The Nordic diet

Denmark's DeliaA" - The Times The world has suddenly discovered that the Nordic diet is comparable in terms of nutrition and healthiness to the well-known sun-ripened Mediterranean diet.

The University of Copenhagen, sponsored by the Danish Government, has been researching a balanced diet that will both keep us healthy and at a normal weight, and their findings suggest that the traditional diet, lifestyle and foods produced in northern climates are not only extremely healthy but also environmentally friendly.

The Nordic diet is all about eating locally sourced seasonal ingredients combined in a balanced diet of protein, carbohydrate and fat.

The traditional diet of Northern Europe - with its emphasis on good, home-made and often home-grown, seasonal food - consists of a wide variety of grains, berries, vegetables, fish, poultry and game (but very little meat). And the Scandinavian lifestyle is also a great way to keep the body in optimum health: northern Europeans tend to live an outdoor life, maintaining a connection with nature, walking and swimming, with cycling their preferred means of transportation in cities and the countryside.

Most importantly, they still eat meals together, around a table, where the senses are nurtured and fulfilled by delicious food and friendly conversation.

In this groundbreaking book, Trina Hahnemann, doyenne of Scandinavian cooking, provides a succinct guide to the Nordic Diet, its elements, ingredients and basic philosophy and how to use it to lose weight.

All these elements are then combined in 75 diverse and delicious recipes.

Throughout the book there are nuggets of information on the seasonality and nutritional content of the ingredients.

Photographed in Denmark by Lars Ranek, The Nordic Diet is an appealing and timely book.