Last month I set off on a trip to Denmark. I am a little in love with Denmark, well Copenhagen at least as I haven’t yet ventured outside of the capital. This was my third trip inside of 12 months but my previous trips had been all too brief, this time I felt I really got to know this wonderful city. I was invited by Copenhagen Cooking Festival to come and check out the festival and the food scene in the city and what a trip it was!
Copenhagen Cooking & Food Festival is an annual food festival that celebrates the Copenhagen gastro scene and Denmark as a food country.The festival offers more than 100 unique events over the course of 10 days in August and there is something for every taste – from intimate dinners with Danish chefs to huge food events with thousands of guests. Famous chefs from all over the world featured in this years festival.
My trip started off with a super speedy check in at the perfectly instagrammable Andersen Hotel before jumping in a cab and zooming off to Israel Plads for the festival opening BBQ. The BBQ was sponsored by Jacobsen (Carlsberg) who had created a pretty pink beer in honour of the occasion, I had my fair share of it during the weekend. We had food cooked in front of us by chefs and foragers such as Thomas Laursen ( www.wildfooding.dk ), Morten Falk ( Danish participant for Bocus D’or ), Henrik Jyrk ( One of the best BBQ chefs in Denmark ) and Karlos Ponte ( former head chef of Noma ) so as you can imagine we were extremely well fed. The weather was drizzly and wet for our first evening but there was a party atmosphere in the tent and we had a wonderful night.
Image Credit:KIM LEUENBERGER
Image Credit:KIM LEUENBERGER
Image Credit:KIM LEUENBERGER
Image Credit:KIM LEUENBERGER
The next day began with an early start as I and fellow trip attendee Kim Leuenberger went exploring Copenhagen before the city really woke up, we walked miles along empty streets munching Cinnamon buns. We enjoyed the famous Nyhavn haven area in relative peace and glorious sunshine, if you ever visit the city I recommend getting up early to do this.
After our explorations we met up with the rest of our group and headed off for a day at Christian Puglisi’s Farm Of Ideas festival. This was a really fun experience. Christian established this farm a year ago to be able to produce organic ingredients for his restaurants, I’ll be writing about this a little more later this month so keep your eyes peeled. On arrival at the farm we collected our picnic baskets, complete with blankets, glasses, cutlery and plates and our tokens which allowed us to collect a dish from each stand at the round tent on the farm.
There was a really family vibe at the picnic on the hill, the weather was perfect and well it was a bit special. Atmosphere aside we had some amazing food on offer cooked by seriously talented and successful chefs such as Claus Meyer, Jock Zonfrillo and more. My favourite dish was the potato salad. I mean when is potato salad ever the highlight of a meal? I guess when it is cooked by Claus Meyer, the trick he told me is to cook the potatoes in beer. I am experimenting with my own version of this recipe..coming soon!
I also enjoyed watching Frank Erichsen churning THE most incredible butter to serve with the famous Mirabelle sourdough. Oh and did I mention the Mirabelle ice cream.. OH MY WORD. Raw milk ice cream served with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt. An absolute taste sensation I assure you.
After the picnic Christian took us on a tour of the farm, explaining a bit more behind the ideas that made it all come together. It was incredibly interesting, I always love listening to someone who is passionate about food and where it comes from and Christian is definitely that. We also got to meet the cows who were responsible for the ice cream we ate after lunch and the mozzarella we enjoyed at our evening banquet. The time taken from when they are milked to when the cheese and ice cream is produced is generally less than 12 hours which is fairly incredible. It ensures the product you eat is as fresh as it can possibly be.
Image credit: KIM LEUENBERGER
Image credit: KIM LEUENBERGER
Image Credit:KIM LEUENBERGER
The remainder of the afternoon was spent relaxing on the farm. There were talks from food influencers and chefs such as Darina Allen and Jock Zontrillo which we watched whilst enjoying some natural wine.
Our day finished with the Bæst pop up banquet, Bæst are known for their incredible pizzas ( voted amongst the top 20 pizzerias in the world) and they certainly didn’t disappoint. The fresh mozzarella and charcuterie deserve a mention too. There was such a warm, friendly atmosphere in the banquet area and we enjoyed a LOT of delicious wine and food.
Image Credit:KIM LEUENBERGER
We left the farm weary and full of good food and stories. Look out for part two of my trip coming up in a few days which includes a trip to 108 ( Noma), a Michelin food experience, dining at the top of the Culture Tower and the best hotdog in the world contest. Oh and loads more photos of course!
If you are planning a trip to Copenhagen check out my friend Anders Husa favourite food spots.
Charlene Flash says
Looks like you had a fab time 🙂
Anders Husa says
Awesome to meet you in CPH! Thanks for the recommendation.