Head to your local IKEA restaurant for a hot date and the Swedish meatballs are about as Nordic as you get.
Take it as a representation of Nordic cuisine and you might be very confused. Offerings from their ‘Swedish Food Market’ include the humble hotdog, soft serve ice-cream with a flake, Asian chicken soup and spicy chicken wings.
The call of the Norse: Grains are in, IKEA hot dogs are not.
Scandinavian style is been in Vogue. The look is all uncomplicated palettes, simple separates and smart tailoring.
Scandinavian furniture, in its similarly understated fashion, is also in Vogue.
Now, adding to the Scando swell, the Nordic diet is now in Vogue.
Literally.
“Beyond Paleo: Is Eating Like a Viking the Next It Diet?” trumpets the latest edition of the fashion bible.
“The Mediterranean diet is out, and the Nordic diet is in,” chimed in The Atlantic.
The Mediterranean diet was named among the world’s best recently and the Nordic diet was nowhere to be seen. So what’s so good about it and is it really better than the Mediterranean?
The New Nordic diet, which was created by a few great Danes in 2004 making it not so new, is based on a few simple principles.
Eat more fruit and vegetables (particularly root vegetables including potatoes), more whole grains as well as food from the ocean (fish and also seaweeds, snails and other edible marine fare).
The diet advocates eating less meat but of a higher-quality meat, wild food and organic produce whenever possible. It is based on eating seasonal, home-cooked food, avoiding food additives and processed ingredients and creating less waste. It’s environmentally friendly and has a focus on sustainability.
“The Nordic diet is very similar to the Mediterranean on many fronts,” explains dietitian and spokeswoman with the Dietitians Association of Australia, Katie Thomsitt.
“The similarities include the promotion of local and seasonal produce, take pride and care in your food, eats lots of fruit and vegetables, not much red meat rather more fish and moderate amounts of dairy, with yoghurt being the most recommended dairy food.”
The diets diverge on the fat front with the Med filled with nuts, avocado, seeds, olives and olive oil. The Nordic diet is less sold on the unsaturated fatty acid front.
“You could argue that this is consistent with the Nordic diet’s principles of choosing local produce with these [healthy fat-filled] foods not typically growing in Northern Europe,” explains Thomsitt. “There also seems to be much more emphasis on grains in the Mediterranean diet.”
Noma in Denmark, which has been named the world’s best restaurant, is perhaps a better example than IKEA of quality Nordic fare.
Dishes include winter potato cooked in fermented barley, roasted bone marrow, Reindeer moss and cep mushrooms or cabbage and nasturtium flowers.
It’s all hunting and foraging, using local seasonal produce and minimising wastage. And that includes wine – which is never good to waste, as the Scando’s agree in their diet.
They reckon their approach is not just fashionable but better for our health too.
One study found the diet improves cholesterol and inflammation levels, while another found it produces weight loss and lowers blood pressure.
But, even though the New Nordic diet isn’t so new, it’s still early days on the research front.
Thomsitt says extensive research shows the benefits of the Mediterranean diet on heart health and cholesterol and even potentially weight loss.
“The Nordic diet lacks this level of evidence however that’s not to say it’s not coming so watch this space!”