Alright, I can’t keep quiet any longer. I don’t usually mention TV Chefs, most of you already have ones you watch for whatever reason. It’s so damned easy to find cooking shows these days, I just don’t bother saying anything. But Andreas Viestad has me hooked. And besides, the jury isn’t out yet on The Hippy Gourmet.
Take a close look at the image on the right. That’s him cooking up on the edge of that darned rock. He was more than a little edgy about being that high up.
Andreas Viestad is a young, bright & enthusiastic chef with his own show, “New Scandinavian Cooking with Andreas Viestad”. He’s in his second season and I have to say he’s got my slack-jawed attention. His show is the only one I wait for each week, the others can come or go, who cares. I remember catching Jamie Oliver’s first season. I believe he had the same production crew as The Two Fat Ladies (before he thought he could do better himself and let them go). Jamie’s first season was wonderful to watch. The camera work was topnotch and his cooking was reproducible and fun. Well, we know where he went with all that.
Looking at Andreas now in his second season, it’s clear he has his shit together and won’t be making the same mistakes. Andreas’ schtick is to have his ‘Ikean’ portable kitchen set up in the great outback of Norway. Which as near as I can tell, is nearly everywhere. Last night’s episode was shot in the Norwegian Highlands during the last part of the winter, just as spring was about to hit. He sets up (in the snow) and roasts chicken stuffed with fresh orange wedges and brushed lovingly with safron, orange juice & melted butter (he injects the chicky with the same). How does he roast it? Pops the sucker in to a goddamed convection oven !!! How badass is that? I was clapping and screaming, YEAH !!! A convection oven on the Norwegian Highlands! AHAHHAHAHHAH.
Earlier that day he made a toasted cheese sandwich with blue cheese & orange marmalade, had some Jarlsberg cheese as well. Why do I mention that? He used a propane torch (usually used to even out the wax on his skis).
While he cooks & explains what he’s up to, you’ll catch hikers walking by in the background slowing to stare at what is going on. Andreas continues, sometimes he greets them, sometimes they arrive to share in the feast.
I remember an episode that found him on the Norwegian coast somewhere in a little nine million year old fishing village. He was in some old empty warehouse, clearly more than 200 years old. He has his portable kitchen set up in front of an open shipping door that looked directly in to a fierce wintery Viking ocean. Andreas was shaking a bit from the cold (Norway has REAL winters, just in case you were wondering) and said he couldn’t do it, he had to close the door. He closed the door and got to work, but I’m thinking, it still must be far below freezing, open door or no. Didn’t bother him a bit. Those wacky Norwegians.
Andreas Viastad is thoroughly enjoyable to watch, each time. There hasn’t been one show I couldn’t find something worth considering cooking myself. He’s hired himself a crew that blows the competition to bits. His intro music, cinematography/photography and and and well, everything fits together seamlessly. From location to location, from recipe to recipe, perfection.
Catch just one episode, any episode and you’ll see.
Xo Xo
He even looks like he is fun!
Imagine setting up a kitchen on the edge of a high mountain, or in a frozen warehouse!
Yeah, definitely intriguing. I would like to see what the modern day Norwegian Viking eats!
I like the closing music to this show. I wish I knew what it was.
Hey Fred,
Man, I don’t know either. But you’re right, it’s wonderful. Hell, even the music for the commericals is awesome. The King Oscar commerical is my favorite, it’s got the putt putt of the engine going. YEAH !!!!
I love Andreas’ show! My hubby and I are totally hooked on it. Yep, we just finished watching the show where he cooks that chicken with the oranges. It looks sooo good. But one thing I found out is that they have a new chef by the name of Tina Nordstrom. What is up with that? Hey, no fair!! Geez, women are everywhere nowadays. And though I’m all happy that women are successful, yada yada yada, more power to ya, I’m tired of seeing nothing but women in shows. Bring Andreas back!!!
Hey Lucy,
Our local PBS channels rarely have it anymore. They haven’t even shown his entire 1st season let alone the 2nd. I know because I have TIVO looking out! I’ve never seen Tina Nordstrom, dang.
