The chef and pastry chef for this year’s Nobel Prize banquet are both new, but they have had plenty of time to plan. The COVID-19 pandemic and two cancelled banquets have made their wait extra-long. Jimmi Eriksson and Annie Hesselstad accepted the assignment as chef and pastry chef three years ago.
There have been several years of secrecy, but now the prestigious task of creating the menu for the banquet is finally under way for chef Jimmi Eriksson, who is responsible for the first course and main course, and pastry chef Annie Hesselstad, who is in charge of this year’s banquet dessert.
“I am both proud and excited to finally be able to present the dishes that I have developed,” says Jimmi Eriksson. “There will be many guests on hand who will have a chance to enjoy what I have worked with for three years.”
The menu is secret until the guests have sat down at their table on 10 December, but Jimmi Eriksson can tell you a few things already. He will use a few Swedish ingredients to create a distinct taste experience. He has been ageing 50 litres of crown dill-infused pickling solution since the late summer and promises that seaweed will be part of the first course. He also likes to make his food colourful.
Annie Hesselstad explains that at the end of the summer, 70 kilos of plums from the Österlen area of southern Sweden were pitted and frozen individually. They will now play a major role in the banquet dessert. The plum peel will also be utilised in dried form.
“Plums are a slightly forgotten and underrated fruit,” explains Annie Hesselstad. “I am so excited for this opportunity to create a dessert for Nobel Prize laureates and other guests from around the world.”
The menu will only be revealed when all the guests have sat down at their table at 19:00 on 10 December.
Detailed press information
You can find detailed press information
About Jimmi Eriksson
Jimmi Eriksson is responsible for the first course and the main course. In 2016, Jimmi was named Sweden’s Chef of the Year. He became Nordic Master in 2017 and won the Global Chefs Challenge in 2018. He was captain of the Swedish National Culinary Team from 2017 to 2020 and was part of the Swedish team that won first place at the 2018 Culinary World Cup. Jimmi is also currently representing Sweden at the Bocuse d’Or, the world’s most prestigious competition for chefs, with the final scheduled for January 2023. Today he works as a culinary ambassador for Compass Group.
About Anni Hesselstad
Annie Hesselstad is in charge of the dessert. As a pastry chef, she was a member of the Swedish National Culinary Team in 2015 and 2016 and competed in the 2016 Culinary Olympics. She lived and worked for many years in both France and Austria. In the beginning of the pandemic, she studied foraging and locally produced ingredients at Örebro University. Today she is the head pastry chef at Artipelag, an art gallery in the Stockholm archipelago, where her pastries are inspired by nature and the surrounding art exhibitions.
About the Nobel Prize banquet
- Some 1,250 guests will attend the banquet.
- The guests will sit at about 60 tables, with the placement of the chairs and tables having been measured with meticulous precision.
- This year’s banquet chef is Jimmi Eriksson and this year’s pastry chef is Annie Hesselstad.
- In the kitchen, 40 chefs will be preparing the banquet meal for four days.
- There will be 190 servers, including 45 serving beverages.
- The tableware used at the banquet will consist of some 21,600 pieces, of which 5,400 glasses, 8,188 porcelain items and 8,100 items of cutlery.
- Setting the tables will be a full day’s work for 40 people.