New Delhi: A slice of Nobel banquet tradition has arrived in the national capital, fusing diplomacy with dessert. The Embassy of Sweden, in collaboration with L’Opera—a New Delhi-based French pâtisserie—launched an Alfred Nobel-inspired pastry on 4 May at the Swedish Embassy.
This creation, by L’Opéra’s Executive Chef, Kevin Duthel, was conceived as a tribute celebrating art, science and culinary creativity in honour of Alfred Nobel. Nobel, a Swedish chemist and engineer, is best known for inventing dynamite and for endowing his fortune to establish the Nobel Prizes.
The centrepiece flavours of L’Opera’s dessert are sea buckthorn, cardamom, buckwheat, and an Assam tea crémeux — the last serves as a bridge between the two nations.
“Every year, cafes and bakeries across Sweden create desserts inspired by the dessert served at the Nobel Prize Banquet. This year marks a special milestone as for the first time, a Nobel-inspired pastry has been created and launched in India,” said Jan Thesleff, the Ambassador of Sweden, during the special cultural evening in New Delhi. “I hope this will be the beginning of a long-lasting tradition.”
The first Nobel Prize ceremony in 1901 concluded with a banquet at Stockholm’s Grand Hotel. Over a century later, the event remains one of the world’s most anticipated celebrations. The 2025 banquet saw Swedish Pastry Chef Frida Bäcke, invited for the second year, paying homage to Swedish wild raspberries. It was inspired by her childhood memories of picking raspberries with her grandparents.
These pastries will be available at L’Opéra outlets starting 10 May. Executive Chef Kevin Duthel drew inspiration from the “new wave of Scandinavian gastronomy—hyper-local, ingredient-driven, and deeply rooted in Nordic terroir.”
“Scandinavian gastronomy has been democratised over the last fifteen years—through chefs who championed a hyper-local approach. I had the flavours: Berries, smoke, rye. The challenge was to build them, to harmonise them. For the design, I looked at Swedish design culture—wood and warmth—and, of course, the Nobel theme, rendered in gold,” Duthel said.
The dessert is triangular, much like a slice of cake, and is finished with a dark chocolate royal spray and a signature garnish bearing the initials AN in edible gold.
(Edited by Theres Sudeep)