First, we set the scene

A little black-and-white island ferry, the glassy waters of a fjord, and the renowned sunshine that so often bathes North Jutland while the rest of Denmark lives under cloud.
The scene and the picturesque surroundings with the lush, rush-clad coast unfolds about 20 minutes east of Aalborg on a warm, late summer’s day. It’s far enough from the city that the wide expanses of the Kattegat sea can be seen in the distance, but close enough to coax the cooks on board: Morten Nielsen (Mortens Kro), Thomas Starcke (Madkonsortiet), Carlo Liberati (Ristorante Il Mulino) Peter Møllergaard Hansen (Søgaards Bryghus), Mikele Volpi (Restaurant San Giovanni) and Mikael Christensen (Rosdahls).
We could have been fewer, we could have been more, and we could have been different. But that wasn’t the point. The guests of honour were the wonderful natural ingredients from North Jutland that are in season at this time of year, and which impress us with the bounty that finds its way into the finest kitchens of Aalborg.

Pan salt and freshly-brewed beer

The mineral-rich pan salt from the island of Læsø has enjoyed a growing and well-deserved popularity in recent years. Blended with freshly-churned butter from the Ingstrup and Aabybro dairies, you can enjoy only if you’re not too far away from North Jutland.
The ferry lies still in the water, and with the seagulls circling high and hungrily overhead, the galley is sizzling with activity down on the fjord. Our glasses are filled with freshly-brewed beer from Søgaards Bryghus - Naver Bryg and Madame Witlige. The bright sun is high and the weather forecast seems to promise an endless summer.
The fresh ingredients await us on a granite table: blue mussels, salmon roe, cabbage, fresh bread, late summer honey from Vildmosegården, deep-red tomatoes and fresh basil which, as an exception, was imported from Italy although at this time of year, it might just as well have been grown locally.
A few of the herbs and spices have to come from abroad, however, or the French- and Italian-inspired kitchen can never live up to its name. But what does that matter, when the combination of the local and global leads to something sublime?

Italian – but with a recipe from sæby

The pointed cabbage is shredded and sautéed lightly in old-fashion churned butter, with a squeeze of lemon and some tangy, grated horseradish. Then comes the crowning glory: fresh North Sea cod from Hirtshals, bathed in mussel bouillon. As Danish and delightful as it can be. It’s all fresh, and comes from local producers and fishermen, and not manhandled during a long shipment from abroad.
“Of course you need to import some ingredients from abroad if the kitchen is Italian. But I prefer local produce as much as possible for my restaurant,” says Carlo Liberati of Restaurant Il Mulino. “The salmon and the halibut come from the North Sea because you cannot get it fresher, and the cod is always from North Jutland. My veal is also Danish - always - and together with butcher Kjærgaard in Sæby, I’ve developed a recipe for salsiccia sausage with Danish ingredients. It’s fantastic, and you can’t get it any better in Italy.”
His colleague, Mikele Volpi of San Giovanni, another great Italian restaurant in Aalborg, agrees. “My fish comes from Hanstholm and the potatoes come from Vildmosegaard. But some ingredients I simply have to import. Oils and balsamic vinegars, for instance, and in the autumn, the large porcini mushrooms which are essential for the Italian harvest kitchen.”

Mushrooms and wild boar from area forests

Mikele’s point is taken. But it was only the year before that the North Jutland summer was so optimal that chanterelles and Karl Johan mushrooms arrived by the kilo from the surrounding woodlands, plucked carefully by local collectors.

Whether this year’s mushrooms will be as fine remains to be seen. But another North Jutland speciality, fully up to the competition in Italy, is put into home-made fettuccine for a wonderful dish that tastes like happy Umbria and proud Tuscany. It’s air-cured ham from the wild boars that roam the Lille Vildmose moors, and two-year-old goat cheese from Lindegaard dairy in Nibe, which beats Italian parmesan by a mile.
Sometimes, though, we have to rein in our enthusiasm. The fresh bounty of North Jutland is still not up to a Parisian food market, and neither Morten Nielsen nor Mikael Christensen could run their kitchens without cheese and other tempting specialities from abroad.
But the local is the preferred ingredient when quality is prime, and more and more producers in North Jutland have been able to deliver the goods.

Tasty shopping

This happy development among the small producers, such as dairies and family farm industries north and south of the Limfjord, has followed in the wake of the culinary renaissance that in recent years has made Aalborg and the region into one of Denmark’s biggest culinary destinations outside Copenhagen. Of course, this kind of thing doesn’t happen overnight.
More and more Danes, Norwegians, Swedes, Germans and other foreign visitors are opening their palates to the local cuisine, and they combine business, holiday and shopping with wonderful dining experiences. Many return over and over again, and this bodes well for the growing trend in gastrotourism.
We could go on about today’s seafaring adventure in good eating aboard the good ship Egense, but there’s much more to tell on these pages. Tales of the black Danish lobster from Hirsholmene and outstanding Venø oysters, relished abroad, will have to wait until another time. Instead, we can only urge you to try the great North Jutland taste from land and sea for yourself.