Now Reading: Unfiltered: Chef Stig Drageide On Nordic Flavours, Kitchen Silence, And The Art Of Simplicity
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Unfiltered: Chef Stig Drageide On Nordic Flavours, Kitchen Silence, And The Art Of Simplicity
Unfiltered: Chef Stig Drageide On Nordic Flavours, Kitchen Silence, And The Art Of Simplicity
Stig Drageide, Executive Chef at Park Hyatt Kuala Lumpur, shares the dish that defines him, the sounds he loves most in the kitchen, and how his Scandinavian heritage informs the cuisine at Merdeka Grill.
On the dish that encapsulates him
If you were expecting Chef Stig to pick some towering feat of culinary engineering here, you’d be mistaken. The dish he feels best represents him is actually one that does more with less.
“I would say the Kalix Löyrom. It’s very traditional, it’s very classic, with few ingredients and very, very clean flavours.”
It also says quite a bit about the sort of food he enjoys cooking. Clean flavours, a restrained ingredient list, and enough confidence to let good produce do most of the heavy lifting.
On his favourite sound in the kitchen
Kitchens aren’t exactly known for being quiet places, which is precisely why his answer caught us a little off guard.
“The sound of silence.”
Not silence in the literal sense, of course. More the absence of shouting, confusion, and people getting in each other’s way.
“I like when everyone is doing what they’re supposed to do, clockwork, and you can hear the sound of the grill in the background.”
Ironically, that kind of silence only happens when everything is working exactly as intended.
On bringing Nordic influences to Merdeka Grill
Growing up in Scandinavia has naturally shaped the way Chef Stig approaches cooking, particularly when it comes to preservation techniques.
“In Scandinavia, we use a lot of salt for curing, smoking, pickling, and fermenting.”
Those same techniques have naturally found their way into Merdeka Grill’s kitchen, albeit with a little local influence thrown into the mix.
“We use a lot of Asian ingredients. Korean or Japanese or Malaysian. So, basic Western cooking with some more interesting flavour combinations.”
The backbone may be Scandinavian, but the flavours wander much further afield.
On what sets the food at Merdeka Grill apart
Spend enough time looking over the menu and you’ll notice a recurring theme. While the cooking is rooted in Western technique, the flavours rarely stay there for very long.
“We use a lot of Asian ingredients. Korean or Japanese or Malaysian. So, basic Western cooking with some more interesting flavour combinations.”
It’s a simple philosophy, really. Take solid Western foundations, introduce ingredients from elsewhere in Asia, and see where the combination leads. The result is food that feels familiar enough to be comforting, but just different enough to keep you on your toes.
Merdeka Grill, Park Hyatt Kuala Lumpur
