The New Nordic Diet

 Hi family and friends (And of course Hal!) Today was the tenth day of our New Nordic journey and our second day in Stockholm. We left just after 8:00 a.m., with a surprise in the breakfast area as the hotel was celebrating the launch of a company, Strawberry! After the company surprised Hal with his beautiful strawberry cake, we quickly boarded public transportation to get to today's lesson on Swedish language and culture with Maria.  Located in KMH , the Royal College of Music is home to the Stockholm DIS where we had the privilege of listening to Maria share more about her culture and teach us some the language. First, we looked at the language. She taught us common phrases like hello (Hej!) and thank you (Tack!). She also showed a slide with basic "get to know me" information and had us guess what she had written based on context cues provided by the photos and nonverbal communication she was presenting. She then asked us to introduce ourselves, including our names, p...

 Hi family and friends! (And of course Hal!) Today was the ninth day of our New Nordic adventure, and it was our first full day in Stockholm! This morning, I was awakened by the bright sun at 4:30 a.m. before returning to bed and officially beginning our day at 10:45 a.m. to meet to take the subway to board the s.s. Stockholm! After the ferry tour with the buffet, we were taken on a tour of the "Old Town," referred to as Gamla Stan . Gamla Stan!!!  Zennid (Dennis is the American pronunciation), who has lived in Sweden his entire life, gave our tour. He took us about town, telling us historical stories and allowing us to ask questions about Gamla Stan or our projects. We began in learning about the numerous Gustavs affiliated with Sweden and the Royal Family. As Zennid pointed out, it was shocking to learn that the Royal Family has very little Swedish lineage.  The Royal Family adopted a child, who as a result lost some of his more distinguishing physical characteristics o...

 Hi family and friends! (And of course Hal!) Today was the eighth day of our New Nordic trip, and we began the day in Copenhagen before heading to the railway station to board a train to Stockholm for the second half of the trip. After arriving in Stockholm, we were slightly delayed due to a fire that had occurred earlier in the day, but we were still able to make it to our dinner reservation for the night, which took place at Kvarnen. Kvarnen is a sit-down dining experience in Stockholm where we sampled three dishes and were treated to seasonal drinks courtesy of DIS Copenhagen! The first course was a quiche dressed with salad and a sauce that we believed was lemongrass and dill. Dill was another common ingredient in Copenhagen, so it was intriguing to see its popularity continue in a new Scandanavian country. Following that, we tasted the classic Swedish meatballs with a rich brown gravy sauce, which were served with mashed potatoes, lingonberries, and sliced cucumbers. Below yo...

 Hi family and friends! (and of course Hal!) Today was the seventh day of our New Nordic journey and our final full day in Copenhagen before continuing for Sweden in the morning tomorrow. The day began early with a bus drive an hour and a half away from the campsite Sanddobebernes Camping in Denmark's Western Zealand region, where we would meet our foraging guide, Jørgen Stoltz. During this guided tour, Jørgen identified a variety of plants that can be utilized as ingredients, as demonstrated by the lunch debriefing after our trip, which included some of the plants collected and taste tested on our adventure. The plants included a number of vegetables and herbs that are commonly used in American cuisine but are known by a different name. Below is a picture of all the herbs collected, along with their names.  Half of the plants J ør gen had collected and made us sample during our foraging trip! Some of the plants in the area that grow closer to bodies of water are inherently mo...

 Hi family and friends! (and of course Hal!) Today was the fifth day of the New Nordic trip and the fifth day in Copenhagen. The day began with an additional lecture with Bianca Liberski at DIS Copenhagen before moving on to Reffen and the distillery tour with spirit sampling at Empirical. Empirical is a distillery that originated in Copenhagen after one of the the owners became interested in developing distinctive liquors. Lars Williams and Mark Emil Hermansen stepped out on their own after working at NOMA, with their project taking off in 2017 as shared on the tour, but it can also be viewed on the website. Empirical draws inspiration from a variety of ingredients to create more than merely flavors, but specific sensations and stories from individuals alike and different. Similarly, the entire process can take as little as 2 1/2 weeks to as long as 2 years, with an average of 8-10 products available for purchase per season. Furthermore, Empirical is expanding their production wit...

 Hi family and friends (and of course Hal!) Today was the fourth day in Copenhagen, with some traveling to the Danish island of Samsø, but it was also the fourth day of the New Nordic adventure. This morning's journey involved one and a half hours on a bus with our amazing driver Cal before getting on a ferry boat for another hour and a half. With all of the driving today, it came to nearly 4 hours of travel time one way! Anyway, while visiting Samsø, we had the pleasure of meeting Tessa, one of the co-owners of Yduns Have Farm . Yduns Have Farm is a 10-hectare organic farm that grows a variety of vegetables, fruits, crops, and roots. Furthermore, the farm is in the process of breeding organic cows, two of which we had the opportunity to see today, and is currently producing organic eggs with over 300 chicks, as shown below. The two cows, Berta and Herdis! Some of the many chickens on the farm Tessa gave her perspective on vegetarian trends in Denmark, as well as a piece of her per...

 Hi friends and family! (And of course Hal!) Today was the third day in Copenhagen, as well as the third day of the New Nordic trip.  The day began with a lecture by guest speaker Jonatan Leer with the DSI Copenhagen department. We then moved on to Copenhagen Cooking Class , where we worked in groups to create a dish, with the meals being inspired by what they call the "Greens dish." We created three items in the kitchen: a side dish, a main dish, and a dessert. This consisted of brussel sprouts with cashew ricotta, steamed cauliflower with the group's preferred seasoning paired in a parsley puree with glazed parsnips. The dinner finished up with a brownie made with sweet potato and dates and covered with a chocolate ganache, blueberry powder, and white chocolate. Simone and I from my group, the S.S. MAE, worked together to prepare the parsnips and cauliflower florets. This experience taught me about the cooking abilities I possessed previous to taking the class and what ...

 Hi friends and family! (And of course Hal!) Today was the second day in Copenhagen and the second day of the New Nordic Diet journey in general. The morning started well, with a good night's sleep and early sunrise watching with Karli. Breakfast quickly followed, with an array of standard favorites as well as some new savory additions to the breakfast customs, such as beans and toast or meats and cheeses to be served with the pastry items. The day began with acquiring metro cards for the entire week and learning about the many routes that we can take to navigate around the city. We next took one of our scheduled routes to New Harbor (Nyhavn), where we got a canal tour of the city. We were informed with the historical background behind the architecture within the structures and got the opportunity to observe The Little Mermaid statue through an audioguided tour. We were able to make a minor redirection in our anticipated plans for the day to visit The Glass Market (Torvehallerene)...

 Hi family and friends! (and Hal of course!) Today was our final pre-departure class before departing for the Scandinavian countries, and we had the pleasure of chatting with Dr. Emily Vikre. Emily Vikre is one of the co-founders and co-owners of Vikre Distillery, which is based in her hometown of Duluth, Minnesota. She draws inspiration from Scandinavian cultural traditions, particularly their flavors and moral values. She began by discussing her educational history as well as her heritage with the class. Emily's grandparents are from Sweden, and she recalls visiting her grandmother there when she was younger. She stated she was inspired by culinary customs because she and her grandmother spent time together cooking meals. She also discussed the economic and sustainability elements of running a business. In contrast to traditional efficiency and money-oriented approaches in American culture, Vikre Distillery employs a triple bottom line approach. The triple bottom line approach em...