Tjalfe and Johanne chose their apprenticeship based on their values – now they want to inspire others: "I think I am an idealist before I am a chef."

Kokkeelev Johanne Schousboe cuts fresh tips from Danish ginger plants.

”Have you ever seen a Danish-produced ginger tip before?” she asks, while sniffing the leaves and putting them in a blender with oil.

”That's something you can get when talking to those who produce the raw materials,” she explains.

The delicate ginger oil is an ingredient in a dish with poached oysters at the Michelin restaurant Domestic in Aarhus.

”It's things like these ginger tips that make me think it's great to work in a kitchen,” she says with a big smile – surrounded by a small group of busy chefs preparing food for tonight's guests.

Here is Johanne Schousboe, a culinary apprentice – a position she has pursued very purposefully because sustainability and organic produce are highly prioritized here.

”I think I am an idealist before I am a chef. And that has become very clear in my choice of apprenticeship and education as a green culinary craftsman.”

At Domestic, it is precisely the value foundation that makes her feel at home.

”That is my great passion. That is what I want. And they are on board with everything. So, I also have a great workplace. They also want the green approach and good raw materials.”

The season guides the menu

In a small restaurant kitchen about 300 meters from Johanne Schousboe, apprentice Tjalfe Eriksen is slicing organic apples.

He doesn't just want to learn how to cook – he wants to cook green food.

Therefore, he has also been very targeted in his search for the right apprenticeship.

He chose Restaurant L'estragon in Aarhus, where the Organic Food Label in gold fits well with the values he himself emphasizes.

”It has been a bit exciting to try to find out what the best place is in terms of organic and sustainable practices,” says Tjalfe Eriksen during a break at the small restaurant in the heart of Aarhus’ Latin Quarter.

At the restaurants, Tjalfe Eriksen and Johanne Schousboe learn that good raw materials are not only about taste and what is on the menu. Seasonality, local producers, and organic farming are also part of the culinary craft.

”The entire value foundation is built on organic ingredients and on the collaboration between farmers and the restaurant and our work in the kitchen,” says Johanne Schousboe.

This also means that the kitchen must adapt when a raw material is unavailable.

”If we can't get the vegetables we want from our various suppliers, then we have to find something else to work with.”

The two young culinary craftsmen have therefore sought apprenticeships where sustainability is not just something they talk about but is integrated into daily cooking.

This mindset is also encountered by Tjalfe Eriksen and Johanne Schousboe when they step out of restaurants and into the role of ambassadors.

Green ideas across the country

The two students are part of a green student ambassador corps that aims to bring experiences from kitchens to other students in the country's food education programs.

At tents at the Climate People's Meeting in Middelfart, they helped prepare and serve small free snacks focusing on sustainability and organic farming – a big attraction.

The almost artistic presentation of the small dishes was created by students from the GastroLab project in collaboration with the Organic Association, crossing both schools and food education programs.

This year's theme was fermentation.

While visitors were served small gourmet snacks, the students explained techniques and ingredients behind them.

For Johanne Schousboe, it is precisely food that can open the door to conversations about sustainability.

”Most people just get the small snacks we prepare. They just think it's cool to get a snack. And it's fun that you can tell something through the food.”

She experiences that the message doesn't necessarily need to be explained in long speeches.

”When they get a spoonful of miso caramel, they just think it's delicious. And it doesn't need to be any longer. It doesn't have to be a big sales pitch about organic and fermentation.”

More greens at schools

For Tjalfe Eriksen, the ambassador work is also about giving future chefs tools they can carry forward.

He hopes, among other things, that teaching materials from GastroLab and the Organic Association can help make education at schools more sustainable.

”It can also be a huge help in making a turn towards more sustainable teaching and making the school more focused on organic farming and using organic ingredients.”

Lack of greens in schools

At home at Restaurant L'estragon in Aarhus, restaurateur Sisse Budtz-Jørgensen also sees a need for the skills her apprentice is now an ambassador for.

She observes a development where seasonal ingredients are taking up more space on plates at many of the city's restaurants.

”You can see in Aarhus that the seasonality of ingredients is getting a much more prominent place on the plates than before. And I think it's a more modern and more sustainable mindset that exists in the restaurants.”

Here, she believes that schools may be a bit behind. And she also experiences that restaurants themselves need to help teach students and newly graduated chefs to work more green – especially with vegetables.

”More chefs could be attracted to schools if there was a more sustainable mindset and techniques – especially with vegetables. Because that's a bit lacking,” says Sisse Budtz-Jørgensen.

For Johanne Schousboe at Restaurant Domestic, it looks different. She is among the first students in the 'Green Culinary Craftsman' program at the Hotel and Restaurant School, where plant-based is the starting point.

”The program is built around working plant-based. So I won't be taking an exam in meat carving, unlike the chef training, where you can choose various classic dishes.”

In her education, the focus is instead on ingredients.

”Our lessons are built around zucchini day and rhubarb day. And that's our starting point. So I haven't had to make meatballs or roast pork during my schooling,” she explains.

Tjalfe Eriksen has taken the more traditional route in chef training. He would have liked more focus on the green side.

”I can feel that it has been a bit of a lack. But you learn it pretty quickly. Or get up to date with it quickly. And then it's just a long journey of learning about vegetables,” he says with a smile.

A development already underway

Although some might wish for more focus on organic and sustainable practices in food education, it is already part of the learning goals – among other things through projects like GastroLab.

But the ambition is for the green approach to become more prominent and a more natural part of students' education.

According to Simon Sørensen, a teacher at Tech College in Aalborg and project leader for GastroLab, it is not about telling students what to think.

”We don't have a hidden agenda to push something. We should be open and help teach students to reflect and also critically consider organic farming and sustainability in general,” he says.

The goal is for students to be able to make their own informed decisions.

”Students begin to reflect and make decisions based on knowledge. So, that is also a role we have as an educational institution.”

But Simon Sørensen also sees a clear development.

”More and more of it is coming, so we see that in the future, there will definitely be more teaching on this. And probably more formalized, so it doesn't just become small, isolated modules, but a more consistent thread throughout the education.”

For Tjalfe Eriksen and Johanne Schousboe, the common thread is already clear.

They have chosen restaurants where their own values can be reflected in everyday life. Now they will take the experiences back to schools and into kitchens.

They are not yet fully qualified.

But they have already started teaching others how a greener culinary craft can taste.

The article was written as part of the project 'More Organic in Food Education' with support from the Organic Farming Foundation.