Ben Pifher/MDN Stig Hansen in the foreground, with student helpers from Minot High School, serve food to guests at Marketplace Foods in Minot on Tuesday during the Meet the Chef event before the upcoming Norsk Hostfest. Hansen is cooking as part of a culinary demonstration.

A visiting chef brought a taste of Denmark to a Minot grocery store Tuesday.

Marketplace Foods on 20th Avenue was the scene of dancing, music and dining as people gathered to celebrate prior to Norsk Hostfest. Meet the Chef has been held for more than 20 years.

Chef Stig Hansen traveled from his home in Denmark to Minot for this event and others at the Hostfest in Minot, which runs from today through Saturday. Hansen said he was born and raised in Denmark and moved to the United States when he was 22. He now travels quite a bit, between visiting family, friends and attending events in the U.S. and his home in Denmark. Hansen is one of three chefs at Hostfest who perform demonstrations at the Nordic Kitchen, a demonstration performed six times each day, during which guests can learn some of their recipes and try cuisines from across the world. Hansen said this year will be his ninth year of cooking at the festival, and he will be making open-faced sandwiches, a Denmark staple, for the education and enjoyment of the crowd.

Hansen said he likes offering traditional Danish foods to the people who come to the festival. He has been in the kitchen his whole life, he said. He ended up moving back to Denmark after his high school sweetheart reached out through a social media app. He said they had been messaging back and forth, and when he went to Denmark to visit his father, they met up. After spending 40 years in the U.S., he moved home but comes back frequently.

The chef prepared a wide variety of food, some familiar, some foreign, during Meet the Chef. He was assisted in serving a meal of pickled and curried herring, crab salad, soup, fresh fruit, meatballs and meats and cheeses by culinary students from Minot High School.

Grace Notes also performed live music to an audience at Marketplace Foods, with several couples dancing among the band, the food and rows of tables.

Viola Schell and Donald Hoffart said they came to the event for the dancing and the food. Hoffart said they are the official dancers with an accordion club and will be dancing this week at Hostfest.