Kenneth Gjerrud: "Berlin is a great town!"

As a child, Kenneth Gjerrud always knew he wanted to be a chef. His mother worked as a server at a restaurant while her son volunteered in the kitchen because of how much he loved the smell. At the age of 16, Kenneth Gjerrud began cooking school in Norway. At 19, he joined the Navy and spent a year cooking for 30 people in a tiny kitchen with an area of just one square meter. For the now 44-year-old Gjerrud, it was a unique experience. "After that, no kitchen ever bothered me again," he says. While at sea, he dreamed of exploring the world. On his way from Norway to Paris, where he endeavored to work as a chef, he had to make a stopover in Berlin when he ran out of money. There he took up at a local restaurant where he met his future wife - and he stayed.

Munch’s Hus in Berlin's Schöneberg district

Since 2001, he has run the restaurant Munch's Hus in Schöneberg - Germany's first and only Norwegian restaurant. It draws a crowd to the well-established restaurant; guests have included the Norwegian Crown Prince, Haakon.
 

 

Roast elk

Serves 4

Ingredients:

For the roast:

• 750 g boneless elk backstrap
• 3/4 t pepper
• 8 crushed juniper berries
• 2 T butter
• 300 ml water
• 300 ml milk
• 100 ml sour cream

For the sauce:

• 600 ml meat stock
• 100 ml sweet or sour cream
• 100 ml cold milk
• 3 T flour
• Caramel coloring
• 1 slice Brunost goat cheese
• 100 ml red currant jelly
• 2 T sweet or sour cream
• Salt

Preparation:

Rub meat thoroughly with salt, pepper and crushed juniper berries, then slather with butter. In a pot, bring milk and water to a boil, then add meat. Deglaze meat stock and add to the pot. Slowly cook roast in the liquid until it is cooked through. Turn roast from time to time while it is cooking. Use a meat thermometer if possible. When temperature reaches 75°C, roast is cooked through.

Remove meat from broth; strain broth using a sieve and measure volume. If there is less than 600 ml, make up the difference with a meat stock. Add sweet or sour cream, then add brunost goat's cheese, salt, pepper, and red currant jelly to taste. Finish by adding sweet or sour cream to taste. Serve with chestnuts, cranberries and parsley mashed potatoes.

Restaurant Munch's Hus
Bülowstraße 66
10783 Berlin
Tel.: +49 30 21014086

Munch's Hus