Where Copenhagen leads, the food world still follows

I didn’t realise I was a fussy eater until I left Denmark. Danes specialise in high-quality, organic produce eaten as close to its natural state as possible, and seasonal eating there is practised to a fine art: micro seasons mean cabbage, kale, apples, potatoes, berries and rye each appear briefly and brilliantly.

The seasonal Nordic diet has been shown to be as healthy as the Mediterranean diet and better for the planet, which helps explain Copenhageners’ smugness. The city’s cuisine was not always celebrated. People who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s recall canned food, frozen vegetables, pork and potatoes or smørrebrød, with pølservogne—hot dog wagons—never far away.

A turning point came after Copenhagen was European capital of culture in 1996, and then Noma opened in 2003: René Redzepi and Claus Meyer turned a warehouse into a restaurant that championed homegrown Danish produce and a new focus on locality.

Denmark, Copenhagen

copenhagen, danish cuisine, nordic diet, noma, rené redzepi, claus meyer, seasonal eating, organic produce, smørrebrød, pølservogne