Noma Projects

Copenhagen's restaurant noma started Noma Projects in 2022 to sell sauces and pantry goods from its kitchen, many of them built on fermentation.

About Noma Projects

Based in
Copenhagen, Denmark
Founded
2022
Known for
fermented sauces and pantry goods from restaurant noma

Noma Projects is the pantry side of noma, the Copenhagen restaurant René Redzepi opened in 2003. It launched in 2022, and the first release was a smoked mushroom garum, a fermented sauce that grew out of the restaurant's fermentation lab. Products are made by hand in Copenhagen, close to the restaurant. Every label has been designed by artist David Shrigley and his team, and Shrigley has made illustrations for noma since 2010.

Fermentation is central to the line, which grew out of the restaurant's fermentation lab. Fermented sauces like these work as seasonings rather than sauces to pour: a splash in a broth, a stew or a risotto adds savory depth.

Noma Projects questions

What is garum?

Garum was the fermented fish sauce of ancient Phoenicia, Greece, Rome and Carthage, made by salting fish innards so natural enzymes broke them down into a savory liquid. Noma Projects' first release in 2022 revived the idea in a new form: a smoked mushroom garum, fermented with koji instead of fish, that grew out of noma's fermentation lab.

What is koji, and why does noma use it?

Koji is a grain, most often rice, grown with a mold called Aspergillus oryzae. As it grows, its enzymes break proteins apart and free glutamic acid, the source of the savory taste called umami. Noma's kitchen uses koji in place of the fish-gut enzymes of ancient garum, so it can build that savory depth from mushrooms and grains instead of fish.

Read our Noma Projects guideSee all brands