Irene in Førde : Great pleasure to receive the KOKK HEIM award
Irene checks that chefs Thomas and Bodil are working in the kitchen.
The park at Festplassen showed its best side during Førdefestivalen last July, and the festival breakfast on Saturday morning was as usual filled with people of all ages. On this fine morning in the park, it was Irene Hjelm who walked away with the generous KOKK HEIM prize that the festival's long-standing partners, the Norwegian Cooks' Association of Sogn og Fjordane and Coop Vest, present at the festival breakfast every year. That is to say, Irene admits that it was her husband who had filled in the correct answers to the quiz, but she had to submit, with her name. Ergo: Irene won!
Text: Torill Faleide | Photo: Arve Ullebø
Almost hoped she wouldn't win.
"When I submitted the answers to the quiz, I almost hoped I wouldn't win," she recalled. She thought it would be a lot of trouble with such a prize. "Inviting guests, deciding on the menu and having chefs in the kitchen. You know," says Irene, shaking her head slightly at the thought of her thinking that way.
The slightly lukewarm attitude towards the prize gradually turned into pure joy. Irene simply realized that the KOKK HEIM prize was a golden opportunity to invite good friends home for good food, without me having to stress about anything.
Like at the best restaurant
The prize was of great value in many ways. Early in the fall, Irene found a date that suited chef Thomas Holme Smådal, who in addition to being co-owner of the café Ferske Smakar at Amfi in Førde , in recent years has established herself as a permanent chef at Steinar Sørli and Yngve Brakstad at Åmot in Bygstad. As soon as the date was set, the 3-course menu was decided, and Irene could send out a cozy invitation to the friends she wanted around the table.
Tonight's menu
STARTER
Scallops, cauliflower and bacon, roe and dill
MAIN COURT
Fillet of goat, carrot, beetroot, asparagus, cream of mushrooms and mashed potatoes
DESSERT
Flute pudding, molts and passion fruit, soda cake and licorice ice cream
Irene would like to welcome you to the table. It's always nice to gather good friends around the table, and it's extra nice for the hosts when the three-course meal is delivered and arranged by others.
"It was a fantastically nice evening, with incredibly good and delicately prepared food," says Irene. "It was like being at the best restaurant, and when the last guests stayed until half past three, we can only say that it was a success," smiles the hostess, who every year tries to attend both the festival breakfast and other events at Førdefestivalen She certainly doesn't mind winning the KOKK HEIM award several times, and thanks chef Thomas Holme Smådal who, together with Bodil Erdalsdal, Eldermann in NKL Sogn og Fjordane and teacher at Kokk og servitør, has a large share of the credit for making this November evening so incredibly successful.
The festival breakfast has been a regular feature of Førdefestivalen since 2003. For the last 4 years, the Norwegian Chefs' Association Sogn og Fjordane and Coop Vest have offered a KOKK HEIM prize as a prize for a winner of the breakfast quiz. The winner of the KOKK HEIM prize receives free food for a 3-course dinner for up to 8 people, and two chefs at home who will arrange everything from setting the table to preparing and serving the delicious food. In 2018, it was Irene Hjelm from Førde who walked away with the nice prize.