René Redzepi with foraged sea urchins in Australia, 2015, courtesy of the chef's Instagram

Watch René Redezpi’s mesmerizing shellfish videos

The Noma chef has been detailing some of the catches for his 2016 Australia pop-up in glorious detail

When René Redzepi was drawing up the menu for his Australian pop-up restaurant, he didn’t just nip down to the nearest fresh-produce market and see what looked tasty. Noma Australia, which opened last week and will close on April 2, involved months of preparations, and is currently serving a huge variety of unusual, indigenous antipodean flora and fauna, including a wide range of marine life.

René has clearly had a lot of fun sourcing and documenting, judging by his Instagram posts. Most of these are just still photographs, yet for the Aussie shellfish, video is the only medium that can do these catches justice.

 

Thirsty clam licks table #nomaaustralia #strawberryclam

A video posted by Rene Redzepi (@reneredzepinoma) on

 

Consider the strawberry clam (above), a large Pacific bivalve which, in Redezpi's footage, appears to 'lick' the countertop.

 

Dancing (green lip) abalone #nomaaustralia

A video posted by Rene Redzepi (@reneredzepinoma) on

 

The upturned abalone, or giant sea snail, also features in some of the most captivating images.

 

Abalone - perfect for schnitzel #NomaAustralia

A video posted by Rene Redzepi (@reneredzepinoma) on

 

Noma Australia is serving greenlip and blacklip abalone, turning this moderately unfamiliar, meaty mollusc into a version of the hearty Aussie pub-grub staple, a schnitzel, albeit one served with nuts, sea lettuce and rushes.

 

Dancing abalone #nomaaustralia

A video posted by Rene Redzepi (@reneredzepinoma) on

 

Yet René has also found time to shoot at least three abalone videos, including one of animal ‘dancing’ to The Trammps 1976 hit, Disco Inferno.

 

Have you ever danced with an Urchin? #nomaaustralia

A video posted by Rene Redzepi (@reneredzepinoma) on

 

Although sea urchins are notoriously difficult to handle the chef still managed to shoot this delightful video while researching local marine life ahead of the 2016 opening. Weeks later, urchins this now feature in Noma Australia’s innovative sea urchin, tomatoes, and pepper berries dish.

 

 

Crabs are also plentiful in these waters. Two separate species feature on the Noma Australia menu: spanner crab in a soup with raw macadamia nuts, and Snow crab in egg yolk cured in fermented kangaroo. “To me Australia is the zenith of crab,” he wrote in the post featuring this cute hermit crab. In this case, the chef put this animal back where he found it, on the beach.

For greater insight into the chef’s life and work, consider our René Redzepi books, including NomaA Work in ProgressCoco, and Cook It Raw.