Nordic chefs, left to right. Jaakko Sorsa, Finland, Jim Lofdahl, Sweden, and Eric Raty, Finland.

Norsemen In The Kitchen

For a special dinner curated by three Nordic chefs based in Hong Kong I was asked to create a series of portraits, as well as photograph the dishes they created, for this special dining experience.

The trio of chefs, Jaakko Sorsa, Finland, Jim Lofdahl, Sweden, and Eric Raty have a collective experience of living and working in Hong Kong of nearly 4o years. This experience has molded each of them in there own unique ways where, in addition to bringing their own traditional techniques and flavor profiles, along with inspiration they have received by Asian cultures, techniques, and ingredients. Hong Kong, a city of sophisicated diners, has embraced each of these chefs as has international recognition been bestowed upon them by such organizations as the Michelin Guide, 50 Best, and numerous others.

The dinner was held at Ocean Table located in Hong Kong’s Ap Lei Chau district and the goal was for each chef to create a dish that reflected their Nordic heritage as well as their culinary evolution they have each experienced living in this part of the world.

The photo shoot would be split between two days with Day 1 set for the dishes and Day 2 the portraits. For both the dishes and the portraits I wanted to bring in some Nordic elements to help tell the story.

For the portraits the idea came to me during a long flight across the Pacific when I had nothing to do but watch movies and try to keep my mind off how accomfortable my center economy seat was. I began thinking of how I could implement some Nordic related props into the portraits. I then remember seeing stacks of reindeer hides for sale while on assignment in Finland and Sweden and thought these could make an interesting background. But rather than just hang it on the wall behind them what if I created a frame and made it look like it was a hide being dried. Upon landing I immediately contacted Jaakko to see if he could have one sent over from Finland. Considering the costs of such an endeavor he suggested I search on Taobao, China’s version of Amazon, to see if I could just have one sent down from China. Surprizingly we found one on Taobao and placed the order. For the frame I wanted it to look rustic so needed to source tree branches to make the frame. Once again we searched Taobao and found exactly what we needed. Amazing! We then ordered a roll of leather twine, a hole punch, and a long needle. Thus began the process of putting it all together.

On the day of the shoot my team and I would need to arrive at Ocean Table early to set up the studio. The first item that needed to be set up was the muslin background. The hassle with a cloth background is that every time we set it up it requires steaming to remove wrinkles. Impossible to to get them all out but without the steam it can look pretty bad. Once that task was accomplished it was time to suspend the stretched reindeer pelt. For this I used another set of background stands and then attached thin picture hanging wire wrapped around the pelt frame and then around the background support rod. We then carefully hoisted our creation. Nervous that the entire thing would come crashing down we performed a couple of stress tests. Success. At least for the moment.

My first victim of the day was Chef Jaakko Sorsa.

The first shot of any shoot is always the most time consuming and challenging. It is this shot that determines the direction for all subsequent images for that project. The location for out shoot was Ocean Table and our first subject was Chef Jaakko Sorsa, Exectutive Chef for Ocean Table. I’ve worked with Jaakko a lot over the years and he’s always been patient with all sorts of odd angles and positions I’ve put him through. Today wouldn’t require Jaakko to contort himself into any uncomfortable poses but he, and his chef cohorts, would have to hold their positions and not move an inch as the lighting solution was quite precise.

The lighting was actually quite simple in theory. A medium Chimera Softbox mounted on a Godox 1200 strobe unit as the key light. And a second light, a Godox 3oo with a ten degree grid spot on a stand behind the reindeer pelt for the muslin background. Some fill would be provided from a white reflector held by TK’s Odelia Kuok. What was tricky about the lighting was getting the key light to feather in such a way that the subject was dramatically lit without too much of the light hitting his entire left side of his body as well as the pelt hanging behind him. I prefer to keep my lights as close to the subjects as possible and then control it by either tweeking the direction or using flags. I find altering the angle more affective and quicker most of the time. Lighting this way is challenging in that if the subject moves forward, or backward, just by a centimeter or two, the exposure will be off. Sometimes I’m literally instructing the subject to lean their body slightly forward or backward small amounts to get the light exactly where I want it. I’m sure they must think I’m nuts.

