On December 10th 40 chefs inside Stockholm’s City Hall got ready to create a banquet for over 1000 VIP guests, royalty, celebrities and Nobel Laureates.

That’s because this weekend saw the annual Nobel banquet take place, with chef Sayan Isaksson from the Esperanto restaurant in charge of cooking up the feast.

The food at the banquet is famously fancy and, as Fredrik Eriksson - a gastronomy consultant to the Nobel Foundation for over 10 years - said: “The banquet is held in extremely high regard internationally and the quality of the food served must be absolutely world-class.”

There are 1,300 guests in total and they must be served simultaneously, no easy task. The menu is kept a tight secret before the banquet but we can bring you the videos below that show you some of the dishes developed by Isaksson for the event.

Starter - Charcoal baked langoustine and scallop, served with nettles, ramson and pickled winter apples.

Main Course - Quail in black garlic & leek ash with Jerusalem artichoke, wild mushrooms, jus of roasted chicken skin.

Dessert - Cloud of sudachi fruit, cloudberry sorbet, miso crumbs and deep-fried rice paper.

We love Wine Folly’s maps of the world’s wine regions^[1]. Here’s a great guide to the French wine regions to complement the guides to Italy^[2] and Spain^[3] we’ve previously featured.

You’ll know many of the famous French wine regions. France produces more wine by volume than any other country on earth, with over two million hectares of vineyards producing close to 3000 different wines. But did you know a team from China recently beat the French at a prestigious wine tasting event^[4]? China^[5] is now second to Spain in terms of the amount of land given over to wine production. France is third.

The map is beautifully coloured, from the crisp rosé of Provence, through Burgundy to the dry and herbaceous whites of the Loire, and across to Alsace close to the German border, where pinot gris and riesling reign.

If you’re looking for a great Xmas gift for a wine loving friend or relative then be aware you can buy all of Wine Folly’s maps in physical form – they even have maps for specific wine regions within countries, for example Bordeaux or Piedmont in Italy.

We’ll leave you with this fact, courtesy of Wine Folly: if you drank a new wine each night, it would take you eight years to drink your way through France^[6].

Follow Fine Dining Lovers on Facebook^[7]

References

1. ^{^} Wine Folly’s maps of the world’s wine regions (winefolly.com)
2. ^{^} Italy (www.finedininglovers.com)
3. ^{^} Spain (www.finedininglovers.com)
4. ^{^} a team from China recently beat the French at a prestigious wine tasting event (www.finedininglovers.com)
5. ^{^} China (www.finedininglovers.com)
6. ^{^} France (www.finedininglovers.com)
7. ^{^} Follow Fine Dining Lovers on Facebook (www.facebook.com)

The humble potato^[1]. The workhorse of the vegetable world; whether fried, mashed, boiled, baked ... It's one of nature's most delicious and versatile culinary gifts, which is what makes this timeless video (below) of potatoes, 14 ways so appealing.

Showcasing the potato in all its glory, Food, People, Places have managed to effortlessly capture what it is about the spud that has the capacity to excite as well, as being the defining detail of a successful dish. From haute cuisine to comfort food, the potato in some of our favourite forms is celebrated.

In just a few minutes potatoes are cooked in 14 different ways, from the usual favourites including potato salad, and potato chips with the skin on and fries with the skin off, to citrusy skordalia and irresistible aligot, through to more exotic knedle (potato dough dumplings filled with plums), pommes souffles, and of course there's always space for golden rosti ^[2]cooked to perfection.

So sit back and relax as you disappear into the hot, steamy, buttery, deep fried, creamy and unctuous world of the spud in all its glory, where the potato steps up as the undisputed star.

Now where's the ketchup...

Enjoy.

Follow Fine Dining Lovers on Facebook^[3]

References

1. ^{^} potato (www.finedininglovers.com)
2. ^{^} rosti (www.finedininglovers.com)
3. ^{^} Follow Fine Dining Lovers on Facebook (www.facebook.com)

Tell someone you are cooking parsnips and watch the confused expression on their face. They may ask: how do you cook parsnips?

That's when you tell them this cream-coloured root vegetable is versatile, delicious and a hidden gem of fall cuisine.

Available from September to December, parsnips are a great addition to soups, soufflés, veggie burgers and more.

HOW DO YOU COOK PARSNIPS?

Treat parsnips the same way you would carrots. The only difference here would be that parsnips should always be peeled.

Parsnips may be enjoyed raw – perhaps julienned and tossed into a salad – but also roasted, boiled and mashed.

PARSNIP RECIPES

Soups are one of the most popular uses for parsnips. Perhaps its due to their velvety texture and subtle flavour, which can be enhanced with various spices and aromatics.

If you want to try a parsnip soup we recommend this one: 

Parsnips are also great substitutes for potatoes. Enjoy them boiled and mashed into a creamy puree or cut into thick slices and fried until golden. 

Do you know what else you can cook with parsnips? Veggie burgers!

This delectable tofu burger^[1] is topped with julienned parsnips, carrots and other veggies then drizzled with a peanut sauce.

Parsnips are also a great addition to gluten–free fritters. Try this recipe^[2] featuring oats, lentils and sesame seeds.

Follow Fine Dining Lovers on Facebook^[3]

SaveSave

References

1. ^{^} delectable tofu burger (www.finedininglovers.com)
2. ^{^} Try this recipe (www.finedininglovers.com)
3. ^{^} Follow Fine Dining Lovers on Facebook (www.facebook.com)

The rush to create an app that can identify plants from a simple picture has been on for a while now. We’ve highlighted a number of different plant identification apps in the past but many of them seem plagued by dodgy connection problems and bugs. 

With this in mind we decided to look more closely at the apps on the market and try to understand which one performs the task of identifying plants the best. 

The app combines a database of plants alongside paid horticultural experts to ensure people get the most accurate identification. Those who want advice on certain plants also have the option to speak with experts directly through the app. 

The first few attempts are free but after this users will have to take a membership to have access to an unlimited number of plant identification requests. This app does charge where others don’t but this enables them to have horticultural experts on their staff - invaluable when it comes to identifying tricky strains. 

It has one of the highest overall customer ratings for plant identification apps with many reporting on how well the app does its job. 

You want to know what that beautiful flower is on your way to work? Plant Snapp it. 

References

1. ^{^} Plant Snapp (itunes.apple.com)