The New Nordic Food Manifesto

Kartofler i hænder
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Elina Leonova – Fotolia
The Nordic Kitchen Manifesto was conceived and formulated in 2004 and summarised in ten points on purity, season, ethics, health, sustainability and quality.

The New Nordic Food manifesto has an innovative approach to traditional foods combined with a strong focus on health and an ethical production philosophy.

The Nordic cuisine should create and inspire the joy of food, taste and variety, nationally and internationally, according to the initial vision:

”As Nordic chefs we find that the time has now come for us to create a New Nordic Kitchen, which in virtue of its good taste and special character compares favorable with the standard of the greatest kitchens of the world”, the Manifesto states.

In November 2004, the Nordic Kitchen Symposium saw the discussion of the vision for a new Nordic cuisine and the formulation of the manifesto. Chefs, farmers, politicians, representatives from the food industry, and other foodies from across the Nordic Region took part in the symposium in Copenhagen, which was organised in collaboration with the Secretariat to the Nordic Council of Ministers.

 

The aims of the New Nordic Kitchen are:

  1. To express the purity, freshness, simplicity and ethics we wish to associate to our region.
     
  2. To reflect the changes of the seasons in the meal we make.
     
  3. To base our cooking on ingredients and produce whose characteristics are particularly in our climates, lanscapes and waters.
     
  4. To combine the demand for good taste with modrn knowledge of health and well-being.
     
  5. To promote Nordic products and the variety of Nordic producers - and to spread the word about their underlying cultures.
     
  6. To promote animal welfare and a sound production process in our seas, on our farmland and in the wild.
     
  7. To develop potentially new applications of traditional Nordic food products.
     
  8. To combine the best in Nordic cookery and culinary traditions with impulses from abroad.
     
  9. To combine local self-suffiency with regional sharing of high-quality products.
     
  10. To join forces with consumer representatives, other cooking craftsmen, agriculture, fishing, food, retail and wholesales industries, researchers, teachers, politicians and authorities on this project for the benefit and advantage of everyone in the Nordic countries.

List of signatories:

  • Erwin Lauterbach, Denmark
  • Eyvind Hellstrøm, Norway
  • Fredrik Sigurdsson, Iceland
  • Gunndur Fossdal, Faroe Islands
  • Hákan Örvarsson, Iceland
  • Hans Välimäki, Finland
  • Leif Sørensen, Faroe Islands
  • Mathias Dahlgren, Sweden
  • Michael Björklund, Åland
  • René Redzepi, Denmark
  • Roger Malmin, Norway
  • Rune Collin, Greenland

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Interviews with chefs who signed the Kitchen Manifesto...

Nordic Children's Kitchen Manifesto

In 2013 New Nordic Food also launched the Nordic Children's Kitchen Manifesto, stating that ”Every Nordic child has the right to learn how to cook good healthy food”. The Nordic Children’s Kitchen Manifesto is based on the new Nordic kitchen Manifesto and is an initiative of the project”Children and Food in the Nordic Region” (New Nordic Food II).

  1. Children’s food is nutritious and tasty 
  2. Children’s food is prepared from pure, local ingredients according to season and tradition 
  3. Children’s food is ethical and fair
  4. Children’s meals are regular 
  5. Children’s meals have variety 
  6. Children’s meals activate all the senses 
  7. Children are surrounded by examples of good food and meals 
  8. Children are involved in the meal preparation – children can! 
  9. Children learn different skills and obtain knowledge through shared meals 
  10. Children have the right to their own tastes and positive experiences with the Nordic food treasures