(Journalist and food reviewer Danish newspaper Jyllands Posten. Food lover. Cooks much of his food himself. Holds all of the cookbooks published. Reviews restaurants twice a month).
Jesper
I meet Jesper at the organic butcher downtown. The place is pretty spectacular: Not only are the prices shockingly high, but the butchers behind the counter are dressed in black and wear bowler hats. This is not your regular butcher around the corner! “I buy all my cold cuts here”, Jesper explains. “When it comes to cold cuts, they’re simply the best place in the country”, he says. After making his request, he whispers to me: “Never buy poultry in here. The cheapest chicken breast you can find in here – and I mean ONE chicken breast – costs 5£!”
I meet Jesper at the organic butcher downtown. The place is pretty spectacular: Not only are the prices shockingly high, but the butchers behind the counter are dressed in black and wear bowler hats. This is not your regular butcher around the corner! “I buy all my cold cuts here”, Jesper explains. “When it comes to cold cuts, they’re simply the best place in the country”, he says. After making his request, he whispers to me: “Never buy poultry in here. The cheapest chicken breast you can find in here – and I mean ONE chicken breast – costs 5£!”
Ecology and animal welfare
Jesper used to eat chicken breasts several times a week. They’re so cheap at the supermarket, and the kids love them. But after reading about the industrial production of poultry, he just can’t put his teeth in a regular chicken breast anymore. “They’re stuffed with chemicals and pumped with water and live under the most terrifying conditions”, he says. Recently, he watched a documentary which explained that modern chicks are a result of carefully calculating the precise balance between maximizing weight at a minimum of time while still maintaining enough leg strength that they do not simply collapse under their own body. For some chicks this calculation doesn’t quite fit, so a certain number of them simply break their legs and are trampled to death by their thousands of fellow chicken. “Normally I’m not hysterical about animals – I mean, in my worlds animals are here to be eaten. But that’s just going a bit too far, even for me!” he concludes. “And what’s more”, he continues, “ animals which have been treated that way don’t taste good!” Now he buys organic chicken at the supermarket once in a while, but in general he has simply reduced the frequency of chicken meals dramatically.
Jesper buys organic products whenever it’s possible. Previously he was too mean to buy organic fruit, which is a great deal more expensive than the regular fruit. But for a few years now he has started buying that organic too. His youngest daughter is four years old, and he’s concerned about how the chemicals and meds in the non-organic products might affect her health.
Shopping habits
Jesper divides his shopping between two kinds of supermarkets – a discount and a high-end – and a number of special shops. He knows which things he’ll look for in which places, so the regular stock vegetables like carrots, onions and potatoes, he buys in Netto, which has a good selection of organic products. Here, he also buys his dairy products, his organic muesli and a number of other basic products. Then there are things which he would never buy in a supermarket: fish, for instance. Generally, he’ll go to the butcher for meat, to the organic shop for flour, pasta, dried beans etc., to the Chinese or Thai supermarket for Asian ingredients, and to the tea shop for tea. He bakes his own bread – both dark and white. His wife has dropped white bread, so he’s on his own with that pleasure – except for the kids obviously.
Health and Taste
“I don’t care about the price, when I buy food. I go for taste and freshness, and after that for health”, Jesper says. We’re at the fish shop, and I notice how expensive the salmon is compared to the one in the supermarket. “I’m sorry, but you’d never get me to buy the salmon in the supermarket. It has a completely different texture. It looks kinda grey and dry compared to this one.” He points to a fleshy piece of pink salmon in the window counter.
For tonight, Jesper is buying lumpfish roe. I find the price pretty awesome, but he reminds me that it’s still a lot cheaper than the chicken breast you could buy across the street in the organic butcher.
I ask him about calories. He scoffs. “Well, it’s pretty common knowledge that enjoying food and avoiding fat don’t go well together. I’m not on that low-fat-no-sugar trip. I grew up in a family which truly celebrated good food. I do the same thing. Calories are not a concern!”
Asian food
We continue to the Chinese supermarket where he gets his usual bottle of oyster sauce, and his usual bag of frozen edame beans. “I just love these”, he says. “They have the nutty flavor – or a bit like almonds..” Jesper contemplates the fact that the organic principle hasn’t really reached the products for Asian cooking. He expects that this will happen in the future. He loves Asian food. He has travelled a lot in Vietnam, and he’s a great fan of their cooking. But Indian food is also a great treat, he says.
The trend in Danish cooking
“The big deal among big Danish chefs right now is to reinvent traditional Danish meals in a funky version.”, he explains. “You have to buy locally produced ingredients from the season and go completely natural. If you can pick the stuff in your own backyard it’s the best. For instance, the Danish chef Camilla Plum has made a range of salads with leaves and berries growing wild in her garden.” He reflects for a moment. “I bet they’ll start growing edame beens here in Denmark – and if they don’t, then people will stop eating them.”