Chef Jaakko Sorsa, Finland, with a pair of reindeer antlers he brought to Hong Kong from his home country.

In addition to having the reindeer hide as my background I also wanted something for each chef to hold that connected them to their homeland. I wasn’t sure what, if anything, they each might have but as it turned out they each brought a unique item.

For Chef Sorsa it was a pair of reindeer antlers. Chef Raty brought a unique type of rolling pin called a “pulikka” that is used for a specific type of Finish pastry and Chef Lofdahl brought a Viking Battle Axe. Each item ended up working perfectly for the portrait series.

Chef Eric Raty, Finland, holding a pulikka, a Finish type of rolling pin use specifically to make Karelian pastries.

Chef Jim Lofdahl, Sweden, with his Viking Battle Axe.

The Cuisine

The second aspect to our story for TK magazine was, of course, the food that these three master chefs would create for the special six-hands Nordic dinner. The food shoot was actually done prior to the portrait shoot.

Each chef arrived at Ocean Table carrying bags and boxes of ingredients and then went to work putting their dishes together for me to photograph. It’s always so much fun to watch chefs create such beautiful and tasty dishes right before my eyes.

In addition to photographing plated cuisine I really enjoy documenting the raw ingredients that go into the plates. For most diners they wouldn’t know, or understand, the amount of time, effort, thought, and technique that has gone into the dish presented before them.

 One example of a chef’s expertise was when Chef Raty began to unpack his food items. At first glance it appeared to be just a normal fish followed by a bag of what I can only describe as primordial ooze. Using a traditional Finnish technique of preparing fish through a method of cold pickling he also combines edomae sushi sensibilities to cure fish and find the perfect timing to keep fish still moist and fresh. He asked if I would like to photograph it and I said rather hesitantly “sure”. I was actually thinking that there was no way this would look interesting. Much to my surprise the combination of the brine, herbs, and the fish came together like an art piece. It ended up being one of my favorite images from the shoot.

Chef Raty’s process to prepare pickled mackerel.

Chef Raty’s pickled mackerel with pickle jelly, fresh carrot, onion and vinegar salad, horseradish, pickled Japanese cucumber, and homemade sour cream with sushi vinegar.

Since Chef Sorsa’s dish featured several fish elements I decided to use stones as the background to create a feeling of a black pebble beach or rocky river bottom where fish may spawn. This dish combines lightly smoked cod, a technique he learned from his grandfather, combined with Jerusalem artichokes and trout roe.

Making use of the reindeer pelt and the branches I planned to use as the frame for the chefs portrait background I place this dish created by Chef Lofdahl. His creation features a king oyster mushroom which was prepared with brown butter and yeast and placed on a bed of puree made from chestnut and butternut pumpkins. He then finished with toasted yeast flakes.

Chef Raty’s creation of a traditional Finnish Karelian pastry topped with caviar. It’s this type of pastry that requires the use of the pulikka, the rolling pin that Chef Raty is holding in his portrait. This particular type of pastry holds great historical, traditional, and even emotional significance for the Finnish people as it comes from a region of Finland that was illegally acquired by the Soviet Union, now Russia, following WWII.

Last shot

Final Notes

This project was actually a bit more complicated than most. Acquiring all the elements and then assembling them took time and effort. Then organizing a time in which all three chefs could make two trips out to Ocean Table was a real challenge. I greatly appreciate the efforts and patience provided by Chefs Eric Raty, Jaakko Sorsa, and Jim Lofdahl.

Special thanks to Chef Jaakko Sorsa whose help in cooridining the other chefs schedules, as well as his patience in educating me on the finer points of Nordic cuisine.

Finally, it was the dedication of the TK team, specifically Vivian Pun, Odelia Kuok, Victoria Lei, Joey Cheang, and Jin Lao, that made it all come together.