Not sure what Andreas is up to.
Biggles
i WAS JUST IN NORWAY AND SO UPSET NOBODY KNEW THIS MAN WHY NOT?? I WATCH HIM ALL THE TIME.. WISH I COULD SEND HIM AN EMAIL..I WAS IN OSLO AND TRONDHEIM THIS MAN IS SO GOOD LOVE HIS COOKING SHOW.. ANDRES IF YOU SEE THIS EMAIL CONTACT ME PLEASE I LOVE YOU…..YOUR COOKING SHOW IS SO GOOD..
oh my gosh!!! i cant believe other ppl r as wild about Andreas Viestad as I am. the man is a cooking god. nobody could pull me away from my TV today because they ran a “New Scandanavian Cooking” marathon on WLIW Create. Its been nothing but Andread since noon. his recipes are fabulous and look scrumptious…not to mention the fact that he looks a lil scrumptious as well. ;0) but seriously they should just let him have the show for himself…nobody can do it like he can!!!
I do not know where Andread is but his replacement, Tina Nordstrom, is a pure delight. She has an abundance of personality, and it is a pleasure to watch her cook up some great dishes. She is a natural who I believe is going to be a major success on American TV.
I also look forward to seeing her at various Swedish locations where she gives some local color and travel tips.
New Scandanavian Cooking ( http://www.scandcook.com )
Hey Reyna,
You bet! One of the things I enjoy about Andreas is that he’s so genuine, what you see if what you get.
And speaking of getting it, we haven’t had any recent shows for probably a year or more. I’ve only seen a few of the 2004 episodes. Grrr.
Biggles
Andreas’ replacement ?!?! What the hell?
I’m sure Tina will do fine, but where’s Andreas?
Tina seems competent enough, but where is Andreas? Are the babes taking over everything, including cooking? Most of them are clueless.
Is Andreas on this season? Can’t find any reference to him or Tina on TV guides. Annoyed. I got hooked on his cooking and mostly on his wonderfully accented English. HELP.
Hey Ronn,
It’s nice of you to stop by, hope you’re doing well. It’s odd you ask about the whereabouts of Andreas. I’ve recently done a post specifically about this. Go have a gander:
http://www.meathenge.com/archives/000894.html
It may answer some of your questions.
As a side note, I’ve noticed that New Scandinavian Cooking’s 3rd season with Tina Nordstrom isn’t everywhere. Keep your eyes peeled, it’ll probably show up soon. We’ve had a few episodes already and once it catches on, it’ll be available in more areas.
Heck, give your local PBS channel a call and request it! Take care,
Biggles
I, too, am a fan of Andreas and his cooking show. Fortunately it’s still airing on one of the three PBS stations in Washington, DC. I am a former coordinating producer for cooking shows and am thinking of taking the dive into it again, creating and producing shows.
Any thoughts of what would be different yet appealing?
One of the shows I did (after a career change) was “World Class Cuisine” in 1993-1995. We shot it all over Europe. What I liked about it and where I wanted to see it go was as a combination of cooking and travel in content. Discovery didn’t like that. Chopped up the show and (when I last had the Discovery Food channel) eliminated all the visits to marketplaces, cheese-makers, porcelain-makers, wineries,(etc) we used to visit. Very disappointing.
I’m still friendly with John Potthast, a guy who executive produced several cooking shows for PBS from Maryland Public Television. John’s now with WETA in DC. I’m planning to discuss proposals with him.
Please share your thoughts:
josephmartindc@hotmail.com
Thanks.
ps Am thinking about approaching Andreas with ideas…
I also love Andrea’ show. According to his shows websitye, he is supposed to be returning for a 3rd season this fall.
I also liek Tina and her Swedish version of the show.
Does anyone know if Andreas is married? He is absolutelty ADORABLE. I notice he has no ring on his finger, but on a coupe shows, I though I did see a wedding ring.
Also, does anyone know of any email addresses for either Andreas or Tine (that arent just comments to the scandcook.com?”
