Petter Beyer from Norway wins the Linie Award 2009

Today, top Nordic chefs Geir Skeie, Michael Björklund, Michael Munk and Hans Välimäki are in the Oslo Opera House to present this year's Linie Award. The Linie Award 2009 is one of the Nordic region's most prestigious competitions for young chefs and is arranged by the spirits producer Arcus in collaboration with the Culinary Academy of Norway.

Former winners of the Linie Award include Even Ramsvik from the restaurant Oscarsgate in Oslo and Michael Munk from Noma in Copenhagen. The award has jumpstarted both chefs' careers.

"The Linie Award aims to foster pride in Nordic cuisine and drinking culture. The jury chose Petter Beyer as this year's winner because of his creativity in combining flavours, creating a dish that clearly demonstrates the quality and diversity of local Nordic ingredients," says the head of the jury Halvor Heuch, Norway's leading aquavit expert and head distiller at Arcus.

Contestants have to base their entries on Nordic seafood, and at least five of the components in the dish must be made using Nordic ingredients. The pride of Norwegian aquavit lovers, Linie Aquavit, must be used as an ingredient or be a natural accompaniment.

A creative twist on the traditional
This year, the jury had chosen the contestants in advance. The finalists in the Linie Award 2009 were Petter Beyer from Jacobs Bar og Kjøkken in Bergen, Fredrik Andersson from Hallsnäs Affärsklubb in Sweden, Akseli Herlevi from Restaurant Strindberg in Finland and Jeppe Graa Rassmussen of the Danish national culinary team.

The prize is a grant of NOK 25,000, the Linie trophy, and a place on the jury for the Linie Award 2010.

Honours Award to an Aquavit lover
Linie's Honours Award went to Anne-Lise Mellbye this year, president of the association Friends of Norwegian Aquavit (NAV).

"Anne-Lise was an obvious choice for this year's Honours Award for her dedication to promoting Nordic cuisine and drinking culture at home and abroad. I would like to draw particular attention to her enduring hard work and commitment to ensuring Norway's participation at the world's largest agricultural fair Grüner Woche," says the chairman of the jury Halvor Heuch.

The Honours Award is given to people who have made an outstanding contribution to promoting Nordic culinary and drinking traditions and who have acted as an ambassador for Linie Aquavit. The Honours Award has previously been given to Kari Traa, Per-Kristian Foss, Torkjell Berlufsen and Wilhelm Wilhelmsen.

The Linie Award includes a new category this year: "The Public's favourite". This prize went to a Norwegian amateur chef who has won the public's heart and was voted for by thereaders of Klikk.no after a recipe contest in cooperation with the Culinary Academy of Norway. Tina Kästel from Bergen was the proud winner of this award, which is a trip along the Linie Route.

These are the candidates' Linie Award entries:

Winner: Petter Beyer - Norway

Poached halibut with juniper-smoked bacon and a plum vinegar and wild garlic seed sauce

King crab and potato cake with tomato and dill

Potato dumpling with swede and peas

Aquavit-marinated halibut on glazed apple with horseradish and fried omega 3 Beetroot jelly

Akseli Herlevi - Finland

Birch flavoured perch, smoked potato purée, wood tar foam and RAW salad

Jeppe G. Rasmusen - Denmark

North Sea salmon with Danish lobster stuffing, lobster jelly, parsnip purée and lobster ravioli

Pulverised Spanish chervil oil, light sea-buckthorn cake, glazed fennel, frothy oyster sauce

Ashes

Fredrik Andersson - Sweden

Baked Pollock with smoked cream of celery, vegetables with cumin , blue mussel jelly and buttered fennel bouillon

For more information about the Linie Award, please do not hesitate to contact: Head of Communication at Arcus AS, Annette Fosaas by email: annette.fosaas@arcus.no or on phone: +47 41 52 69 64