The New Nordic Cuisine

By Claus Meyer

Use fat where you really enjoy it, but avoid it everywhere else
There are many places where far more fat is present than can be justified on any gastronomic grounds. I'm talking about everyday Danish cuisine in general and, more particularly, about our fatty ground meats, the vast majority of our ready-to-eat dishes, chicken and shrimp salads, spreads and cold cuts, the incidental dollops of mayonnaise, and remoulade and fried onions on fatty salami. You may be able to think of more examples.

When you want to fry food

Use the right amount of grease to achieve the proper flavor and texture. The grease in the pan is there to give the meat a more pleasing color, and to cook it more evenly. New studies have shown that lean meats do not absorb fat from the pan, and that fatty meats melt off fat if you are careful to remove the meat from the pan as soon as it is done frying. If the meat is left in the pan, the cold grease will "stick" to the meat. Any grease left in the pan should always be discarded. Even deep-frying is okay, assuming the oil is hot enough, and deep-fried foods should be removed as soon as they are done frying, and allowed to drain properly. Enjoy fried foods with plenty of bread and vegetables, followed by fresh fruit. Butter your bread, if you like, but eat quality bread, so that you will want thicker slices. Instead of eating endless amounts of lean cheese, eat a more modest serving of the fatty cheese, if that's the one you love. But avoid eating petit-beurre biscuits or digestive crackers every time.

 

Sweet instead of fat
Like the bitterness of coffee and grapefruit, the bitterness of kale can be toned down with cream or sugar. If you use balsamic vinegar or some other vinegar with sweet overtones to make a vinaigrette, you need far less oil than you would for a classic vinaigrette with white or red wine vinegar. You will get similar results if you flavor very sour vinegar with something like sugar, honey or molasses before mixing in the oil.

 

In Asia, most vinaigrettes are made this same way, but with no oil at all. In other words, it's a bit like how you make a mild cucumber salad. If you use bread as the basis for a salsa, you will find that, because of its dry bulk and carbohydrates, the bread will have the same effect on the acid as sugar does. Dried fruits will, of course, have this effect as well. The garbanzo beans, or for that matter the beans in hummus, also have precisely the same effect. And if you choose to use yesterday's leftover meat as a salad ingredient, cut it into thin slices and revive it with a little vinegar. You will achieve balance, generally without having to use any oil.

 

You can also use sugar and sweetness to completely or partially replace fat to create balance in relation to the innate acidity, bitterness or spiciness of a food. This is fundamental in preparing food using little or no fat. Consider, for instance, why you put sugar in your coffee, honey on your grapefruit or cut the bitterness of kale with sugar so that you don't also have to put a lot of cream or lard in the pot. The various types of sugar, molasses, apple juice and other fruit juices, root vegetables, sweet wines, and condensed milk are all good flavor sources.

Season all your food thoroughly

And not just with salt and pepper, but with sweet and sour flavorings too. Never blindly trust recipe instructions when it comes to salt and pepper, or sweet and sour flavorings. You will achieve the best flavor by maintaining an overall perspective, seasoning and sampling each dish several times during its preparation. Naturally not all foods should be seasoned with sweet or sour flavorings. Not every clear, mild soup. Not beef or fish, but probably one of the side dishes. Not baked potatoes, but perhaps the dressing. Sugar, molasses and honey create a fullness on the palate and round out flavors. This is an old trick that has been known in these parts since the Middle Ages, but it has become superfluous in our fatty cooking and has been banished from use in "fine" cuisine, unless you glazed your vegetables. It's time to bring this old trick back.

Wine, vinegars and citrus juices are essential in low-fat cooking. In every kind of cooking. They ensure that casseroles, sauces, soups and salsas have texture. Just think of the role that wine plays in French sauces, or the function of rice wine in Japanese cuisine, or the role of limejuice in Thai soups and wok dishes. They bring out and offset the flavors of mild or even sweet ingredients such as most vegetables (especially root vegetables), legumes, grain products, meat and fish.Baked or boiled red beets are, for instance, nearly inedible unless they are accompanied by yogurt or enhanced with balsamic, cherry, or red wine vinegar. The next time you make gazpacho, wait until the very last minute before adding apple vinegar and sugar. Taste the mixed vegetables beforehand, and you will find that the effect on the quality of the flavor is dramatic.

