FIVE QUICK QUESTIONS PAUL SVENSSON

Creative leader at Fotografiska, regular lecturer focusing on sustainable pleasure.

1. What is your culinary philosophy? That the sustainable option is better in every sense. Not just the pleasure from what’s on the plate, but also how the food got there.

2. What is the thinking behind increasing sustainability in the kitchen? The principle is to match what the ecosystem can actually offer us. A plant-based plate is a sustainable plate. We don’t have to stop eating meat completely – just think more vegetables, along with a small portion of meat.

3. What are you doing to raise the status of vegetables? Number one is to make a vegetarian plate better in every sense than one with meat. Vegetables haven’t been explored or given as much attention as fish and meat. But they can offer unparalleled new experiences every day.

4. You’ve started Paul’s food truck, the pop-up where you order your meal in the spring and get it in the autumn. Tell us about the initiative. Above all, it’s about bringing out how long it takes to get good food on the table. It takes six months to plant, grow and harvest the raw ingredients for the food we serve. The dishes we serve are determined completely by the area available for cultivation at Rosendal.

5. What do we have to do to become more sustainable in Sweden? We must understand that we have to work with nature, and accept what we are given. Today, the chef asks the farmer for x kilo of broad beans. But it should be the other way round, with the farmer saying, “this is what you can have”. We also need to get better at appreciating what’s grown locally. Quality comes when we support our own farmers.

PHOTO: KNUT KOIVISTO