No salt or pepper needed either！ The high-end restaurant “Noma” that uses only wild ingredients

Text and photos / Excerpted from “The New Nordic Kitchen: Visible Natural Flavors,” published by Sancai Culture

Claus Meyer and the New Nordic Kitchen

If there’s one restaurant that can be synonymous with New Nordic cuisine, it’s Copenhagen’s “Noma.” The restaurant’s name itself combines the Danish words “nordisk” (Nordic) and “mad” (food), and was founded in 2004 by Claus Meyer and René Redzepi. For many years, it has been a world-renowned high-end restaurant. Noma’s basic concept is to use only natural ingredients from the Nordic countries—even salt and pepper are not used.

Claus Meyer was one of the drafters of the "New Nordic Kitchen Manifesto." Even though he now runs an entire culinary empire, his passion for food revolution remains as strong as ever. He says he never intended to open one of the world’s top restaurants, but if you throw yourself wholeheartedly into something, naturally this is the result.

His interest in food began in his early years. His mother, a new-generation working woman, had no time to pass on her grandmother’s home cooking. After Claus developed health problems, he went to France for convalescence at the age of twenty. Every meal there was made with fresh local ingredients, and it was here that he discovered the true joy of eating. Eventually he regained his health, largely due to the inspiring cooking of his host family, and because he wasn’t good at helping with other chores, he ended up spending most of his time in the kitchen. As he himself put it, that was the turning point.

Since then, Claus Meyer has placed great emphasis on fresh ingredients and their origins. He says the biggest feature of Nordic cuisine is the use of only wild ingredients: the Norwegian black grouse lives in the wilderness, and this environment gives the meat a unique and distinctive flavor. Thus, the slogan of New Nordic cuisine is “terroir,” meaning the characteristics of the ingredients come from where they grow or live. Growing your own food means you’re in control and can tailor everything to your needs. When grown organically and without artificially accelerating growth, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Cooking is more than just a way to fill your stomach. Many of the initiatives he’s launched focus on fresh ingredients, health, and safeguarding the future of food production. Though Claus Meyer’s life may seem extremely relaxed—sitting in a tree-shaded garden surrounded by vegetable patches and happy chickens—in reality, he runs several restaurants, a food academy, a gourmet magazine, multiple delicatessens, and leads a food program in Bolivia. One of his most recent projects even combines food with music.

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