Meet Mette Nielsen, photographer for ‘Minnesota’s Bounty – The Farmers Market Cookbook’

Discover the Colorful & Appealing Cookbook By Beth Dooley with Photographs by Mette Nielsen

Review by Susanne Hohlen, The Danish Pioneer Newspaper’s Minnesota Local Editor, shohlen@uslink.net

Attending the annual Danish Days in early June at the Danish American Center in Minneapolis is always a rewarding experience in many ways. I get to speak Danish for the day, I enjoy Danish food which is always a treat to a true Dane and I enjoy meeting familiar faces as well as making new connections.

This year a new vendor was present with a most colorful and appealing book titled “Minnesota’s Bounty: The Farmers Market Cookbook” sold by ex-pat Mette Nielsen. The book is a user’s guide to shopping and cooking from the local farmers market while applying a practical, easy approach to creating a truly seasonal kitchen which can be a challenge with the short growing season Minnesota offers.

I must admit I am not a market goer for whatever reason – I tend to do all of my shopping at our local grocery store. My time spent in the kitchen is minimal any more although I don’t mind cooking (love eating), trying to implement a healthy and varied diet. Primarily, I find myself being “food intimidated”, not quite sure what to do with turnips, rutabagas and kohlrabi, just to mention a few vegetables unique to Minnesota. The result is I stay in my food comfort zone afraid of looking beyond the frying pan.

After having purchased and perused the book and with Mette’s blessing, I opted to do a review of the book in hopes this could be a self-help tool easing some cooking fear and empower me to visit our local growers market.

Mette Nielsen’s background: Mette was born and raised in Copenhagen, Denmark and moved to Minnesota in 1980 after marrying a man from St. Paul (whom she met in Israel while volunteering in a kibbutz.).  Mette has worked as a commercial photographer here in the Metro area since 1984. Food photography has been her main focus since 1986. She photographs for many large food companies, for advertising, marketing, cookbooks, packaging and magazines.

Mette is a true food aficionado – she loves to garden, to cook, to eat and of course photograph food. As a child she did not have a huge liking for food, but when her mother started subscribing to a series of international cookbooks in the late 1960s and introduced exotic spices to the meals she was hooked!

Mette stays true to her love and passion for nature’s abundance of edibles converting her city front yard into a perennial garden, with rhubarb and berry bushes galore, mixed with some edible flowers and herbs. Her back yard is a blend of vegetables and fruits, mixed in with a tiny bit of grass and a few flowers.

Beth Dooley and Mette met many years ago and became reintroduced through mutual friends about 5 years ago and knew immediately they wanted to work together. When Beth contacted Mette 3 1/2 years ago about the farmer’s market cookbook, Mette knew it would be a great fit. They work very well together, bounce ideas off each other and even though Mette was not involved in the actual writing of Minnesota’s Bounty, Beth would often run ideas by her, seeking her input.

The book is photographed at farmers markets across Minnesota in original settings. All photos were shot with available light, exactly how it was arranged by the farmers and growers. Mette normally works in a studio with controlled lighting where the food is moved around for a long time to obtain the perfect look.  With this book she wanted a much more natural look.

It took Mette almost 3 years to photograph the pictures for the book as she was always looking for the best presentation and the best light. It really is a labor of love. Mette is so indebted to the great farmers who grow this amazing array of foods in a very challenging climate, year after year.

The book is really a “field guide to the farmers markets” as someone described to Beth and Mette – they wanted a very user friendly book, look at what the market has to offer and cook that! Season after season. And that it is with more than 200 recipes, ideas and tips for local farm fresh food.  Off to market we go – bon appetit Minnesota style and don’t let those turnips intimidate you.

I am sure we will be hearing and reading a lot more about Mette in the near future, as she is currently working on two other cookbooks with Beth Dooley, one of which she will  co-author.

Editor’s note:  If you would like to learn more about the book, please visit www.facebook.com/MinnesotasBounty. I would also like to thank Mette for sharing her background with me and for allowing me to do this review using the front cover of the book as illustration.