Would encourage a Nordic festival menu
On the sheep pasture in Sørværet: Christel from Mitt lille køkken, Anne Sofie from Naustdal Dampbakeri, Sara from Pikant, Lene from Naustdal Dampbakeri, Denny from Pikant, Susanne from Sunnfjord catering, Lars from Pikant, the wonderfully inspiring sheep farmer Hilde from Sørværet Villsau and Per Otto from Coop cafe. Photo: Marit Grinaker Wright.
- Now there will be more wild local food on the menus in Førde , smiles a happy group from the city's food industry on a trip to Bulandet and Værlandet to learn about wild plants, seaweed and wild sheep.
-It's exciting to renew our menus with more local food, says Christel Eide from the catering company Mitt lille kjøkken in Bygstad. Together with chefs from several local eateries in Førde who is part of the FørdefestivalMAT project, she is out in the pasture of the Sørværet Wild Sheep in Værlandet. Chefs and sheep gather around sheep farmer Hilde Buer, who talks about the work with these wonderful and well-adapted animals that graze in Værlandet year-round.
The trip to the western archipelago is part of Matstadane's project to put more local food on the menu under Førdefestivalen - and the rest of the year.
HERE is an overview of all cafes and restaurants that are part of the FørdefestivalMAT project.
Pick Game course at Bulandet
Earlier in the day, the chefs were out at Bulandet, at Liv og Lyst, where they were able to take part in the course Picking Wild Game. At Bulandet, Danish trend expert Anette Eckmann gave them an introduction to Nature's Pantry. Eckmann is an internationally renowned author and blogger. The award-winning chef and food inspiration Leif Sørensen, from the restaurant Koks in the Faroe Islands, also had many new ideas to convey to foodies.
“ Our food has been tasty in the past too, but we clearly see a demand for more local producers, ” says Christel Eide.
"Look around your own food landscape and look for the flavors around you," he said. The expert has extensive experience using different species of wild plants and seaweed in his gourmet kitchen, and was one of the initiators behind the New Nordic Food trend. The chefs from Førde received lectures, tours and tastings of products from nearby nature, and I think they had a lot left for the trip to the coast.
-Our food has been tasty in the past too, but we clearly see a demand for more local producers, says Christel Eide. -It was nice to have such a joint trip where we could also get to know each other better, as we are in the same industry.
Hilde and the sheep: Daily supervision and close contact are required. All the sheep have names and come when Hilde calls them. Photo: Marit Grinaker Wright
Inspiration for Nordic flavors
-Here we have been inspired for new dishes and products, seen new trends and the wild sheep farmer has shown us around, smiles Christel happily. -The goal of the trip was to get better together, challenge and lift each other up. The theme for Førdefestivalen This year is the Sound of the North, and it's nice to be able to follow it up with Nordic elements in our menus. What's more Nordic than wild sheep and seaweed?
The group of chefs also visited the farm Heimtun in Sande, where Harald Eriksen will show them around and talk about the farm. There was also a round of picking wild plants for use in cooking.