Thanks!
Jim
Saugus, MA
USA
Hey Jim,
Don’t know of any email addresses for either and haven’t found any direct route to them whatsoever. I don’t even know what they’re up to. I imagine if we lived closer we’d be getting some local news. Nothing so far, feh.
I’m ready for the 3rd season already.
Biggles
Who cares if he’s a good cook? He’s HOT! I seriously want to marry him- he’s hilarious. The cooking part is definitely a plus though.
I am extremely happy with return Of ADREAS ViESTAD, i was so sorry that he left for me he is the CHEF,and Tina a good cook.
In NJ he seems to only be on at 3:30pm. I am usually working. Anyone know othet times it may be on Cable?
At least (in the NY Metropolitan area) he can be seen on WLIW’s “Create” channel. They recently have begun reairing the series every other day at 7:30 AM & PM (also airing in afternoon & early morning). The cable service I have (in Morris County NJ) is Cablevision and the WLIW channel is 133. I hope this helps, he certainly has me hooked and I am looking forward to inflicting some of his recipes on my family.
Yes, he is on Boston’s “Create” channel as well. That’s a FANTASTIC channel.
Haven’t seen it on there in a while though. Neither the Norway shows or the Sweden shows.
Hi guys. I enjoyed your comments a lot. I don’t know how well I can take flattery, so maybe this is the last of me. Anyway, there is a third season on the way, it is going to start airing this winter. It is going to be even more action packed that the first two. I hope you will like it!
Andreas
Hey Andreas,
Whaddya mean this is the last of you? You’ve got some pretty hardcore fans pal, don’t go. You’ll have to answer to me, your #1 fan. How do you know I’m your number one fan? Check your google rankings, I’m right up there. That’s how I know.
Thanks for stopping by, even if you do have an IP from Africa. What’re you doing there? New African Cooking, I hope.
xo
Hey, Dr. Biggles.
As I read your last posting, I was wondering if perhaps you didn’t misinterpret the “this will be the last of me” comment. It sounded as if the flattery might cause the end of him. (I can think of far worse ways to expire….)
Also, as you’re likely aware, New Scandanavian cooking is planning on having Claus Meyer for the 5th Season. This means, of course, that you will immediately need to begin agitating for a DIFFERENT venue for your favorite chef. Perhaps your Mr. Viestad could do a show from the U.S. to market in Norway and/or the U.K. that would showcase “those strange things (we) Americans eat”–Think about it. From Louisiana’s Jambolaya to South Dakota’s Chislic, from Indian Tacos & Bison Burgers, to Boston’s chowder, to Rocky Mountain Oysters, etc.etc., it would be fun to allow Viestad to react to, comment on, and perhaps experiment with some of OUR “finest ingredients.”
Thanks for creating this page, Dr. Biggles. Jeg liker det.
Hey Jag,
Andreas most certainly will be able to handle the fact he’s a loved star of that show. Otherwise he’d jumped off years ago.
Well, I’m always willing to have a new love on the New S Cooking, it’s not beyond my capabilities. Let me see how he checks out and will most certainly let the world know.
And, I will not compare chefs. They will shine on their own merits. Bring it on !!!
Biggles
I’m defintely a fan of andreas and catch his show every saturday morning. He’s fun to watch and I enjoy his little stories that go along with many of his dishes. On the other hand…he could use some dental work though.
I stopped back to share a “recipe” idea, but now feel compelled to comment on the last posting. I don’t know what it is in the U.S. that makes so many think that they need to have their teeth straightened or whitened, or their noses “fixed,” or various parts of their bodies added to or removed. (I speculate that it’s the result of effective advertising by the people who provide these types of services and products.) It strikes me as egregious to try to foist that same perspective on the rest of the world. C’mon, even people as shallow as we are should be able to agree that the man is beautiful. For me, his smile–including his teeth–augments, rather than detracts from his beauty.
