49 % of Swedes used light margarine in 2006 but only 38 % do so today, while an increasing number of people are buying real butter. Coop has noticed an organic trend, and Ica states that an increasing number of people are following the consumer label Keyhole. http://www.tt.se
Join the food miles relay tour
FINLAND: The traditional Finnish Food Mile Relay Tour (Närmatstafetten) will pedal off this year from 31 August to 5 September along the west coast of Finland from Muhos to Karleby, via Vasa and Åbo to Helsinki. The Food Miles Relay Tour will be received by President Tarja Halonen and the Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK), the main organizer of the event. The Food Miles Relay Tour is a bike trip supported by friends of locally produced food and developers within the field of food culture. The theme for 2009 is ‘Choose according to season", and this is the message and basis for discussion for the participants, the public sector, mass media and decision-makers. Further information on the bike relay tour in Finnish and Swedish on http://www.ekocentria.fi
Matie pickled herring tastes of Norway
NORWAY: Matie pickled herring took the prize for the best produce from the sea, and Flavence truss tomatoes from Orre Gartneri for the best produce from the land, at the semi-finals of the Taste of Norway hosted by the Glatmat Festival in Stavanger. Knuden cheese from Aurenes Gardsysteri won the prize for the best product. The Business Association (Næringsforeningen) and the Norwegian Food Culture Foundation (stiftelsen Norsk Matkultur), along with a number of organisations are the forces behind "detnorskemåltid.no" (the Norwegian meal), which ends with a national final for the 17 regional winners on 19 November.
Major food festival in Copenhagen
DENMARK: For the fifth consecutive year, the Copenhagen Cooking food festival will tempt visitors from 21 - 30 August. There will be more than 65 events offering experiences which include a food theatre, blind beer tasting and climate-friendly food. The food festival is a tribute to the new Nordic kitchen, our culinary traditions and excellent ingredients.
Read more about it on: http://www.copenhagencooking.com.
Where good taste meets good health
DENMARK: What do tidal meadow herbs, sea-buckthorns, barley and autumn mackerel have in common? This question is posed by the New Nordic Diet on Tuesday 25 August. These are all types of food found in the Nordic countries, and apart from tasting wonderful, they also possess the potential to promote good health. Professor Lars Ove Dragsted, KU Life, and the research project Opus will explore this in a different kind of cooking course as part of Copenhagen Cooking. The evening in Meyers Madhus, Copenhagen, will be packed with local ingredients and dishes from the New Nordic Diet, which can be made in your own kitchen in no time the next day. Further information on Opus and the event in Danish on http://www.meyersmadhus.dk
Seafood Chef of the Year 2009
NORWAY: Bergen Kokkenes Mesterlaug (Bergen Chef Master Guild) and Norsk Sjømatsenter (Norwegian Seafood Centre) will announce the Sea Food Chef of the Year during the Bergen Food Festival on Bryggen in Bergen on 12 September 2009. This year’s theme is: "Inspired by Norwegian culinary traditions", and the participating chefs have all submitted menus and a list of ingredients for three different fish dishes with the main ingredients herring, mackerel and horse mussel (o-skjell).
"We hope that the competition will provide the public with inspiration and an interest in eating more seafood," say the organisers. Read more in Norwegian on http://www.smakavkysten.no
Small food manufacturers online: Svenskamatvaror.se
SWEDEN: A new website will make it easier to buy food directly from the manufacturer.
"Today only a few people can do this. We want to change that with SvenskaMatvaror.se", says Tobias Vahlne on Svenskt Matforum (Swedish Food Forum) which is behind the online sales site. "When you buy straight from the manufacturer, you know what you are getting". On SvenskaMatvaror.se there is no middleman. The manufacturer decides what price the customer will pay – just like in a farmers’ market.
Read more in Swedish on http://www.svensktmatforum.se and visit the Swedish website: http://www.svenskamatvaror.se .
Read summer post cards
Read the latest Nordic summer post cards – including one on Finnish school food and one on smoked herring from Bornholm!
Click on http://www.nynordiskmad.org
Read and subscribe to New Nordic Food’s newsletter in English: