Cooking for the Customer

SWEDISH CHEF Ebbe Vollmer, co-owner of the two Michelin star restaurant Vollmer in Malmo, Sweden (along with his brother Max), was in the NCR recently to celebrate Sweden’s National Day at the Swedish Embassy. BW Hotelier caught up with Vollmer while he was doing a cooking demonstration in partnership with The Lodhi, New Delhi.

We began by chatting about Swedish food, which Vollmer says is becoming quite refined. One of the reasons may be the produce. “We are getting more and more, high quality ingredients locally. A lot of our ingredients are sourced within ten miles of the restaurant. Even at home, people are starting to buy very local food. That's not just something we are doing for the environment, but also because our farmers are starting to produce some really amazing produce,” he told us.

On arriving in Delhi, Vollmer said they began by going to the market to cement some kind of platform to work from. “My initial thought was to source as much locally as possible. Actually to create a menu around with what's in here (in India) instead of import things from abroad,” he said.

Vollmer has had a stint of working in Asia, so when asked how that shaped him as a chef, he said it was a real eye opener. “It actually split my opinion. On the one hand, it made me more patriotic to drive Swedish food, at the same time, I saw and ate so many lovely things which I think stayed in the back of my head. I used the technique later, but with local ingredients to enhance my menu,” he said.

Vollmer, the restaurant he runs with his brother Max (who was home doing the heavy lifting, he confessed) is a small restaurant with twenty seats in Malmo. “Our aim is to have repeat customers. We want customers to feel happy to visit us. I cook for the customers and not the dish as a standard. I also see the beauty of the ingredients and try to enhance the ingredients, instead of reshaping it,” he said explaining his food philosophy.

Vollmer thought Delhi was a crazy and intense city, where he and his team have tried and eaten and tasted as much as possible. One of the takeaways according to him is the puri of puri bhajis, which he confessed, he would like to serve his guests, stuffed with smoke or air.

Niklas Eriksson, First Secretary, Trade, Economic & Cultural Affairs told BW Hotelier that this was an attempt by the Embassy to bring someone from outside of Stockholm. They were “working to promote both the travel business and creating interest for Swedish food and culinary Experiences”.