Mads Ekrheim

Smalhans, Oslo, Norway

You use a lot of bycatch at your restaurant. How does that affect your work?

– We have done it for three years. It means that we get a lot of different species and there’s always an element of surprise – it’s not entirely easy to know what to do with it all. But at the same time, it’s a great way to show our guests the diversity of our seas, and a good school for our chefs, with some room for trial-and-error.

Speaking of keeping food waste to a minimum, how do you work with other ingredients?

– We have a nose-to-tail philosophy where we bring in whole animals, like local reindeer and game from independent hunters. Every Monday we have a meeting where we talk about what we have received and what to do with it. The same applies to vegetables, it’s “root-to-leaf”. The important thing is to teach our new chefs not to throw anything away. When they begin, they always get a briefing, and over time, they’re able to perfect their methods, including preservation techniques like pickling and fermenting.