The biggest food festival in Scandinavia is held annually at the end of July. In four days over 250,000 people visit Gladmat. ‘Glad mat’ means ‘happy food’. The focus is on local and sustainable food, just the way I like it! This year’s theme was ‘Smaken pa noe nytt’ = Taste of something new.
I arrived just in time for the opening of the Gladmat festival at the market in Stavanger city centre. The market is just up from the Vågen harbour.
The festival was opened by Bent Høie, minister of health in Norway and resident of Stavanger. Then there was Berit Nordstrand. She is a doctor who became famous for telling people about what the body really needs out of food, what’s essential and best for us. She was followed by Kjartan Skjelde, the owner of Fish & Cow restaurant and Tango Bar, who gave a culinary performance. And finally Dario Cecchini from Panzano in Italy, probably the most famous butcher in the world. He’s a strong believer in cooking ‘from-nose-to-tail’.
There was an interesting program, full of workshops and demonstrations. Like the Nordic seafood for kids.
A workshop filled with exciting Norwegian raw materials with a focus on sustainable, local fisheries.
