Cooking Class

It’s been a while.  Every now and then I will be inspired to sign up for a cooking class and learn something new.  I meant to do take a class when I was still living in Prague but for some reason, I never connected with a class.  This time around, I made up my mind that if you want to learn about a new culture and new city, learn it via food.

I contacted Mia of CPH Good Food and signed up for one of her cooking classes.  The topic: How to make a mix of New Nordic and Traditional Danish dishes.  Sold!

We made our way through four dishes, one breakfast porridge and three lunch dishes.

Here is a look at what we made:

Okay, I started with dessert- it was a traditional Danish apple trifle with lots of layers (including a crunchy butter cookie layer) and a cherry syrup.

Residence at the University of Copenhagen- why didn’t my university look like this?  Mia’s class took place in one of the dorm kitchens.

Again- my residence looked nothing like this in university.

The dorm kitchen/cooking/dining area.

Mia- starting out the class behind four, count them four, dorm refrigerators!

First, we learned how to cure cod- similar to Chilean ceviche.

Next up our breakfast porridge with a liquorice butter.  Liquorice is used a lot in Danish cooking. It’s very popular here.

We were allowed to take tea breaks during the class.  Mia got her tea from Tante-T in Copenhagen.

The velvety barley porridge with pears, hazelnuts and fluffy licorice butter

While we ate our breakfast porridge, we browsed through some of Mia’s favourite Nordic/Danish cookbooks – ahem- Noma-

Next up- we made our own mayonnaise from scratch which was pretty cool and a first for me. Home made mayo tastes so much better and it was really easy. You wonder what is in that “other” store bought stuff…..

And we made our own rye bread with nuts and beer

Here is what our loaf looked like, served on a nice bread board.

Tables are not complete with out multiple candles and flowers.

(picture above-) Mia bought us a nice treat to go with our bread.  True to the open face sandwich tradition, you slice a piece of rye bread, spread some butter on your slice and top it with meat or cheese and some mustard.  We got to taste test lamb sausage, a goat brie cheese and another Danish cheese.  The lamb and goat brie are from 360 Nord, a business who sources ingredients from farmers around Denmark- it is located in Torvehallerne market.  I paid 360 Nord a visit, shortly after the class ended so I could eat the lamb sausage and goat brie in my house!  Incredible!

This was an interesting salad we made:  Pearl rye salad with baked beetroot, pickled onions and dried black currants.  The flavour went really well with our rye bread, cured fish, meat and cheese.

The way to assemble an open faced sandwich with our cured cod and homemade mayonnaise.

I can’t wait to sign up to another class with Mia.  I learned so much over the five hours we spent cooking together.  Particularly as someone living in Copenhagen, the ability to talk about ingredients, brands and producers was super helpful in terms of receiving guidance/pointers in the grocery store when you can’t always read labels.

This was a very filling lunch that I look forward to making on my own.  I have already replicated the salad.  I think I am going to try the bread this week.

Date Night #8 Bistro Boheme (a bust!)

It had to happen sooner or later.  Our seven week, “near perfect” dining streak has come to an end.  Not a bad track record if you think about it.  I had high hopes for this French restaurant, but neither my husband nor I thought it was worthy of a repeat visit, except if you want to grab a drink at their bar and feel part of a lively, energetic environment surrounded by a good looking, well dressed crowd.

Date Night #8 Bistro Boheme, was a bust.  Keeping things local (it’s still cold here!), we walked over to Bistro Boheme, a French brasserie on Esplanaden.

Photo Sources:  2, 3

The restaurant itself is a sight to see and a cool, vibe-y place for a drink.  We arrived at 8pm to a packed, double “decker” restaurant.  Two floors,warm wood, white table clothes, high ceilings, candles with drippy wax, roses in vases, French music, beautifully dressed people, wine chilling in a big silver bucket, hustle, bustle, and buzz.  We were escorted up the stairs to the top floor and sat at a table looking out over the space.  I called it our “balcony seats.”

Issue #1: Throughout the entire meal the service was SLOOOOWWWWW- downfall number one.  We could barely catch the attention of our waiter.  It was busy in Bistro Boheme this particular Friday night, so I understand potentially slower service.  However, when we asked if this level of patronage was an anomaly or normal, he responded -every Thursday, Friday and Saturday, this place is double booked.  So if it is not a once off, don’t you think you would increase the number of staff on the floor?

