Food has been a passion of mine ever since the ripe age of 10. Cooking became a staple in my young life when my step father, Sammy, took the time and found moments in his busy schedule when he could teach me what he knew about how to purchase food, how to care for the food that was purchased, and eventually, how the food that was bought was prepared. These are lessons that I will forever hold so very close to my heart. At the time, I didn’t realize how important it all was. All I knew was that I had to pay attention and listen. Soon, it all became music to my ears and I could not wait to hear more of the melodies coming from my Step Fathers instructions. The art of food and preparing food is so important to me, which is why I want to start this blog series to focus on the importance of Culinary Arts in my life and also to shine light on Chefs that I find, hold these same memories of their younger selfs finding their passion through young encounters in the kitchen or maybe perhaps outside the kitchen.
Magnus Nilsson is the first Chef I want to highlight, as he is in fact one of my very favorite Chefs. Deep rooted in his Nordic food traditions, Chef Magnus went above and beyond while working on his new Cook Book “The Nordic Cookbook”. He went far and wide and high and low even to the more remote Fjords in Norway to find the cooking traditions and recipes of the real Nordic people who stand by their Nordic traditional cooking techniques. I have not been able to get my hands on what I can anticipate will be one of the best Cook Books ever, but until then, I have a few recipes from the book that I will be trying to give a go at in the near future! But first:
Get To Know Chef Nilsson:
Born: November 28, 1983.
Most Fond Food Memory: Chopping cucumbers at his Grandmothers Farm.
First Culinary Job: He moved to Paris and began to work at the Michelin starred restaurant L’Arpège under Alain Passard. He worked there for a couple of weeks before being fired as he was finding it hard to understand the other chefs as his French wasn’t as good as he initially thought it was. He joined the team at Pascal Barbot‘s L’Astrance and worked there for the next three years.
Signature Style: New Nordic Cuisine.
Cook Books:
Nilsson, Magnus (2012). Fäviken. London: Phaidon Press.
Nilsson, Magnus (2015). The Nordic Cookbook. London: Phaidon Press.
Restaurant: Head Chef at Fäviken in Sweden.