 

Pickled gherkins, red beets, large cucumbers, pumpkins, rhubarb, and just about everything else should enjoy a renaissance in your kitchen. Naturally, the more pickled foods accompanying a dish, the less dramatically you will want to flavor its ingredients with sweet and sour flavorings. Other good sources of sour flavor include pomegranate syrup, tamarind, tomatoes, sumac, certain fruit juices and cultured dairy products.

Nordic recipes

All these Nordic recipes are for you to enjoy and seek inspiration from. 

 

 

Keep cranking the peppermill, instead of stopping after two turns. Think about why you use watercress on eggs, green peppers (rather than the sweeter red ones) in tuna salad, raw onions on tomatoes, lovage on potatoes, raw onions in bean salad and mustard in tartar. Red beet soup tastes much better with horseradish than without it. Rhubarb chutney tastes better with horseradish, while mushroom stew is best with pepper. What would sushi be without wasabi, or Thai soups without chili? What would meatballs in curry sauce ("boller i karry") be without the curry? Just about any sweet/sour context, with the exception of confections, will be improved when this dimension is broken up with something bitter or spicy.

Good beer works just as well in the pot as it does in the mouth. The bitterness of the hops must be held in check by acid and sweetness. In other words, flavor the sauce, soup, dressing or casserole with something like lemon juice or malt vinegar and honey or sugar. Bitter greens can have a miraculous effect in a potato salad, along with polenta, boiled grains or other starchy ingredients.

 

Food takes on a different character when you use bitter ingredients. Horseradish does wonders for pickled (gravad) or slightly salted fish, cold meats, and salads; and in Denmark we use black pepper much too rarely, and much too predictably. You may have a preference for one ingredient or another, but from a technical standpoint the choice of which spice or ingredient is used to do the job is not all-important.

 

Good flavor sources include beer, shellfish shells, coffee, tea, grapefruit, dark chocolate, bitter greens, cocao, most spices and herbs, olives, green peppers, kale, currants, flowers, artichokes, sloe, rowan berries and certain dry wines. For instance, try making an aperitif with elderberry juice and an acidic white wine. Now make a different drink, replacing half the white wine with golden ale. Taste the difference. Some people will think you've added chili!

 

Be generous with aromatic ingredients
But it's not about dumping the contents of your soy sauce bottle or your spice cupboard into the pot. It's not about making the food as spicy as possible. Sauces and soups have to cook until they achieve a suitable level of intensity, but not until they crystallize.

 

Except for rosemary, thyme, savory and sage, herbs should always be fresh, and you can use far more than you normally do, without worrying. Looking at a bunch of Danish parsley, a Moroccan housewife would ask whether it was the hunger of a three-year-old that was to be satisfied. The more beautiful a country's cuisine, the bigger the bunches of herbs being used.

 

Many of the dried herbs taste so odd, and so different from the fresh versions, that you can't believe that you're even tasting the same thing. Try, for instance, dill or freeze-dried parsley. Ideally, you should purchase your spices frequently. Buy them whole, bring them to life by toasting them in a dry pan, and then grind them in a spice mill as you need them. You can use dried spices in a pinch, if you forgot to buy fresh ones.

 

Good Dijon mustard does wonders if the food is cold, was made yesterday, or simply lacks a bit of flavor. Ketchup, pickles and chutney work wonders as well. But a good relish is capable of even greater miracles, because the properties of fruits and vegetables are brought out by the addition of sweet, sour, salt and spicy hot in a way that makes relishes an ideal accompaniment for cold foods.

 

Preserve the natural aromas
If you serve white asparagus spears, they shouldn't have the same heavy flavor as your Beef Bourguignon. Thai curries, Mexican mole sauce and winter foods in general are concentrated foods, such as condensed foods or foods containing many ingredients. The challenges you face when making spring or summer dishes may be different.

Spring cabbage, baby spinach and summer peas are tasty on their own. There is no reason to add ketchup, mustard or miso. You could, of course, quickly marinate your asparagus spears in soy or teriyaki sauce, but if they are fresh and locally grown, it would be a mistake. Unless you decide to use these vegetables raw, for instance, in a vinaigrette, the best thing to do is to steam them in a little water and butter along with a bit of salt and a pinch of sugar to the point where they are just short of still being raw.

