Food Blog of the Month: HellesKitchen

Each month, Mathallen focuses on a food blog that we find exciting, delicious and inspiring. The food blogger of the month will then be both a main guest and writer on our website, and will share experiences, experiences and tips from Mathallen every week in the relevant month. 

Get to know this month's food blogger better - HellesKitchen

HellesKitchen is one of the country's most popular food blogs these days. The woman behind the blog is Helle Øder Valebrokk, a hobby chef and gastronaut living in Oslo. In addition to the blog, she works as a freelance journalist and writes about her great passions – food, drink and travel. And that's exactly what her blog is about; food, wine, cocktails and food-related destinations.

How long have you been a blogger?
I have been blogging for 7 years.

How many blog posts do you publish on average per month?
I publish 3-7 times a week. It depends a bit on whether I'm in the country or not. When I'm traveling a lot, like I am these days, I don't publish as often as when I'm at home.

What do you want with your blog?
I want to learn with the reader. There are many things I am curious about and then I investigate the matter a little more closely. It could be an in-depth look at a dish or a topic such as natural wine or ramen, and then I read up on it and write about it. I talk to people like chefs or wine experts and get the info I need to be able to write a story about it.

When it comes to the recipes on the blog, it's food that I make at home and that I hope the reader will make. I want to convey the joy of food and the importance of making homemade food.

I also create food-related travel articles from exciting destinations and mix drinks and test wine. At HellesKitchen you should be able to find what you need from great tips for travel destinations, the weekend cocktail and the everyday dish with a little something extra.

What was your most popular blog post about?
My most popular blog posts (there are two right next to each other) are about rum drinks and the other is a post about perfect duck breast in orange sauce. That probably describes my audience very well too: They like to have a drink, but also like to cook a delicious meal.

What is your favorite dish that you make yourself, and why?
My favorite dish is ribs. Not Christmas ribs, but all other varieties. I absolutely eat ribs all year round. I have about 35 recipes for ribs on the blog, and no two are alike. I love ribs because they are such a versatile cut that cooks itself in the oven without much fuss. It is no problem to get crispy skin with a few tricks. Of course, you can find the recipe for that on my blog.

What I also like about ribs is that you can flavor them with almost anything in the world. If you like fruit, that's fine. If you want lots of spices, that's perfect too.

What is your favorite raw material, and why?
My favorite ingredient is the lemon. I love the smell of grated lemon peel and use it in many dishes. I use the juice to adjust a sauce or a dressing. I don't think I could cook without having lemon on hand.

What is your favorite restaurant, and why?
My favorite restaurant is located in a small town in Spain called Cadaques. The restaurant Share run by the same people behind the two-star restaurant Enjoy in Barcelona.

Compartir means "to share" and that's exactly the kind of food you get here. Delicious sharing dishes with local ingredients. The place is informal (because I can't stand stiff places) and we know the people who work there after having been there 11-12 times in the last few years. The dishes are beautiful without being silly and the flavors are formidable. By the way, did I forget to mention that the three people who run the restaurant used to work at El Bulli under Ferran Adrià?

Can you name one of your best stories related to the blog?
I got a really troll comment. After some research, I found out that the message came from a machine in the school system, so anyone could have sent it. Anyway. The comment was pretty fresh and contained descriptions of people that can't be repeated here, but I picked out some of the key words from the comment and then I made a dish consisting of the words salmon and prunes.

It became a very popular post and a good response to the internet troll. I haven't heard anything from him since.

You can find the recipe I made in response to the internet troll check here

Want to get to know Helle and her blog better? Maybe pick up some more inspiring recipes like the nettroll recipe Skjøgen's salmon with prunes? Visit Helleskitchen.org, and stay tuned to our website in the coming weeks for more fun input from Helle!