Reinventing “the Art of Food” with Fungi and Bacteria

For four years, David Zilber headed the Fermentation Lab at Noma, the Danish restaurant that has been voted the best in the world a staggering five times in the past fifteen years. Using microbes, among other things, Zilber turned food into completely new ingredients at the restaurant. In 2018, he even wrote a bestseller about it, The Noma Guide to Fermentation, together with Noma chef René Redzepi.

Even today, the leading chef continues to delve into bioscience to develop food with explosive flavours using fungi and bacteria. In doing so, David Zilber wants to reinvent “the art of food.” He also found the perfect partner for that in Danish bioscience company Chr. Hansen, with its collection of some 50,000 microbial strains. The Canadian chef employs them to give traditional meals a culinary upgrade – organically!