Reykjavík Grapevine - 15.08.2014, Síða 33

Harpa 20.08.14
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The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 12 — 2014 CUISINE33
ed next to his Danish colleague. Esben's
choice to play nothing but ‘90s NOW
compilations over dinner is not helping,
making Gunni visibly perplexed.
Rhythm of the night
No more mister nice guy. Now I’m being
served a raw oyster mayonnaise dotted
with viridian green dill emulsion. Woodsy,
oily and unlike anything I’ve tasted. Like
an ocean breeze blowing through dead
leaves. The Ragotière is perfectly paired—
both mineral and boozy. This white wine
is so butch I had to shave the bottle just
to glimpse the label.
This is followed by a whiskey-yellow
Pascal Lachau chardonnay to accompany
the smoked char processed like wind-
dried halibut (harðfiskur) and shredded
over a dollop of potato mousse. The
tweezers must have got a workout with
this one.
The silky-voiced sommelier swings
by with a swig of Lustau East India Solera
Sherry and asks if I want the long version
or the short one. I'm not sure what he
means at first but inform him that I have
nowhere better to be. He regales me with
an epic poem of the grape’s struggle to
get into my liver: a perilous journey lit-
tered with gently sloping hillsides and
aged caskets. Someone please give this
guy a radio show.
If his soothing tones aren’t enough,
that unmistakable first notes of Sisqó’s
“Thong Song” can be heard in the back-
ground—the universal herald of suave
dining.
I am confronted with a strange pud-
ding, a Norwegian “Very Sour Cream"
worked into a béchamel-like texture. It's
drizzled with plum vinegar and sprinkled
with dried smoked reindeer heart. The
brilliantly paired port brings the acid to
the party. Like a raisin-y porridge with a
cup of acidic coffee.
Soon after, the lamb shoulder with
spruce needles, spruce oil and pink flow-
ers from freshly picked mother-of-thyme
arrives. I can smell that dish forever and
bury my nose in it. The lamb is tender, but
it does seem like the sous-vide has got-
ten the better of the more virile heating
methods.
U can’t
touch this
September marks
the ten-year an-
niversary of the
Nordic cuisine sym-
posium where the
manifesto for New
Nordic Cuisine was
born. I was curious
to see what Esben
felt the future had
in store for the
movement which
he is so often as-
sociated with. “In
a way, I think New
Nordic cuisine is
dead. I would not
consider Maeemo a
New Nordic restau-
rant anymore." He
seems mildly irritated. “New Nordic
has become an umbrella term for all
the food being made in Nordic restau-
rants, and is therefore quite meaning-
less. This was an exciting movement
but I feel that in the last decade we
have seen the New Nordic movement
come into its own. It has accomplished
its goal by giving Nordic food a place
on the global food scene like French
or Italian cuisine. It has its own iden-
tity and different restaurants are now
taking it in different directions.” World
domination accomplished with calm,
Nordic precision—I'm starting to think
Esben would make for a pretty decent
supervillain.
I finished, my plate so now I get to
have my desserts. Joy! In front of me is
a wooden plate with skyr, raw celery,
foraged cicely, a celery sorbet and a
brave squadron of roasted oats. I re-
move the mandatory sprig of dill they
had tried to poison me with. The cicely
is absolutely inspired and the sorbet
wonderfully sharp and fresh.
This is followed by ice cream made
from browned salted butter from
Røros over a slick of toffee with the
aroma of strong coffee. This dish has
been featured on the Maaemo menu
from the beginning, and for good
reason. It’s absolute unadulterated
heroin. I could eat this every day until
I die. And I probably
would die. Rapidly.
Barbie girl
I’m stuffed. And
the mix-up with the
drink menu means
they had thrown
a couple of extra
glasses in me. This
has been a feast but
I can't help thinking
back to the tragic
selection of rotting
Dutch shapes in the
Bónus vegetable
aisle. How could a
normal person in a
country like Iceland
ever hope to eat
seasonally and lo-
cally and according
to the New Nordic maxim (dead as it
may be)?
“Well, the climate in Norway and
Iceland are not that dissimilar and of
course your average home cook in
Norway is using a lot of imported in-
gredients,” Esben says. “But I think on a
restaurant level, it's absolutely possible
to work on a local and seasonal basis.
Although with climate change and mi-
grating species the idea of what is local
and seasonal is changing constantly.
Who knows what the future will bring
for Iceland?”
Well, the recent past brought me
a very memorable meal at a moment's
notice. But you heard the man! Cast
your eyes on the future, skillet-wield-
ers! Raise your scythes and harvest
those sea-buckthorns! But whatever
you do, don’t call it New Nordic—Esben
has his finger on the controls for the
doomsday laser.
As I stumble out into the seasonless
Icelandic climate, the Danish national
anthem can be heard faintly in the back-
ground: “I'm a Barbie girl, in the Barbie
world. Life in plastic, it's fantastic.”
Yeah, life is pretty fantastic some-
times.
“In a way, I think New
Nordic cuisine is dead.
I would not consider
Maeemo a New Nordic
restaurant anymore."
He was born in Denmark
He's an award winning chef
He owns and operates the res-
taurant Maaemo in Oslo, Norway
(maaemo.no). That restaurant was
Scandinavia's first to earn TWO Mi-
chelin stars (those are very fancy)
He is also Maaemo's Head Chef
He knows what he's doing
He acted as guest chef at Dill over
one magical weekend last month.
Who is Esben
Holmboe Bang?