Theme
Pitstops around the island
Written by Joan Øhrstrøm
Photo by: Semko Balcerski
From the outside, Torvehal Bornholm completely resembles itself with its red brick walls under the red tile roof. But if you move into the old slaughterhouse, you, as a returning guest, will quickly discover that the place has been busy since last summer. Next to the café counter, the Torvehal has expanded the café. In the historic and rustic setting with authentic butcher tiles on the walls, you’ll find a bar every Friday afternoon, just as events are on the first Friday of each month. Rosé bingo, kombucha bar, DJ, delicious food and cocktails with a professional bartender, to name a few.
With the extra café space, the place has also become even more noticeable as a place for private parties and events. Torvehallen can also deliver menus designed according to the guest’s wishes. As something completely new, Torvehallen has got its own chef, Laila Williamson, who manages the charcuterie daily, from where she keeps the cooking going well. In addition to dishes such as pork roast and roast beef, you can buy the island’s, reportedly, best freshly fried fish balls, just as you can buy a wealth of different homemade pickled things, sausages, meat etc. You can taste it all because the menus with, for example, paninis, open-faced sandwiches and more are not only available as takeaway. You can enjoy your meal in the hall’s café or the cosy yard blooming with flowers.
Inside, the colours also light up nicely from another of the hall’s new initiatives – the fruit and vegetable stall. In collaboration with Hammersly Økojord, Torvehallen has become both a sales point and a delivery point for organic vegetables, fruit and berries. Customers at Hammersly can pick up their Bornholm grown vegetables in Torvehallen, just as the production that remains in surplus is sold in Torvehallen. The hall also deals with small, exciting entrepreneurs’ goods and delicacies from the rest of Denmark to attract local customers. Although Torvehallen has begun to look towards the rest of the country, they still know everything regarding the island’s producers – for example, honey.
Honey has a wonderful aftertaste depending on where the hives are. Nature lover and nature guide Susanne Stenholm, behind Bikompagniet, cultivates this consciously by setting up her hives in various places around the island. She also names the honey after the area where it was harvested. Bikompagniet’s easily recognizable honey glass with purple lid and specially designed labels are called, Døndalen, Blemmelyng, Højlyngen and Hvidkløvermarken etc., so you as a consumer can swarm around your own favourite places – and explore which plants, shrubs and flowers each honey has its taste from. The pure and site-specific honey also shines through the colour, which changes according to the season. The early spring honey is always very light, and the further into the year we get, the darker the honey gets.
Torvehallen also sells other glasses that add flavour, namely from Bornholms Krydderikompagni. The producer Hendrik Lenz makes his own exciting spice mixes based at Nexø Konservesfabrik. Bornholms Krydderikompagni mixes the spices themselves and puts them together to give just the right taste. Several blends have names, such as lamb, chicken and beef, so it is easy to provide the dishes at home with the right taste. In addition to the total of 17 different mixtures, seven flavour compositions are also available as grinders. Blends like tikka masala, harissa and golden milk. In Torvehallen, you can go on a journey in a world of aromas.
