New Nordic Cuisine

It started with a manifesto. In 2004 a group of Nordic chefs published ten points on purity, season and local sourcing, and the cooking that followed rebuilt Danish food around what actually grows here: sea buckthorn, wood sorrel, rye, root vegetables, cold-water fish, fermentation and preserving as everyday technique rather than novelty. Twenty years on the vocabulary has spread far past the kitchens that started it, into bakeries, market halls and ordinary weekday cooking.

Highlights

• The foraged ingredients - sea buckthorn, wood sorrel, beach herbs, wild mushrooms.
• The rye and sourdough baking - the bakery culture the movement pulled along with it.
• Foraged and seasonal - the wild, local and seasonal ingredients at its heart.
• The market halls - where the same seasonal produce is sold rather than plated.

When to go

Year-round, because seasonality is the whole idea and every season looks different: green and herbal in spring, berries and mushrooms in autumn, preserved and fermented in winter. Late summer is the easiest introduction, when everything is in at once.

Practical notes

At the top end this is some of the most expensive eating in Europe, and the reservation systems are their own project. Most of what carries the label now is marketing rather than method. The style itself divides people: small portions, sharp acidity and heavy fermentation are not to everyone taste, and it is worth trying it cheaply before committing to an evening of it.

Nearby

Copenhagen's Norrebro and Christianshavn districts and the harbour food halls are full of it.