songora primeexampleofBach
counterpoint;it’sa strangerandmore
difficult-to-achieveaccordbetweennotes
thathavebeenmeltedandbentuntil
they’reseveralshadesofblue.
Thefoodat Nomawasdelicious,but
notinthewaysthatmostofushavebeen
conditionedtounderstanddeliciousness.
Youcravea pizza,a cheeseburger,a
moundofmashedpotatoeswithbutter,
andtherehavebeenchefsanddelivery
systemsthathaveexcelledat perfecting
thesepleasures.ButRedzepiwasa chef
whocouldgetyoutocravea tartfilled
withsliveredcoinsofrazorclamorthin
rawstripsofbeeftartarespeckledwith
Danishwoodants.Youdidn’tjustadmire
thesethoughtexperimentsfromafar.
Youdesiredthem.Youwantedtoeat
themagain.Likeearwormsontheradio,
theyhadmelodiesyoucouldn’tshake.
FormethetuneI couldn’tresist–
my“HeyYa!”,my“CrazyInLove”,my
“Shattered”– wastheonelistedonthe
menuas“seaurchinandhazelnuts”.The
dishitselfwasalmostassimpleasitstitle.
Freshtangerine-hued,tongue-likelobesof
seaurchinroelaycurledupina bowlof
palemilkyliquidwithbeigesliversontop.Thesliverswereslicesofrawhazelnut;the
liquidhadbeenextractedfrompressed
hazelnuts;a fewcrystalsofseasaltrested
hereandtherelikeflavour-enhancing
PopRocks.That(atleasttothenaked
eye)wasthesumofit.Seaurchinwitha
counterpointof...nuts?Andthenwith
eachbitefroma smallwoodenspoonmy
eyelidsloweredinquieteuphoria.This
dishhadthedeep,primaldeliciousnessof
culturedbutterspreadontopofSaltines,
butthebutterinthiscasewasoceanicand
thecrackerswereearthy.I tastedjustwhat
it wasandyetI tastedthemicrotones–
theflavoursin-betweenthevisibleand
obvious,asif tinybridgesoftastehad
beenbuiltbetweenthem.
Ina way,thesecretofthedishcame
downnottocookingbuttoshopping.The
sourceofRedzepi’sseaurchinwasa wild,
unpredictablecharacternamedRoderick
Sloan,a Scotsmanwholivedabovethe
ArcticCircleinNorwayandwentdiving–
aloneandinallseasons– forseafoodof
nearlyimpossiblepurity.Hauledupfrom
theseainthemorning,Sloan’surchins
weredeliveredimmediatelytoNoma(by
boat,byplane)sothattheyarrived,still
alive,readyforconsumptionthatsameday.This is an edited extract from
Hungry: Eating, Road-Tripping
and Risking it All With the
Greatest Chef in the World
by Je Gordinier (Allen
and Unwin, $35, hbk).The orangey meat of the urchin that I had
slurped down with abandon? Instead of
being served from an imported tray (where
it would’ve sat for a time), it had been
scooped out by one of the cooks at Noma
seconds before it was placed in front of
me. No, it was not a bowl of cacio e pepe
or a cheeseburger, but it was probably the
most delicious thing I had ever eaten. Clockwise from right:
Noma’s dish of sea
urchin and hazelnuts;
Noma ceramics;
fisherman Roderick
Sloan; René Redzepi
at the closure of the
original Noma in 2017.62 GOURMET TRAVELLER
PHOTOGRAPHY JASON LOUCAS CERAMICS, JEFF GORDINIER RENÉ REDZEPI, KAROLINE O A PETTERSEN RODERICK SLOAN & @DRTOMOSTYLE SEA URCHIN.