Cook it Raw 2010: 16 Chefs go to Lapland

Festive and freezing times are fast approaching. And while at this time of year Lapland might be on the mind of small children thinking of Father Christmas, 16 of the world's best chefs had very different reasons for visiting the unspoilt region.

For the 3rd edition of Cook It Raw! intrepid chefs including René Redzepi, Albert Adrià, Pascal Barbot, Daniel Patterson and David Chang gathered in the wilderness of the Finnish Polar Circle for a four day exploration of the local wildlife, nature and ritual techniques, with visits to reindeer butchers and deer dairies to inspire their contemporary cuisine and broaden their cooking frontiers.

A typical day began at dawn with fishing on Lake Jerisiarvi, tracking bears and elks and picking up wild herbs, harvesting leaves from trees in the forest and foraging for roots, berries, mushrooms and wild plants.

It wasn't all foraging and found ingredients though - there was plenty of meat including wild duck, rabbit and reindeer - and everything in-between, from reindeer slaughtering, reindeer butchering, reindeer sausages, reindeer pancakes, reindeer milk and reindeer smoking.

The long weekend culminated in a final collective and collaborative dinner where chefs teamed up and helped each other compose and present different dishes musing on the wild ingredients and the importance of sustainability.