The second issue was the mediocre tasting food. I’ve dined in various parts of France and while I do not hold a Copenhagen French Brasserie to the same standards of what I’ve tasted, I expect to eat something with a bit more flavour than what I received.  I will praise them on food presentation. I thought the heaping pile of moules (mussels) in a copper pot and frites in a ceramic bowl was neat.  My market catch, fish (the first picture) was described to me by the waiter as a whole sole fish with a root vegetable puree.  Great! What I got was a whole sole, wrapped in philo dough and fried almost like fish and chips.  Below the fish was a leek that was so tough, I needed a steak knife to cut through it.

Our balcony view-

– The moules served in a copper pot.

– The frites. They look better than they taste.

The third aspect which killed the experience for me was the level of music to general talking noise ratio.  I think there was a competition between which could be louder.  I think the music won.  It was near impossible to have a conversation in this space.  I like to feel energy in a restaurant, but I still like to be able to carry on a conversation with someone sitting across the table from me.

You win some, you loose some.  I am happy I tried it. There are a couple more French restaurants that I am going to try.  Maybe Copenhagen is not the place for French food, or maybe Bistro Boheme is not the place for French food.  Check back and I will share my date night, dining experiences with you.

On a separate note, this weekend I am attending a Danish cooking class with Mia of CPHGoodFood.  I thought it would be useful and interesting to learn how to cook some Danish dishes. I am most excited to learn how to bake the addictive and delicious Danish rye bread.  I will post my photos next week.

Wishing you a great weekend.

Bistro Boheme, Esplanaden 8

Date Night #7 (with friends) Restaurant Cofoco

Date Night #7- lucky number seven!

Last Saturday, my husband and I turned date night into double date night with friends at Restaurant Cofoco (part of the Cofoco group).

Before I delve into the meal, I want to mention that I think I am starting to get the hang of New Nordic dining and I haven’t even scratched the surface of options or even attempted to make a reservation (three months out) at Noma!

When I read a menu in this city, I typically choose two or three dishes not really knowing what the dish will look like (dining is always a form of entertainment and an experience), nor what it will taste like (I am often not familiar with all the ingredients in a dish).

All I know, is I have yet to have a bad meal in Copenhagen, the chefs are creative and playful with food, the quality of ingredients is excellent and I am open to trying anything once- minus bugs- I am not ready for bugs yet.

At Restaurant Cofoco, between the four of us, I think we had the entire menu, or just about the entire menu.  The menu contains a mix of smaller dishes and it is recommend you select three or four courses for dinner.

Items tasted:

Appetizers: Salted nuts tossed with dried pimento, beef tartar with cream, sour malt and beetroot and a creamy mussel soup with scallops, drained cottage cheese and chamomile.

Next up a variety of main dishes which included: Chicken nuggets with a coarse grain mustard mayo and asparagus potato fries tossed in onion powder. two people tried the Danish squid with cream cheese and leaks as well as a confit of pork cheeks with warm salad and red sorrel.

Finally dessert– Coconut ice cream with cookies and coconut flakes (amazing!) and a Danish cheese plate with a homemade muesli cracker.

This is quite ironic- for me the stand out dish in the entire meal was the chicken fingers.  How juvenile, right?  These chicken fingers were crispy beyond belief and finished with a beautiful flaked salt.  The flaked salt made the dish.  The chicken meat was tender, not dried out and the grainy mustard mayo dipping sauce and asparagus potato fries offered a tangy and salty complement- simply incredible.  I can’t remember the last time I ate a chicken finger- I must have been in junior high- but these put all previous chicken fingers to shame.  Plus, they were fun to eat.

I hope you can see from the photos that all the food served had a playful element to the presentation.  Tell me, can you identify what is in the pink looking dish above?  That’s the fun. You have a sense of what the ingredients are but have no idea how they will be presented to you.  Dining in Copenhagen is anything but literal

Looking forward to the next restaurant which will be Bistro Boheme (we’re going French).

Restaurant Cofoco – Abel Cathrines Gade 7 Copenhagen

Finally! A macaron worth blogging about

Finally! A macaron worth blogging about.  I used to blog about macarons all the time.  I think macarons, done well, are blog worthy.  A lot of my earlier material centered on where to eat macarons around the world (here, here, and here  as an example).  Then it sort of just petered out.  Maybe I haven’t found an inspiring macaron lately.

I am proud to say, macarons are back on Lamb411 and boy did I unearth the mother load today!  I had four superb macarons at Strangas Dessert boutique in Copenhagen.

Not only were the macarons superb, I think they might go down in my books as some of the best macarons that I’ve ever eaten.  These were better than Laduree, which has not been very impressive my past two visits to Paris.

I chose four flavours to taste: Basil + something, lemon and violet, salted caramel and mocha. The meringue possessed the right balance of crunchy and chewy and the flavour combinations were intense and bold (especially the basil).