Jesper is always in touch with the trends in cooking. He works as a restaurant reviewer on a large newspaper, and he receives a copy of every published cookbook. “I’ve gotta admit it”, he says. “I have a fetish for cookbooks.” He can spend hours going through them, and he rarely cooks for a dinner party without consulting one. Obviously, there are things he knows by heart, but he likes to challenge himself and try new things. He also finds inspiration in the two monthly visits to restaurants which he has to review. For instance, if he notices how several restaurants start using wild onions, then he starts to introduce that ingredient in his own cooking.
Butter
Jesper uses butter for frying fish, meat balls or breaded things. Otherwise, he fries with oil. He likes to add a big lump of butter when he roasts meat in the oven. For instance a leg of lamb – it gets a wonderful caramel-like flavor when the butter reaches a high temperature. Jesper also uses butter for gravy and for baking cakes. His bread is baked with oil.
“I always buy organic butter – preferably Løgismose, sometimes Osted. They have the best taste”, he explains. He thinks that regular butter tastes just like spreadable butter: flavorless and vapid. The organic butter, on the other hand, has a strong flavor. It seems more ‘crunchy’ and more yellow. “You can just tell that it’s been churned differently – it’s got that gritty texture which is real butter for me”, he says.
Sometimes for special occasions, Jesper buys French butter. They add more salt which gives it a slightly different taste. For his oldest daughter he buys spreadable butter. “She thinks that spreadable butter is the real butter. She won’t touch a non-spreadable butter. When I offer her some, she tells me to go get the butter – as if spreadable butter is more butter than the non-spreadable one.” Jesper shakes his head. Obviously, spreadable butter is not a favorite of his. “What can you do? They’re kids. I’ve caught my youngest saying the same thing now.” He groans.
A dog persistently sniffs at Jesper’s leg as we’re talking. He has shooed it three times already. “It’s the lumpfish roe”, he smiles. “I better head home while it’s still intact.” He waves goodbye and sets the course towards Northern Copenhagen and tonight’s dinner party.
“The big deal among big Danish chefs right now is to reinvent traditional Danish meals in a funky version.”, he explains. “You have to buy locally produced ingredients from the season and go completely natural. If you can pick the stuff in your own backyard it’s the best. For instance, the Danish chef Camilla Plum has made a range of salads with leaves and berries growing wild in her garden.” He reflects for a moment. “I bet they’ll start growing edame beens here in Denmark – and if they don’t, then people will stop eating them.”
Jesper is always in touch with the trends in cooking. He works as a restaurant reviewer on a large newspaper, and he receives a copy of every published cookbook. “I’ve gotta admit it”, he says. “I have a fetish for cookbooks.” He can spend hours going through them, and he rarely cooks for a dinner party without consulting one. Obviously, there are things he knows by heart, but he likes to challenge himself and try new things. He also finds inspiration in the two monthly visits to restaurants which he has to review. For instance, if he notices how several restaurants start using wild onions, then he starts to introduce that ingredient in his own cooking.
Butter
Jesper uses butter for frying fish, meat balls or breaded things. Otherwise, he fries with oil. He likes to add a big lump of butter when he roasts meat in the oven. For instance a leg of lamb – it gets a wonderful caramel-like flavor when the butter reaches a high temperature. Jesper also uses butter for gravy and for baking cakes. His bread is baked with oil.
“I always buy organic butter – preferably Løgismose, sometimes Osted. They have the best taste”, he explains. He thinks that regular butter tastes just like spreadable butter: flavorless and vapid. The organic butter, on the other hand, has a strong flavor. It seems more ‘crunchy’ and more yellow. “You can just tell that it’s been churned differently – it’s got that gritty texture which is real butter for me”, he says.
Sometimes for special occasions, Jesper buys French butter. They add more salt which gives it a slightly different taste. For his oldest daughter he buys spreadable butter. “She thinks that spreadable butter is the real butter. She won’t touch a non-spreadable butter. When I offer her some, she tells me to go get the butter – as if spreadable butter is more butter than the non-spreadable one.” Jesper shakes his head. Obviously, spreadable butter is not a favorite of his. “What can you do? They’re kids. I’ve caught my youngest saying the same thing now.” He groans.
A dog persistently sniffs at Jesper’s leg as we’re talking. He has shooed it three times already. “It’s the lumpfish roe”, he smiles. “I better head home while it’s still intact.” He waves goodbye and sets the course towards Northern Copenhagen and tonight’s dinner party.
