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FOOD AND DRINK

Danish hopes dashed at ‘cooking World Cup’

Danish chef Kenneth Hansen, who started Wednesday as one of the favourites to win gold at this year's Bocuse d'Or, the ‘World Cup for chefs’, has ended the competition in disappointment, failing to scoop a single medal.

Geranium restaurant's Rasmus Kofoed, who won the gold in 2011, had spoken highly of Hansen’s chances, while the bookmakers Betsson had put the odds of him winning gold at 5/2, second only to Sweden’s Tommy Myllymaki with odds of 1/2.
 
“I am very, very disappointed,” Hansen, who works as head chef at the Svinkløv Resort in North Jutland, told Denmark's Ekstrabladet tabloid after ending up in sixth place. “We made some small mistakes during the day, and with level where it’s been, that gets punished ruthlessly.” 
 
The Nordic countries nonetheless performed strongly, with Norway’s Ørjan Johannessen scooping gold with a meat dish of Guinea Fowl and a fish dish of brown trout and Kamchatka crab, and Myllymaki winning bronze. The silver went to Philip Tessier, sous-chef at The French Laundry, the Californian restaurant named "Best Restaurant in the World" in 2003 and 2004. 
 
The Bocuse D’Or, which takes place in the French city of Lyon, was started by the French chef Paul Bocuse, one of the founders of nouvelle cuisine. 
 
Norwegian chefs have performed strongly in the competition, taking gold five times, a performance beaten only by the French. However, despite the global reputation of Copenhagen restaurants such as Noma, a Danish chef has only won the competition once. 
 

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FOOD AND DRINK

Danish chef wants to launch gourmet dining to stratosphere

Danish chef Rasmus Munk wants to take high-end cuisine to the edge of space, with plans to serve up a stratospheric dining experience in 2025, his restaurant said Thursday.

Danish chef wants to launch gourmet dining to stratosphere

“The expedition will take place aboard Space Perspective Spaceship Neptune, the world’s first carbon-neutral spaceship,” Alchemist, the Copenhagen restaurant that has earned Munk two Michelin stars, said in a statement.

“They will dine as they watch the sunrise over the Earth’s curvature” at an altitude of 100,000 feet (30,000 metres) above sea level, it said.

For $495,000 per ticket, six tourists will embark on a six-hour journey in a pressurised space capsule that will rise into the stratosphere in a hydrogen-filled “SpaceBalloon”.

The 32-year-old chef and self-confessed space enthusiast will be joining the trip.

READ ALSO: World-famous Copenhagen restaurant to close after 2024

Munk promises “dishes inspired by the role of space exploration during the last 60 years of human history, and the impact it has had on our society — both scientifically and philosophically”.

His menu will be restricted only by his inability to cook food over an open flame.

Many of the ingredients will be prepared on the ship from which the capsule is launched, according to Alchemist, which is ranked fifth among the world’s restaurants in 2023 according to the World’s Best 50 Restaurants guide.

In recent decades, Denmark has emerged as a gastronomical powerhouse on terra firma, with the Copenhagen restaurants Noma and Geranium both having held the title of the world’s best restaurant.

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