Now, back to the reason that I stopped back: Try coating just about any type of white fish (thicker portions are better) with a mixture of finely minced (or processed) sundried tomatoes, pignoles, and fine bread crumbs. (So far, a roughly 1 to 1 to 3 ratio has seemed to work best.) Bake at high heat (seriouisly, I’m up to 425 with this last go) to get a “crunchy” crust, while the fish remains moist and flavorful, somehow protected by the coating. (Now, if this is something that the rest of the world has been doing for years, forgive me, but it’s new (and still experimental) to me.
Hey Jag,
I’m with you on the body fixing. To remove something such as that would be removing tons of character. Like whatshername, Jewel? She had that very noticeable hook tooth. It was GREAT. Now? With it removed? You can’t tell her from any other blonde nitwit. Truly sad. Thanks for stopping by with the fish action, I don’t do much of that around here.
Biggles
It’s so cool that Andreas would post here! Thanks, Dr. Biggles, for having this awesome website for us fans. It’s one of the best on the Net.
Hey, Dr. Biggles.
I knew you had a prediliction for heariter meatier fare, but now I know for sure to give you a “pass” on any veggie & fish ideas. Remind me to clue you in on chislic sometime, if you think your arteries are up to it. (And I don’t care what Wikipedia or any other website says–if it’s breaded, it ain’t chislic.)
I thought you would get a kick out of Viestad in Monday’s Dagbladet, available at the following site: http://www.dagbladet.no/magasinet/2007/02/10/491588.html
Snakker du norsk? If not, no worries–the picture is the main thing. : ) jag
Hey Jag,
Do you have any good information on Chislic? Neat!
Thank you for the link, it took a little while to load up, but I watched Andreas cook! That was great, made my day. Thank you again.
Biggles
Hey Dr. Biggles.
I’d be hard pressed to come up with adjectives other than “good” (or synonyms of good) when it comes to chislic! : )
Seriously, when various friends of mine were coming up blank, I “googled” chislic to find that many say it’s just a South Dakota thing. While I was born in SD, I know that it was pretty common in Mnnesota, too. I speculate that the tradition evolved from the “feeds” that bars (pubs) used to have in-house. Because there were generally no ovens available, they would rely on deep fryers for in-house cooking. As you know, up until the 80s, lard was a given in a deep fryer. There’s no “secret” for chislic–whether you’re using venison, beef, or what have you, it’s basically just chunked meat that is flash fried to be crispy on the outside and dang near raw on the inside. In the old days, you’d give it a liberal dusting of salt and everone’d spear bits off the plate with toothpicks, clustering around plates & baskets as the chislic’d come out of the fryers.
My mom used to soak venison in (disgusting cheap) wine prior to the cooking, which was the only way she could stand venison. But even with the horrid marinade, the chislic was still delicious. There really is no way to go wrong, unless you overcook the meat. It’s impractical to give someone dimensions or cooking time–you can cube it, chunk it, whatever, you can make them small or fairly large (just try and keep tthe pieces fairly uniform.) Common sense directs that smaller pieces get a shorter cooking time, llarger pieces take a bit longer. I’ll generally have oil about 450 degrees, drop between 1/2 lb to a lb at a time, and leave it in only until the bubbles begin to subside–if the bubbles diminish, you’ve likely got medium to medium well chislic. (Which some people actually like. Go figure.) Nowadays, practically everyone I know has their own “special blend” of spices that they prefer to sprinkle on–and it’s not an insult to show up at a party with your own, asking for “plain” so you can season your own.
As you can tell, I’ve been reminiscing as I type, so I’ll apologize for rambling and now head to kitchen. I’m glad you enjoyed your “trip” to the Dagbladet site. Pa gjensyn. jag
Hey Jag,
No, that was great! And I don’t need specifics, I don’t cook that way either.
What did I did find interesting was heating the oil to 450. That’s about 75 degrees hotter than what I’ve used and been told to use. 450? Really?
Biggles
Hey, Dr. Biggles.