Shrimp and most white fish can advantageously be prepared just as gently. Preserve the aromas. In other words, add suitable amounts of salt and sugar to the shrimp water, and use the juices from the fish (if you steam or bake it) in the dish.

Never boil your vegetables in large amounts of water. Boiled vegetables call for butter or cream in the sauce. Steam them, roll them in a little grease and then bake or broil them in the oven. This will really make the unique taste of each individual vegetable come through. Your root vegetables will almost taste like candy. Pickle them, or slice them finely, so that you can marinate them raw or sear them.

 

You can, of course, boil potatoes, but boil them carefully, with enough salt in the water to prevent their own aromatic salts from ending up in the discarded water. By the way, this applies to anything you boil. The phenomenon involved is called osmosis. New potatoes should be boiled starting out in cold water, with perhaps a couple of lovage or celery stalks added. Turn down the heat once the water is boiling and pull the pot off the heat after cooking for six to nine minutes (depending on the size of the potatoes), then let them soak for another six to nine minutes.

Your job is to improve the texture
Determining the right frying, boiling and baking times is key in fat-free cooking. Quite simply, the quality of your cooking is not going to be hidden in fat. Achieving the best possible texture is your most important goal when you prepare food, right after getting the flavor right. That's why, once in a while, you need to skin and core your tomatoes, and cut your vegetables with care. And if your bread is much more than a day old, consider warming it up in the oven or toasting the slices right before you eat them. If you are going to put anything in the food processor, decide whether you want to go for a totally smooth mixture and maybe force it through a sieve, or if you want to mix the ingredients for less time to achieve a coarse texture. Regardless of what the recipe says, you are the one who will be eating the food, and the choice is up to you.

 

If, for instance, you're making a casserole with meat and vegetables, and the meat needs to cook for a long time to make it tender and juicy (as is typically the case for shanks, tails and neck meat or chuck ribs), wait until the last minute to add the vegetables. It's no more trouble, but it will ensure that both the meat and the vegetables have the best imaginable texture. Apply this same principle when preparing soups as well.

 

When you prepare a dish in the oven, you are often roasting, and a beautiful crust is one of your goals. A nice crust never forms by itself. If there are juices in the pan, maintain the level of this by adding water or another liquid and baste the food being baked. If the dish doesn't get golden and crackly, then there is not enough heat coming from above. You must either turn up the oven or move the pan to a higher rack. Don't stop until the dish is done.

 

You have to be extra careful when preparing fish. It's just like with brownies. One minute it's raw, then it's delightfully soft, juicy and melting, then it almost immediately turns hard. Of course, you can eat fish that has been overcooked, but once you've gotten a bit of practice and found the courage to stop the broiling, baking, or grilling process sooner than you are used to, you'll be very glad you did.

 

Cut up your ingredients into small pieces, especially vegetables that are not going to be prepared in cream, and particularly when they are to be marinated raw. Prepare salads using different ingredients of different textures: beans or grains, crisp shallots, shredded lettuce, peas ready to burst, and a little dried fruit. Lightly toasted nuts or small, thoroughly toasted croutons go well with nearly any salad, as does hearty sausage or good bacon sliced into delicate strips and broiled in the oven.

Eat more fish, fresh-baked bread, vegetables, potatoes, rice, pasta and dried legumes. Don't do this for the sake of your health or to achieve fat balance. Lean, protein-rich meat fills you up for a long time, and is, technically speaking, very helpful in a weight-loss program. Do it because it will make your meals more interesting, and because it will make it easier for you to broaden their scope and create variety. If your evening meal includes 10 oz. of meat every day, there won't be much room left for fun and experimentation.
Aside from the fish, the prescription here may sound like a struggling student's meal plan or a boring repeat of the nutrition guidelines of the food pyramid. But the difference here is that we will be eating these foods for the sake of our enjoyment. If you have a yen for something different, follow it.

