New Nordic - Food, aesthetics and place

New Nordic Cuisine is a culinary movement that arose in the early 2000s. It made a big splash internationally, and it is perhaps the biggest Nordic cultural export since Scandinavian design.
In 2004, a manifesto was written for a New Nordic Cuisine. The aim was to establish food from the Nordic countries as one of the great regional cuisines, on an equal footing with French, Italian or Chinese food. The recipe for success was making a virtue out of the region's extreme climate and geography and drawing on local produce and food traditions. Inspired by local landscapes, the movement created a distinctive aesthetic which could be seen in its food dishes and tableware, as well as the interior design of its restaurants.
Recurring themes include natural materials like stone, moss and untreated wood, as well as hand-made ceramics, subdued colours from nature and wild plants used as décor.
In parallel, society was showing a growing interest in ecology, nature and place identity, which came to expression in lifestyles, architecture, design and the visual arts.Read more