The Nobel Banquet in Stockholm is one of the finest events in the world and an event many would give a fortune to attend. The event has been taking place since 1901 and all menus served since then can be found here. Since 1934, the Nobel banquet is held at the Blue Hall of the City Hall of Stockholm, serving a three-course menu to 1300 guests. The guests are the Royal family of Sweden, politicians and 200 students amongst others. During the Nobel Banquet 2018, 40 chefs were helping out in the kitchen as well as 190 waiters and waitresses. The menus served during recent years often offer the guests a touch of Scandinavian flavours.

The Nobel chefs and pastry chefs are carefully chosen each year to supply all guests with an unforgettable culinary experience. Some chefs are fortunate enough to present a Nobel menu for multiple years, such as 2018 Nobel chef Tom Sjöstedt, who also presented the 2017 Nobel menu.

During the Nobel Banquet’s first decades, ‘consommés’ or clear soups like ‘Tortue Claire’ were common starters. Starting from the 50s it became very common to serve fish and shellfish as a starter. Nowadays, the starters often include either meat or fish. However, the 2017 starter (only composed out of vegetables) became a unique vegetarian starter highly appreciated and discussed by the guests at the Nobel Banquet.

The starter and main course served 2018 was composed by Tom Sjöstedt, the chef at restaurant Lilla Ego in Stockholm, Sweden. His dishes often have a certain degree of mystery with many hidden layers and surprises during the meal. Tom’s dishes are like a box of mystery – you never know what you get. However, you always know that it will taste divine. The combination of flavours, crafted using only seasonal ingredients, are often dominated by vegetables. The starter 2018 featured lightly baked Arctic char with crayfish broth, dill seed-infused onion, lightly smoked trout roe, crispy potato and watercress foam.

The main course served at 2018 Nobel Banquet consisted of baked celeriac with chanterelle cream and mushroom butter, swede with bay leaf cream, and slow-roasted beef chuck with a bone marrow crust, smoked veal jus and potato and leek terrine. The course was highly inspired by the Swedish forest.

The 2018 Nobel Banquet was finalized with an apple-flavored dessert with a Scandinavian touch, served by Daniel Roos. The medley of apples was an idea that first came to Daniel Roos during a train ride down to the Swedish west coast. In order to find the perfect apples for the dessert, Roos tried composing the dessert with circa 20-25 different apple cultivars before finally finding the perfect apple; ‘Frida’ from Österlen, southeastern Sweden. Roos has been responsible for the dessert for five consecutive years and is running K-märkt restaurant and bakery in Stockholm, Sweden.