It all started after the Belgian city of Ghent on its website called on citizens to “follow the Scandinavian tradition” and prepare their Christmas trees to reduce waste after the Christmas celebration. Under the heading “Eat your Christmas tree” it was therefore advised to eat dried pine needles.
This prompted Belgian health authorities to issue a warning – as many cultivated Christmas trees are treated with pesticides. It is also difficult to determine whether the trees have also been treated with fire retardants, which “can pose a danger to life”, according to the authorities.
After the warnings, Gent changed the title of his post to “Scandinavians eat Christmas trees”.
The chef: “A good initiative”
The Swedish Food Agency agrees that grown Christmas trees in the trade “are not to be considered as food”. On the other hand, it is not uncommon for spruce shoots from young and wild trees to be used in Sweden, for example, to make butter and other products, which may have contributed to the Belgian reputation.
Vilhjalmur Sigurdarson, chef at the top restaurant Souvenir in Ghent, likes to work with conifers in his cooking – as long as they are fresh.
– Not everyone has to eat their Christmas tree, but I think it’s a good initiative to encourage people to think about it, he says to Belgian television.
Watch how Vilhjalmur Sigurdarson prepares butter from pine nuts to put on the sandwich in the video above.