January 2013

The newsletter is published monthly by New Nordic Food under the Nordic Council of Ministers. Follow us on Facebook (Ny Nordisk Mat) and Twitter (@NyNordiskMat) and blog (nynordiskmad.blogspot.fi/).

Nordic Cool 2013 in Washington
NEW NORDIC FOOD: in the third week of February the Kennedy Center in Washington is holding a Nordic Cool festival with focus on Nordic culture. More than 700 Nordic artists will take part and the new Nordic kitchen will be part of it. The Nordic chefs who will attend include Simon Idsø, Norway, Petteri Luoto, Finland, Hákon Már Örvarsson, Iceland, Mads Refslund, Denmark, Morten Sohlberg, Norway, Ulrika Bengtsson, Sweden and Frida Johansson, Sweden. There will be many opportunities to experience Nordic taste sensations in restaurants and cafés in Washington in partnership with the Swedish chef Malin Söderström. The Nordic embassies will be involved in co-operation with the Nordic Council of Ministers, and many of the festival's events will be transmitted on big screens.

Nordic Street Food in Malmø
NEW NORDIC FOOD: Britain's leading street food expert, Richard Johnson, who writes for the Guardian and is a BBC broadcaster, will be with us to kick-start the Nordic Street Food Revolution in Malmø on 5 and 6 February. Up to now food that is served on the street, for example at football matches, street parties and concerts, has seldom been exciting and innovative. Now the focus will be entirely on Nordic ingredients, and completely new light dishes, different energy and ideas for what one can eat on the street.

Film news from New Nordic Food
NEW NORDIC FOOD: New Nordic Food took part in the cross-discipline, creative conference You Are In Control (YAIC) in the Icelandic capital Reykjavik in November. This was a pilot project for NNF's creative industries, where YAIC introduced culinary experiences in the programme for the first time. For the first time the Nordic welfare model was put in the perspective of architecture and food at the conference in Stokkøya in Norway, which discussed the modern urbane person in rural areas. Watch the film and read about YAIC and Stokkøya.

Nordpå won the Norwegian Meal 
NORWAY: Matlaget Nordpå won the Norwegian Meal competition 2012. The Minister of Agriculture and Food, Trygve Slagsvold Vedum, attended in Stavanger. The ingredients in this year's meal included king crabs, broccoli, seaweed capers, and the main course was fillet of reindeer, beetroot and chanterelles with a creamy game sauce.

The government supports the objective behind "Eko 20"
FINLAND: The Finnish government has debated sustainability in agriculture and now wants to promote locally produced and organic food. So the government is supporting the goal of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to increase the proportion of organic cultivation by up to 20% in Finland. The government’s policy programme stresses that the proportion of locally produced and organic food must be pursued as a strategic goal for agricultural policy.

Ålandic food at travel exhibition
ÅLAND: Åland will take part in the largest travel exhibition in the Nordic Region in Helsinki next week. Åland aims to present itself through locally produced food, so the whole exhibition stand is a table of food. Åland's contribution to the travel exhibition is produced with support from New Nordic Food.

Algae in food
ICELAND: Algae are suitable for human consumption and an underutilised resource in the North Atlantic, so Iceland sees great potential for the development of new food products with marine algae. Following a long-term study project by scientist Jón Trausti Kárason, Matis is now marketing a new alga product. It is a variation of the Icelandic dairy product skyr, but flavoured with wild Icelandic bilberries, organic honey and seaweed from Breiðafjörður Bay.

Gotland centre of the Culinary Nation 
SWEDEN: The Minister for Rural Affairs, Eskil Erlandsson, and his council of experts have selected Gotland as this year's Culinary Nation capital in 2013. Culinary Nation Sweden is a long-term political vision which aims to create better conditions for Swedish farmers and producers. It will provide for rural development, double the exports of food, more tourists, better meals in public places and more restaurants.

Food culture at MAD Mondays
DENMARK: Copenhagen Cooking's winter programme offers MAD Mondays in February. This offers Copenhageners the chance to take part in informal get-togethers and a debate on our food culture. Fish will play a central part at the festival, there will be pop-up fish dinners, and Meyers Madhus will give visitors the chance to work with a fillet knife themselves. It is a large programme, with amongst other things, a satisfying walking tour round the Nordic cuisine and pop-up restaurants.