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DENMARK

Right-wingers skewered over ‘obligatory pork’ plan

Some conservatives fear that canteens could be upending German culture by trying too hard to cater for Muslims and vegetarians.

Right-wingers skewered over 'obligatory pork' plan
While delicious, meatballs are not to everyone's taste. Photo: DPA

State parliamentarians in Germany's northernmost state of Schleswig-Holstein called on the state government to ensure that pork “should remain part of the food on offer in public canteens as well as schools and kindergartens”.

“More and more canteens, kindergartens and schools are taking pork out of their menus so as to cater for religious custom,” said Daniel Günther, CDU leader in the state parliament in Kiel.

“We insist on a healthy and balanced diet. In our culture, eating pork is a part of that,” Günther continued.

It's a move that may have been inspired by northern neighbour Denmark, where the city of Randers has required public institutions to serve pork.

But while the CDU insist that they didn't want to make pork obligatory, the mockery had already taken off online.

“No, it's not the first of April,” Green Party MP Konstantin von Notz wrote on Twitter.

“Vegetarians, vegans and Muslims are in a Holy Trinity: taking over power in Schleswig-Holstein canteens,” Social Democratic Party (SPD) deputy leader Ralf Stegner snarked.

“First Vegetarian Day, now obligatory pork,” Free Democratic Party leader Christian Lindner wrote. “Diversity tastes better than rules. Time for peace on our plates!”

Fortunately for canteen workers all over Schleswig-Holstein, the SPD-Green Party state government rejected the plan.

“I see no need for the state to act,” state agriculture minister Robert Habeck said.

“I don't share the idea of abrogating our constitutional rights in favour of the duty to eat chops or mince,” he added.

SEE ALSO: Leipzig mosque construction site targeted with dead pig

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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