Leif’s Table

Sitting down with the Faroe Islands’ most famous chef

Words by Valerie Berry
Photos by Liz & Max Haarala Hamilton

“Tear some turrur fiskur and eat it with a slice of blubber,” says Leif, “and follow this with a piece of boiled potato.” We are sitting in Leif //Sørensen’s kitchen, on the first floor of his yolk-yellow house surrounded by thriving rhubarb and Angelica. One of the initiators of the manifesto for new Nordic cuisine, he is the chef who put Torshavn on the gastronomic map with the restaurant Koks.

Leif has assembled for us the most traditional of Faroe meals. On the wooden board lie dried cod fillet, salted whale fat and air-dried whale loin. A still life of unknown shapes and textures. The only familiar sight is a bowl of boiled potatoes. “Think back 100 years, after working with the sheep: you would have carried the whale fat, dried fish and leftover potatoes with you and this would be your morning meal.” Leif’s Nordic cool and low melodic voice hover over the kitchen table. He is deep in his thoughts and tales of Faroe food while his son skilfully climbs the kitchen counter, extracting granola from the top cupboard. He points his knife at the blubber and admits with slight sadness in his eyes: “I can’t get my family to eat this food.”