Danish food culture has an outsized impact on the world stage.

For a country with less than 0.1% of the world's population, Denmark boasts the two best restaurants in the world and has a culinary movement that is the envy of chefs and kitchens around the world.

But it wasn't always that way...

In fact, there was a very distinct turning point when Danish (and more broadly Nordic) food became "New".

In 2004 a group of restauranteurs and food experts gathered in Copenhagen to write an outline of how they were going to revolutionise the region's food industry, much in the way the film and TV industry had done.

The result was The Manifesto for the New Nordic Kitchen.

Two of the chefs present were René Redzepi (Head Chef of Noma, now the #1 restaurant in the world) and Claus Meyer (food entrepreneur).

In this episode Sam speaks with Jonas Astrup, head of product innovation at Meyers Madhus ("Meyers Food House" - the company Claus founded) to encourage more people to get interested in cooking and food.

Sam and Jonas talk about:

• The history of the New Nordic Cuisine movement
• What "old" Danish food practices valued
• What it looks like in practice
• How the founding principles are becoming increasingly relevant to the sustainability agenda
• How anyone can use
• Jonas' inspiration for working in food
• Challenges to overcome in tackling e.g. food waste

and how methods such as fermentation are becoming increasingly more popular as a way to create the umami flavour from plants.

You can learn more about Jonas and Meyers Madhus at: https://meyers.dk/

Thanks to Hotel Mayfair in Central Copenhagen for hosting us for the recording. You can get 25% off your stay by using the code WTD at checkout

Learn more about What The Denmark via: www.whatthedenmark.com and @whatthedenmark on Instagram