René Redzepi (pictured) isn’t afraid to walk on the wild side; in fact, he rather looks forward to it. Master chef, career forager and patriarch of the world’s number one restaurant, Noma – as voted by S.Pellegrino –René is apparently quite a friendly guy too.

The last observation is courtesy of Eric Bulpitt, head chef of Jardine in Cape Town, who has recently returned from a stage in the hallowed Danish kitchen.

A stage is a period of time in which a chef works in another’s kitchen to learn about different techniques and cuisines.

‘René Redzepi commands a lot of respect. You can feel it in the air, a feeling of reverence when he walks into a room. He’s also very friendly, well-informed and extremely passionate,’ says Eric.

We’re sitting upstairs at Jardine, over very strong coffee (the way chefs seem to like it), and Eric is regaling me with tales of his Nordic adventure.

The noise from busy Bree Street fades away as Eric talks about his time in Rene’s fantastical kitchen.

‘There is another side to him during service,’ Eric continues. ‘He’s a complete machine; hard, focused, temperamental – just as you’d expect a chef to be.’

‘I learnt a million and one things – especially about desserts. At Noma desserts aren’t sweet at all; instead they’re quite light and make use of herbs, chamomile jelly or toasted hay parfait, for example.’

‘The food is light and clean; everything’s fresh, ingredients aren’t subjected to long processes – they don’t mess with the food.’

‘Most of the shellfish is served raw. For example, the razor clam is simply rolled in a parsley gel and served with horseradish snow and mussel broth.’

Eric never got the chance to experience Noma from a patron’s point of view; the restaurant was fully booked right through his stage.

‘I tried every dish, though,’ he laughs. His duties included picking the herbs, washing the floors, taking stock, sorting the produce and more.

‘There are no scullys (scullery workers) – the chefs do everything, you keep your own station clean, wash your own dishes. And tons and tons of produce arrives every day that needs sorting.’

Produce and herbs are pivotal to every dish. René actively scours sand dune, forest floor, gully, valley and mountaintop for delicious and unusual Nordic herbs and plants.

When he returns from one of his foraging trips, the next stop is his houseboat. Moored in a canal next to his restaurant, the houseboat acts as his test kitchen. It’s here that Rene and three other chefs mix, match, reduce, stew, pickle and smoke all these ingredients before they make a debut in the restaurant’s kitchen.

‘There were so many different kinds of herbs,’ says Eric, eyes bright. ‘More than I can even remember. The beach herbs were amazing. There was beach coriander, savoury grass, beach sorrel growing right on the dunes.’

Eric is clearly passionate about produce. ‘Coming back is so exciting,’ he says. ‘I’m full of energy, itching to try new things, new techniques. That’s why foraging is so great – I found a herb called chickweed in the forests around Cape Town. It has a beautiful, earthy flavour. I’m using it in some of the fish dishes at Jardine.’

Eric maintains that despite the influence of working at Noma, there won’t be a major change to Jardine’s menu overnight, but instead a gradual evolution of dishes.

‘I’m looking for things from nature, investigating SA’s flora and fauna.’

When asked whether Noma actively pursues awards, Eric says: ‘René doesn’t go for the accolades, but he does want to be the best he can be, and he’s constantly aware of being judged. He doesn’t have a chip on his shoulder about it, though.’

‘I do think they deserve the awards. I’ve never seen a restaurant’s staff interact with guests the way they do at Noma. The chefs bring out some of the dishes to the guests and explain the components.

‘There’s this one dish where a diner can cook their own egg. A plate is brought out topped with hay, and the plate is so hot that the hay smokes, and the chef shows the guest how to cook the egg in hay oil.’

Eric did have time for simpler delights around Copenhagen. ‘I went to a lot of little places with Danish smorgasbords, and gorged myself on pickled herrings, rye bread and the ubiquitous litre of beer.’

‘My favourite part of my trip was when I had just arrived and did the two hour walk to Noma. All I had was a tourist map to show me the way, but I eventually found it.  I was outside taking pictures of the restaurant when René came out and said, “It looks like you belong in my kitchen”.’

It seems that René Redzepi has an eye for good South African produce too.

By Malu Lambert

View the gallery