Lyttelton Food??

Looking at the food that surrounds us in restaurants does not entice me to eat anywhere but at home or at a shared pot luck with all the others in Lyttelton (which is pretty much always delicious, diverse and seasonal). With the occasional moment where we all make pumpkin soup because… that is what we have at the time of the year. However, wouldn’t it be great to be able to go out and converse while eating real Lyttelton food? The number one restaurant in the world is Noma in Denmark and they have created the New Nordic Cuisine Manifesto, which can be applied anywhere in the world. In fact, we should apply this Manifesto right here in Lyttelton. Have a look at the aims of the New Nordic Cuisine:

1. To express the purity, freshness, simplicity and ethics we wish to associate with our region.

2. To reflect the changing of the seasons in the meals we make.

3. To base our cooking on ingredients and produce whose characteristics are particularly excellent in our climates, landscapes and waters.

4. To combine the demand for good taste with modern knowledge of health and well-being.

5. To promote Nordic products and the variety of Nordic producers – and to spread the word about their underlying cultures.

6. To promote animal welfare and a sound production process in our seas, on our farmland and in the wild.

7. To develop potentially new applications of traditional Nordic food products.

8. To combine the best in Nordic cookery and culinary traditions with impulses from abroad.

9. To combine local self-sufficiency with regional sharing of high-quality products.

10. To join forces with consumer representatives, other cooking craftsmen, agriculture, the fishing, food , retail and wholesale industries, researchers, teachers, politicians and authorities on this project for the benefit and advantage of everyone in the Nordic countries.

“We’re not against fish, and we like meat – in fact, we’re not in any way sectarian – but plants are the DNA of the Nordic kitchen. And in a world where a billion people are starving, where global resources are under massive pressure and where we will be three billion more people by 2050, it would be great if we could spread the joy of eating vegetables,” Claus Meyer

What is the DNA of our food here?

Let your food thoughts marinate on the following photos...

Posted by Christy Martin