Dette er en unik genindbinding af restaurant Nomas kogebog fra 2010. Bogen er produceret af naturlige materialer, som stemmer overens med restaurantens loyale holdning til lokale råvarer. Fordi restauranten ligger fem minutters gang fra mit værksted, gav det mening for mig, som lokal bogbinder, at udforske mulighederne for et projekt. Det blev derfor et personligt projekt og ikke en bestillingsvare.    

Bogens omslag består af materialer som jeg har samlet igennem 10 år. Dette inkluderer elgskind, som jeg købte på et Sami-marked i Lapland. Jeg vævede skindet sammen med blåt læder fra kasseret lakseskind for at forme kapitælbåndet, som løber langs toppen og bunden af bogens ryg. På kapitælbåndet i toppen tilføjede jeg sølv- og guldtråd.    

Det originale bogomslag fjernede jeg, og alle sider blev revet ud og renset for tråde, syninger og limrester. Dernæst blev siderne syet sammen igen og lagt i pres. Til det nye omslag brugte jeg kalveskind, da dets lyse farve, for mig, signalerer noget meget nordisk og cool. Titlen blev printet i 24-karat guld med et metallod som stammer fra det 15. Århundrede. Med undtagelse af bogstavet “o”, som jeg formede ud af en tynd skive marvben, som jeg gentagende gange kogte, for efterfølgende at udhule og skære så tynd som muligt med en lille sav. Den runde skive ben blev poleret med sandpapir, før jeg brugte en nål til at rense alle de små huller.  

Omslaget fugtede jeg, for bedre at kunne skabe en fordybning med den runde ben-skive, ved at presse den mod skindet. På bagsiden lavede jeg den samme prægning, men uden at fastgøre selve benet. Bagsiden kunne på denne måde give udtryk for, et måltid som var færdigt og en tallerken som var tom.

This is a unique rebind I did of restaurant Noma’s eponymous cookbook from 2010, using natural materials that are inspired by the restaurant’s allegiance to provenance and locally sourced ingredients. It was a personal project rather than a commission, but as the restaurant is located a few minutes’ walk from my studio I thought it made sense for me as a local bookbinder to explore this. 

For the cover, I used some of the materials I have been saving up during the last 10 years. This included moose skin which was bought at a Sami market in Lapland. I weaved this together with blue leather made from discarded salmon skin to form the headbands which run along the top and bottom of the book spine.  For the top headband, I added a sliver of gold thread.

The book was stripped of its original cover and I removed all threads, stitching’s and traces of glue. All the pages had to be torn out, cleaned and trimmed, sewn back together before resting them in a press. I used calfskin to make the new cover. Its light brown colour signals something cool, something very Nordic. I printed the title of the book in 24-carat gold, using lead type metal originating from the 15th century. Except for the letter “o”. This is formed out of a thin disc of marrow bone which I boiled repeatedly, gutted out, and then cut as thin as possible with a small saw. It was then polished with sandpaper before I used a needle to clean out all the small holes.

Moisture was added to the cover so I could press the bone into the skin and crate an indentation where the marrow bone disc would sit. On the back, I made a similar embossing but without the bone attached. It was appropriate that the mark of the bone was also embossed on the back, as if the dinner was finished and the plate was now empty.