Thomas Laursen

Herb forager, author, chef, entrepreneur, speaker, TV chef, course facilitator, event organiser, podcast creator, ant man, herb man, forest troll, foraging enthusiast and teacher.

Wild herb delivery

The Restaurants

I deliver wild herbs on order to a number of Denmark's best restaurants. I collaborate and help get wild herbs on the menu in the best way.

My clients include: Noma, Geranium, Kadeau, Iluka, Falsled kro, Kanalhuset, Barvin, Goldfinch, Banegaarden, Ny Hattenæs and more.

Thomas Laursen

Thomas Wildfooding

Wildfooding is me, Thomas Laursen. I am the man behind and in front of Wildfooding. Wildfooding supplies wild herbs etc. to a number of top restaurants in Denmark. Including Noma, Geranium, Barvin, Kadeau, Iluka, Ny Hattenæs, Bobe, Falsled kro, Sortebro kro, Goldfinch and more.

I have written 4 books, organised foraging tours for 25 years, arranged large and small events, co-cooking with wild ingredients, consulting and talks.

Wildfooding

I have always cooked, I have always taught and I have always gathered wild plants – now I do it all under one umbrella in Wildfooding.

Today I make a living collecting wild plants, mushrooms, berries, seaweed etc. for a number of the best restaurants. I organise tours, do co-cooking, advise, write books, create products, make TV and podcasts, write about wild plants. What was once my hobby and passion is now my livelihood.

The Ant Man

A more or less chance meeting in 2011 with restaurant Noma's then sous chef, Trevor Moran, has in many ways opened doors for me and made it possible for me to turn my great passion into my work.

Trevor Moran was responsible for, among other things, the ingredients and products that the restaurant used in its innovative kitchen. I offered to sell him some mushrooms, and he asked if he could join me for a trip to the forest. We went to Køge and walked into a forest that was new to me. There we were lucky to find plenty of black trumpets.

We talked well along the way, and Trevor Moran told me that he was under some pressure, as they wanted to work with insects at Noma. I told him that I knew of some ants that he might be interested in tasting. They were orange ants, which I myself had used to tease home economics students with for a few years.

He was happy to try, and when the orange ants later made their entrance at Noma, my life changed in many ways. From being "a secret man in the forests of Jutland" I could suddenly make a living from the knowledge I had gathered since I was a child.

"And so I became the ant man!"

Philosophy

It is a wild time for wild food!

Gastronomy is the engine for me – it is what excites me. I deeply love finding something wild and creating a delicious meal with it as the star. That experience I want to share – it's as simple as that!

There is a completely basic and simple groundedness in searching, finding and gathering. The mind switches off and you become one with time and place – there is something primal and magical about it.

I dry, pickle, salt and ferment, so I also have something wild in the months when there is not much to find out there in nature. I call it saving the seasons and creating a pantry – my preserving jars are a prized possession.

View on Nature

Nature is magic!

Wild plants, mushrooms, seaweed, berries and roots are the reason we can live on this earth and thrive. I am grateful to be in the world and use it greedily and with pleasure.

Nature is in an ever-changing process that plants and animals adapt to. It is not a static museum that should remain unaffected by humans. Nature is a place we should be in and use thoughtfully and protect.

A forager naturally has his secrets and places that he keeps to himself. But it is also a great joy for me to be able to pass something on – knowledge that helps revive the care for nature, because by using nature and by getting to know it, we can also relearn to respect it.

Lectures

Talks

I give talks about wild food, foraging, nature and views on nature, gastronomy and New Nordic cuisine. At food festivals, folk high schools, companies, events, schools, at home. I have spoken to anywhere between 5 and 700 people, high and low and from east to west. Contact me to hear more about which format might suit you.

Consulting

Product Development

I have helped several companies develop products. My area of expertise is naturally the wild. I use my expertise about wild nature to create new products together with established producers.

There is a completely basic and simple groundedness in searching, finding and gathering. The mind switches off and you become one with time and place – there is something primal and magical about it.

Courses

Courses for restaurants, canteens and others in the food industry

I also organise longer courses in collecting wild plants, mushrooms and berries. These courses can vary in form and scope. The course can be based on your own locations, spread across the different seasons so you can follow the plants' different stages, and finally the course can include preparation, techniques and plating. They can be for inspiration or more specifically to get wild herbs onto the menu.

Partners

MAD, Ministry of Environment and Food, Munchies, Aarstiderne, Nordic Food Lab, University of Copenhagen, Politikens Forlag, Food Festival, Copenhagen Cooking, Teater Nordkraft, Mungo Park, Rare Tea Company, Food, Heartland Festival, Leaderlab, Arla Foundation, Madkulturen, Jacobsen, Supertusch, Oyster Festival, Game Dish of the Year, Copenhagen Food House, Aros, We Love People, CPH:DOX, +Halle, Banegaarden, Kandy Spices, Dacapo, Danish Association for Practical Ecology, Nordea Foundation, DR, TV2, Bülow Liquorice, Hotel and Restaurant School, Taste of Aarhus, Taste for Life, The Compound, Zetland, Hilton Hotels, Fazer, Balderdash, Oluf is, Læsk Kombucha, Basque Culinary Center, River Cottage, Timm Vladimir's Kitchen, Native Cooking Award, Inco, Catering Engros, DN, Nordisk Film, ISS, Danish Outdoor Council, Nærpension, Ilocale, Fjelsted Skov Hotel and Conference, Serwiz, Genitor, Gothenburg, Endless Food, An Agency, Skovmøllen, Adventurous Souls, Omada Wine, Impact, E45, Aart Architects, Salling Group, Vestas, TDC, Wonderful Copenhagen, Danish Seaweed, SNS, The White Box, Brønnum, Bent Brandt, Compass Group, Holckenhavn, Noise PR, Book Forum, Krabbesholm, Madmikkel, Hotel Vejlefjord, Falsters Kyst, Euroman, Cheval Blanc, DIS, Frederiksberg Museums, Sophienholm Art Gallery, Arla, Weekendavisen, Stella Polaris, Roskilde Festival, Copenhagen Zoo, Briq, City of Copenhagen, FVST, Nordic Council of Ministers, Mjølner Informatics, Holdsport, Simply Grapes, Sinatur, AVK, Tangent, Rødding Folk High School, Implement, Købers Mægler, Bornholm Museum, Grønningen1, Witt and more.

The Great Wild Mushroom Cookbook