Elle Save Gaup-Oskal hails from northern Norway, from a small village called Máze. She is a Sámi reindeer herder and trained cook.
She loves cooking, especially Sámi cooking, as that’s what she grew up with at home. She also loves cooking because it emphasizes the use of everything that comes from reindeer, there’s no waste and it’s all about sustainability. ” We waste nothing. And we get all our main ingredients from nature. It’s nutritious and sustainable . »
Elle aime également faire preuve de créativité en élaborant de nouvelles recettes à partir d’ingrédients saamis.
She has taken part in numerous culinary events, sharing traditional and innovative recipes. Since 2022, she has been one of the main leaders of the NOMAD Indigenous FoodLab, a project run by the International Center for Reindeer Husbandry and World Reindeer Herders. As part of the NOMAD project, she took part in Arendal Week in Norway in 2022 and 2023, the Bocuse d’Or Winners dinner in Lyon (France) in January 2023, the World Food Forum at UN headquarters in Rome (Italy) in 2022 and 2023, and the Bocuse d’Or Europe in Trondheim in March 2024. She has also cooked at numerous cultural and gastronomic events in the Saami regions of Scandinavia.
Elle Save Gaup-Oskal shares cooking recipes and stories on her Instagram and Facebook page.