Article:  Herbs and edible specialities on the terrace

When summer makes its entrance, we move the kitchen outside. And not without reason, because with fresh herbs and edible plants right at your fingertips, you will have access to nature's very best ingredients. That's also how they think at the world's best restaurant.  

Nature on the menu
Søren Westh, deputy manager of noma, which was recently voted the world's best restaurant by the British periodical Restaurant Magazine, talks about the noma philosophy:  

"Our use of wild herbs and edible plants is a good example of our basic way of thinking at noma,"  says Søren. "We draw inspiration for our dishes from nature and its variability, with the result that our dishes change their taste and appearance almost daily - just as flowers bloom and seeds sprout. " 

"A concrete example is our Herb Toast , which alters along with the changing seasons. In the early spring the dish is garnished with sweet violet, while later in the spring this might be replaced by primula or other seasonal herbs," Søren continues. "In this way, nature is always on the menu."

Give the family new taste experiences 
Growing your own edible plants in pots or beds gives you a great opportunity to delight your family with fantastic taste experiences. Freshly-harvested herbs and vegetables really appeal to the senses, and delicious herbs like basil, thyme and tarragon, together with small, sweet, red tomatoes or powerfully strong chilli can work wonders in a dish and give it that extra lift which will make the taste experience unique. 

If you would like to try out a new and exciting accompaniment for the meals on the patio, here is a recipe for thyme butter as they make it at noma: 

Thyme butter:
- 250 g butter
- 8 g fresh chopped thyme
- mixed black pepper

Stir the thyme well into the butter.
Place the mixture in the fridge. 
Arrange the thyme butter and sprinkle a little black pepper on top.  

Bon appetit!

Not for publication
Thyme butter is part of a whole noma recipe. The recipe in its full length as well as Herb Toast may be obtained from Floradania.