The Baltic cruise ferry company Viking Line has introduced a new Tastes of Nature menu aboard its Baltic sailings, focusing on local ingredients and authentic flavors,

According to Viking, “verdant Nordic nature, babbling brooks and fog-enshrouded meadows will provide the ingredients to be served to customers from October 1, 2016, to February 28, 2017.

In a contest held on the Viking Grace, in which Viking Line’s chefs competed for the third straight year, 18 chefs created 55 different dishes. Fifteen were chosen to be served in the restaurants on board the company’s vessels. Among the dishes selected were reindeer fillet, wild duck, elk steak, whitefish fillet and sea buckthorn parfait.

“Our chefs are ambitious and meticulous, which could be seen in the very high level of the contest entries. They want to offer our customers the very best. Nordic nature and its flavours are important to a lot of people, and we are proud that we can also serve them to the customers on our vessels,” said Bodil Stahl, Viking Line Restaurant Chef.

In this year’s contest, the Gabriella chefs Maarit Juvonen, Jouni Ukkonen and Ilkka Laasio had the most dishes based on their own recipes included in the Tastes of Nature menu. The prize for these three winning chefs is a dinner at Faviken, a restaurant in the Swedish skiing resort of Are which earned two Michelin stars this year.

Viking Line’s customers will be able to enjoy the Tastes of Nature menu in the à la carte restaurants on all vessels from the beginning of October to the end of February.

(Photo: (from left) Chefs Jouni Ukkonen, Maarit Juvonen and Ilkka Laasio aboard the Gabriella