NOMA SMOKED MUSHROOM GARUM
8.45 OUNCES, $24
NOMA, the three-Michelin-star Copenhagen restaurant often referred to as the best, most inf luential in the world, is now selling a liquid seasoning that is the result of thousands of experiments from over a decade in the Noma fermentation lab.
This lab is where chef René Redzepi’s team develops a massive collection of fermentations that may or may not make it onto the highly seasonal menus at the restaurant.
“If we’re lucky, something will end up on a dish for a menu or two, and a few thousand people will get to try it,” Annika de Las Heras, chief operating officer of Noma Projects, said on a recent call. “We thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be wonderful someday if we could find a way to share these things with more people?’ Noma is turning 20 next year, and over COVID, it gave us time to think about things, and it just felt like the right time to share something of ourselves with a wider audience.”
Last summer, the fermentation lab team, test kitchen team and Redzepi presented about 100 products to De Las Heras and other Noma veteran team members to try as potential first releases for Noma Projects, the leg of the Noma operation that will now sell retail products. The garum was the favorite.
“Our garum is an adaptation on an ancient recipe,” De Las Heras said. “Traditionally, [garums] are made with fish sauce, and you would use the intestine of the fish, and the enzymes naturally present would break down the proteins and f lesh over time, and you’d end up with a super potent fish sauce. We started experimenting using koji instead of fish guts, and that enabled us to experiment with a much wider variety of high-protein but plantbased products.”
De Las Heras said the team ended up with thousands of garums, but some were “horrible and never worked out.” On that list of failed experiments is reindeer garum (“it was just too strong in f lavor”) and potato garum (“too starchy”).
The smoked mushroom garum starts with mushroom, koji, water and a small percentage of salt. It’s fermented for five to six weeks, then strained, cold-smoked with birch, pasteurized and bottled. The entire process takes eight to 10 weeks. Last season, it was used as a glaze on grilled maitake mushrooms.
This season, the restaurant is making a seaweed broth infused with the garum and reducing it to glaze and season squid.
Home cook and cookbook author Nadine Levy Redzepi (who happens to be René’s wife) worked with Noma chef Kevin Jeung to develop a series of recipes that use the garum for the Noma Projects website, including a 30-minute halloumi steak and vegan ramen.
Only 8,000 bottles of the seasoning were made for the first batch, and they sold out quickly. But De Las Heras said a new batch should be available for sale online in May.
“Our goal is to help people cook with more f lavor,” she said. “Seeing people using it and tagging us on Instagram, it just feels really heartwarming to share a part of Noma for people who have never had the chance to come and to see our products out in the world.”
The liquid seasoning is just the beginning. De Las Heras said to expect another product launch by the end of the year.