Copenhagen

Winter on the East Coast makes me want to be somewhere more romantically wintry. An article in the Travel section of the Globe, "Q. How does Copenhagen taste? A. Good," has me casting a glance towards the northern part of the Continent. This wouldn't be the first time either.  About a year ago a friend was telling me all about the multitude of great museums they'd visited in Denmark, in every grand city and tiny village alike, the archaeological digs looking for Viking treasures, and the tax they've imposed on beer that goes directly into the arts.

Copenhagen is now home to the "best restaurant on Earth", Noma. This has certainly brought them lots of attention, as to be expected, but it's not Noma's molecular foods I'm after. It was such phrases as "19th century varieties of danish wheat" (or "retro" bread) and "heritage breed of pig" (and I don't even eat pork) mentioned in the article that caught my attention. I can't explain why this appeals to me, in all likelihood it's the allusion to rustic dining and the Old World. Anything 'heritage' or 'heirloom' related in food, as in heirloom tomatoes or antiquated grains. The writing of M.F.K. Fisher, her stories and descriptions of dining with famed country chefs in Italy and France and Switzerland in the 1930s and the elaborate meals they would force upon her, and the foreign foods and ceremonies that had not yet made their way to North America whose traditions were based on post-Victorian British ways of eating. Also, in general, farm tables and big wood cutting boards, cleavers, backyard herb gardens, etcetera...

In the meantime, this Toronto-based blog has (somewhat) satiated my interest in Scandinavian food, as they seek out really interesting restaurants in their travels both here in Canada and the U.S. and abroad.