You raise a good safety point. Depending on the type of oil you’re using, its smoke point (and maybe even its flash point) could be less. Some refined oils–like soybean, safflower & avacodo oils–have smoke points of near and above 500 degrees farenheit. Even when talking about olive oil in general, there can be huge disparities. Extra light olive oil can go over 400 degrees, but extra virgin has a very low smoke point (sometimes seeming to be right around tap water temperatures.)
The old fashioned deep fryers are still in heavy use in my area, and have “thermostatic buttons” that read even way past 450. I’ll set mine on 450, wait for the oil to smoke for the first batch (so, since I don’t generally use an independent themometer, I’m couldn’t say for certain what the exact temperature is) and just repeat.
I can remember fairly hazardous incidents where someone using a marinade and extremely hot oil had disastrous outcomes–where there was hot oil overflow, for example. It’s prudent to pat dry any meat that’s been soaked and perhaps be a bit leery when you’re first experimenting. (Still, I think that real foodie treats often have an intriguing element of danger….or it may well be that I am a moron.)
By the way, you will of course likely want to experiment with seasoning mixes, but, for purists like me, salt is about the ONLY seasoning “real” chislic can have–coarse kosher salt is the only concession to modernity that I’ve made.)
Hi, Dr. Biggles.
While I know you’re not much into the fish action, I just stopped by to publicly acknowledge my stupidity regarding “my” “idea” for the sundried tomatoes and pignoles added to breading for fish. Turns out, (at least) Viking Seafood offers “tuscany style” alaskan pollock filets. While I hate to admit it, even though they use lesser quality pine nuts than I do, their breading is much better than anything I ever came up with–probably because they also use “tomato powder” plus two kinds of cheeses in their crust. Just about any restaurant supply company could hook someone up. (It’s a bit galling going from thinking one has come up with something innovative to knowing one has simply messed up an old standard.) Eh, bien.
I also wanted to follow up with a chislic report. All the back-and-forth had created quite a craving. While it’s normally something done in quantity and with a large fryer, I found that just over-heating two inches of (canola) oil in a small sauce pan and tossing in a chunked (top sirloin) coullette wasn’t half bad.
Ha det!
OK, forgive me for coming to this cooking site with a raving fan post, but I met Andreas when he was on his book tour for “Kitchen of Light,” when the first season of “New Scandinavian Cooking” was starting to air in the US. Andreas, if you ever come back to Schwartz bookshop in Milwaukee, the pretty young woman who complimented you on your production design is no longer married and has plenty more to compliment you on… so if you tour the US with your new book this fall and are looking for an American girlfriend to accompany you back to Norway, tell me where to apply. I’m pretty handy catching turbot with a harpoon.
Tina Nordstrom is fabulous too, but god, Andreas makes me slack-jawed. He’s the sexiest man on PBS.
Oh, and by the way, I bought my ex-husband Andreas’s second season of “New Scandinavian Cooking” for Christmas last year.
Hello …I too am just nuts over the Scandinavian Cooking show with Andreas. I live in Wisconsin and today found him about four times on(saturday). Just love that show!
So I am a PBS kinda gal and when I saw the title New Scandanavian cooking, I said , sure why not. Must say I sure was very plesantly surprised and now just hooked! This guy is amazing, not only he chooses great location, great food and materials to start with, but what is truly amazing is the way he incorporates east with west. I saw the show today on oranges, fennel and chicken and garam masala with butter and green onions-man! thats some creative thinking. Does anyone know if he tours or lectures as well? It would be great to attend a workshop on fusion food, and I am sure there are people who can sponsor such an event. I know Jacques Pepin was here at our local book store few months ago. So Mr. Viestad if you are in the Boston area know this, people love your work and would like to meet with you as well.Thanks for reading.
New Scandinavian Cooking with Andreas Viestad is very entertaining. I love to cook myself and it’s amazing how much alike my cooking style is to his. I reside in Portland, Oregon and missed his book tour in the USA. But, Andreas, if you ever come back, look me up. I would love do a cooking session with you, as my guest. I am in the same age group as you and am active and enjoy a healthy lifestyle. I hope to see you back in the US someday. Keep up the good work. Your cooking show rocks!(*_^)
Gia
Anyone catch Andreas on Martha Stewart’s show?