The Strangas Dessert boutique is cosy (it’s Copenhagen after all ) with its white brick walls, three candle lit wooden tables and pots of sugar.  But you don’t just come here for the macarons- although for me, that was the main draw.  Nikolaos Strangas, the head pastry chef and owner of Strangas, is a master and artist when it comes to making delicate, French inspired desserts.  I had a chance to meet and briefly speak to Nikolaos this afternoon and not only was he very personable and charming, it sounds like there are a lot of exciting projects on his pastry table.  I added him to Instagram to keep track!

I have to return and sample what was in the adjacent display-I saw a nice looking cheese cake for starters…

Strangas Dessert Boutique · Åboulevard 7  Copenhagen

Date Night #5 Che Fe 90-100% Bio Trattoria

Nothing like a bit of “organic” positioning to catch your eye and move you to a decision.  This was the case for Che Fe, a 90-100% Bio Italian Trattoria in my neighbourhood.

Photo Source: 10Best

Why 90-100% you ask?  Good question!  My husband and I asked the waiter the same question too.

But before I tell you the answer, I will tell you why I chose this restaurant.  It was a dark and stormy night in Copenhagen, minus the stormy.  Rather, it was a cold and dark night.  We were committed to date night but did not feel like travelling very far.  Solution:  Our complex of apartments contains a handful of restaurants.  Che Fe is one of them.  For us, a meal at Che Fe involved exiting our flat and walking across the street into a warm, cosy restaurant.  Score!  And, I guess you could say I was curious why the window of the restaurant says 90-100% organic.  Why not just say 90% or 100%???  Why the range?

Like many of the restaurants in Copenhagen, Che Fe operates on a seasonal menu which switches up every two to three months.  When we visited, we caught the end of the “winter” menu, which means the next time we visit, we will get to taste test something new.  In fact, just last week I received an email with their February-pre-spring menu that will feature venison.

“We are in our February menu inspired by winter venison and early spring, which is spreading across the fields in Sicily.” (Gotta love Google Translate)

Che Fe is a Sicilian restaurant and to be accurate, they are 93% organic.  This means all ingredients used in the menu come from organic Italian producers with the exception of the spirits (however they did find an organic Limoncello producer) and the fish.  They shared with us they would rather serve fresh fish from the seas around Denmark but they could not guarantee the sea fish stuck to an organic diet :).  We’ll let that one fly.

This little, warmly lit restaurant was packed.  We snagged the last table on a Friday night at 8pm.  We weren’t starving so we started with some olives, my husband tried the soup (above) and we each got a main (him the venison papardelle and me a crepe like vegetarian dish with swiss chard, lentils and cheese, in a tomato sauce).

Our personable waiter was chatty and helpful guiding us through the dining experience.  Earlier on in the meal, we shared with him that we were new to the hood and Che Fe’s new next door neighbours.  After the last sip of organic limoncello and piece of tiramisu, the waiter approached our table with a small white gift bag.  How thoughtful! We received a small parting gift for being their new neighbours- a bottle of olive oil and some nice pasta.

The other cool thing about this restaurant is that they also have a mini organic Italian food boutique and are sister companies with the Italian bakery Il Fornaio, which is located in Torvehallerne market.

Che Fe- you’re going on the rotation!  It’s nice to have you as neighbours.

Address:  BORGERGADE 17A · 1300 KØBENHAVN K

Goods from a Danish Bakery

I am back from Meet the Blogger Stockholm.  It was a terrific weekend and I look forward to going through all my pictures and recap of what was seen, said and eaten in future blog posts on Lamb411.

Notable experience: I had a tremendous dinner at one of Stockholm’s best sushi restaurants called Rakultur (no reservations and we were assured our wait would be at least 40 minutes).  Thankfully we only had to wait about 10 before we were seated at the chef’s table.  The chef’s table reminded me of the documentary, Jiro Dreams of Sushi– great flick if you haven’t seen it.

Rakultur is apparently known as the sushi restaurant where chefs eat at.  (According to Phaidon’s book– and a friend of a friend’s recommendation)

But enough about Stockholm.

For Tuesday, I leave you with a trio of baked goods from a Danish bakery in Copenhagen called Gorm.

I am continuously asked about Danish danishes from my Canadian friends and family.  I thought that in response, and the fact that I am an avid bakery taste tester, I would try to snap a couple shots and show you what’s in store.

These three beauties came from a bakery called Gorm on Store Kongensgade.   No website that I can find.

LEFT: Cookie filled and dipped with dark chocolate

MIDDLE: Chocolate covered danish

RIGHT: Cookie with raspberry jam in the middle topped with white icing