 

Eat more side dishes
But don't get too caught up in the order in which they're served, or whether the food is hot or cold. Toss yesterday's leftover boiled or steamed vegetables with a little vinegar, capers, mustard, broad-leaf parsley and olive oil. Boil some red beets and put some quality salt, grated horseradish or mustard and vinegar on the table. Use the pulse button on your food processor to mince the remainder of a portion of boiled legumes with some cumin, yogurt, lemon, mint, sugar and chili to create a cohesive and luscious thick mass, pour it into a bowl and add a splash of a high-quality virgin olive oil. It may not feel like you've created three dishes, but you have.
More than a few weight-loss gurus preach the virtues of, if not frugality, then at least simplicity in connection with meals: don't have too many goodies in your fridge. They say drink six glasses of water a day, and eat a couple of apples before dinner.

They tell you to serve just one dish, so you won't be tempted to eat more than is enough to satisfy you. And so forth and so on. I totally disagree with this approach, which is similar to the message expressed in the philosophy of moderation from the 1700s and 1800s. You'll find it easier to love what you do if you follow my advice, and there's a chance that the principles set out here will become a part of your life, rather than just another bit of dogma to which you subject yourself for a short time. That's also why you should eat until you are full every day. And don't count calories. You're not on a diet.

If you're going to be narrow-minded, keep your thinking to a minimum at mealtimes. It's a fine idea for each meal to be okay from an energy standpoint, but it's not a necessity. It's not the fat, vitamin, bran, protein or carbohydrate content in any one dish that will be key for your nutrition. What matters is how you put together your meals over hours, days and years. That's why, if you think you are capable of living in reasonable accord with the principles described here during the rest of the year, you can eat heartily at Christmas and on other festive occasions with a clear conscience.

 

Working efficiently, I generally spend one hour preparing food every day (I may well have prepared the veal brisket yesterday, and it may have been simmering while we ate). I always serve lots of small dishes and side dishes. If you are pleased with a couple of the small dishes described above, a soup and some sort of entree, you can easily prepare them in just as short a time once you've gotten the techniques down. Even if you have to put a little more time and effort into your food preparation, you will still be able to keep your full-time job and a lot of your leisure activities...

 

Stop throwing out good food
I may be exaggerating, but I believe that 98 out of 100 Danes (out of fear or ignorance) throw out food that would be great in their next meal. I'm not motivated by home economics here, nor am I advocating blending your children's leftover packed lunches with yesterday's pizza and using the resulting mass as filling in your next lasagna.

The point is that you shouldn't throw your leftovers into the garbage, at least not indiscriminately. And don't forget about the advantages of buying, for instance, whole chickens rather than thighs and breasts. That way you have the carcass, and you know what kind of quality you're getting. Remove the breast and thigh meat and toss the rest in a bag and put it in the freezer. Once the chicken has been cooked and the carcass has been stripped, put that in the freezer as well. Once a month you'll be able to cook up a light chicken stock (the most important stock in your kitchen) to use for the next 2 weeks. The preparation steps take ten minutes, and it takes an hour to boil. Cooking water from grains, legumes and potatoes can also be used as stock in a pinch.
Or take your old bread, for instance. You can tear it, cut it into small pieces (the difference is amazing) or into thin strips and toast it in the oven, with or without a little oil and herbs. Now you have a good starting point for canapés, a crisp garnish for your soups, salads, or for breadcrumbs. It takes no time to prepare, and the bread will last a long time in a tightly sealed container. You can also tear the bread and use it straightaway to give texture to salsas, sauces, and soups, or for bread pudding.

 

With a meat or vegetable broth, you're half way to having soup. A leftover sauce can add character to tomorrow's soup, or it can quickly be expanded into more sauce for another day. Leftover rice, pasta, bulgur or beans provide a great starting point for any sort of salad dish.

 

Any cooked or braised meat can be cooked or braised again and again. A leftover medium-rare roast can be cut into slices and used as lunch meat or in salads, or it can be cut into thicker slices and served as a steak.
Extra vegetables can be marinated as described above, or used to add texture and flavor to soups. You can also sprinkle a little oil over them, spice them up a bit and toss them on the grill. That way you'll have a garnish for your next meal. The point is that you have spent time, and you took trouble making the previous meal. You have improved the taste and texture of your raw ingredients.

 

Your leftovers will shorten the way to your next meal. They'll make it better, and it just feels right!
Let me end with the most important point of all: plan your meals well in advance. Plan your leftovers. Spend a good amount of time cooking a few times a week, and you'll be able to prepare food in no time on the other days.