Does Andreas have any cooking schools or programs in Norway? If so, how can I get connected?
It was fun to find someone as enthusiastic about this show and Andreas as I am. I absolutely love that show and wait for it patiently each week!!!
Hey Sabina,
Yes, most certainly! Wahooo!
Biggles
I came looking for the music from:
“New Scandinavian Cooking With Andreas Viestad
Merry Christmas
Saturday, December 22, 11:00am
CHANNEL 2 (TPT 2)
No program description available
CC, Stereo TVG”
It’s really high quality music, if someone could perhaps look into it that would be fantastic.
Does anyone know if the saugage guy in episode 2 of the 4th season is his boyfriend or even partner? The two of them seemed rather playful to say the least and seem like they’ve cooked together before. And did anyone catch the comment about Andreas’ “small sausage” before they had that sat down for that romantic dinner together?
The comment about the “small sausage” was referencing when they stuffed the sausage in the first place. Does it really matter if they are partners or not? Who cares?
Hey,
Been so busy have missed episodes. So, no, missed it.
Who cares? I care! It’d be neat to find out who is in Andreas’ life! Aren’t you interested in one of your friends when they find someone new? Heck, go to t m z .com and you can read all kinds of useless gossip. Gossip, it’s what life is all about.
xo, Biggles
How extremely cool to find this site where Andreas has actually posted. Man I love his show.
Just imagine, Mr. Viestad, an icy cold morning in Wisconsin (probably much like one in Norway) and I’m slurping my coffee, covered with a blanket, watching Scandinavian Cooking in the inky pre-dawn darkness. Watching you prepare a moose roast over an open fire.
My kind of eating.
My kind of cooking show.
fyi: i emailed one of my local PBS stations for the past two years and they’ve put New Scandinavian on each time. It starts tomorrow (10/4) at 5:00 pm PST on KCSM! awesome!
just saw him for the first time. his english is pretty cute. i wonder if they are direct translations of norwiegian phrases or maybe in europe that’s how the english speak? (the chocolate girl is very existing. that’s supergood!) i noticed he seems to have a wedding ring on his right hand. i visited germany/denmark/sweden with a friend a few years ago and i thought the danish electrical outlets were cute too, vaguely looking like it’s smiling at me, whereas i our american outlets look a bit shocked… oh i can’t remember where i was going with this, but i think i’ll put him in my tivo thing.
-mark
I am frm Malaysia and i always watch scandcook over AFC. i really like Scandcook series with Andreas Viestad. The man is full with information and when he cooks he always makes me smile it’s like there is something about this man. He sometimes can be silently hilarious too. I love the Geirenger episode where he introduce that breath taking place along with good information. It’s like travelling with knowledge and culturistic cook with Andreas Viestad. I hope there will be more of him in the future!
Our local PBS station only just started showing NSC with Andreas, and it’s a refreshing change from every other cooking program around – a real blast of coolness from Norge. Andreas is droll, and the zealous inventiveness of his show’s approach is reminiscent of Keith Floyd’s “Floyd On Fish” – one of my favorite cooking programs of all time. (Still – who could resist Julia when she announced “To-DAY, WE’re going to make PI-ta bread for the STOO-oo!” LOL) But – I wish Telius Works would make the music from the show available; I like how its quirky character complements Andreas’s mischievous personality.
I know there’ve been 3 seasons of NSC with Andreas, and I hope he’ll get back on his steed and gallop into another series of programs like them – it’s taken no time at all for me to add him to my list of favorites that includes Keith, Paul, Julia, Jacques, and Justin. I hope you’re listening, Andreas: you’ve got a real knack for it, and we’d love to see more! Cheers!
I love Andreas, his personality definitely keeps me intrigued, and his extreme knowledge in food is quite impressive. What I love the most is some of the very exciting places he shares his talent. I mean, who would ever cook on the edge of a cliff?