The Nordic cuisine really caught my attention, first we had absolutely no chance to get into Noma, not a big surprise I guess and secondly I have never in my life seen or eaten food combined and assembled in such a way. I even made notes about the food on my plate because to be honest would I ever be able to remember?
Here is one breakfast to remember we had on our first day in Copenhagen at the Atelier September. Besides lovely and familiar dishes like the ever best seller avocado toast and the grapefruit bowl with mint leaves, there was the Granola with skir (a Nordic yogurt we were first introduced to in Iceland), honey marinated zucchini - why not have zucchini for breakfast ??? - with rhubarb compote and matcha … As I produce granola for a living, this really sparked my interest and Sophie looked at me with surprise and asked really?? Yes, please, order this for me I need to know how this tastes!
I must say I find the combination a bit daunting but a great alternative to the usual so I ventured out to my garden and saw that the rhubarb I involuntarily share with the snakes was growing like wild and was ready for harvest. How pretty these stems look in shades of rose and green! Absolutely amazing. First step to this post was a photo shoot about the beauty of home grown rhubarb!
The "crimson stalks"
I cut off the leaves and collected the stems, washed them under running water and brought them to the kitchen. Rhubarb cannot be eaten raw it is absolutely not recommended! Please peel the rhubarb stems thoroughly and boil them. The compote is great in combination with strawberries, raspberries as well as with apples. I kept the recipe very easy.
The color may vary due to the kind of rhubarb you use.
Preparation time: 20 min
Cooking time 10 minutes or until tender
You need
to every 500 g of peeled rhubarb
½ cup sugar
½ cup agave syrup
1 clove
small cinnamon stick
water
The secret to rhubarb is the great sour taste, therefore you need no lemon. Once you have prepared the rhubarb, peeled and cut, you add the sugar and the syrup and let it rest for about 10 minutes. Then you transfer it to the stove add the cinnamon and the cloves, the water – just to cover the fruit- and bring it to boil at medium to high heat. It is done when the rhubarb is tender and there are still some bigger pieces left. Remove from the heat, take out the cinnamon stick and the cloves, and fill the compote, still hot, in some sterilized glasses close the lid and let cool completely. This compote is great on vanilla ice cream and whipped cream.
The zucchini is washed and cut in thin slices and marinated with acacia honey for 15 minutes. Then the zucchini release some liquid, drain and add more honey!
For my breakfast today I used Greek yogurt rhubarb compote, Marions Granola -Naschmarkt, then I added chia seeds and some matcha powder. Assemble it on a dark plate and enjoy with some green tea or white tea, I think the slight bitter taste is perfect for this bowl of bliss.
