{"id":38,"date":"2008-08-03T08:35:07","date_gmt":"2008-08-03T12:35:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/?p=38"},"modified":"2008-08-03T08:35:07","modified_gmt":"2008-08-03T12:35:07","slug":"world-class-swedish-cuisine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/world-class-swedish-cuisine\/","title":{"rendered":"World Class Swedish Cuisine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week when I read about the Swedish agriculture minister Eskil Erlandsson<\/strong>‘s statement that he hopes to establish Sweden as haute cuisine leader of the world, I naturally assumed it was a joke. Or maybe that the venerable government official had one too many shots of Absolut<\/strong>. Because c\u2019mon now, \u201cSweden\u201d and \u201cworld-class\u201d cuisine in the same sentence? I\u2019m trying not to laugh too hard as I\u2019m chewing on a bit of falukrov<\/strong> while eating in front of the computer. Yet it seems Mr. Erlandsson<\/strong> was totally serious.<\/p>\n

Sweden may be famous for many things. Elks (yes, you can call them \u201cmoose\u201d if you want), buxom blondes, gender equality, state-provided welfare, pop music, Saabs<\/strong>, Volvos<\/strong> (even though both are now technically American), Ikea<\/strong> and so on. But food? Nah, never heard of it. Unless we\u2019re talking about the Swedish Chef here. Bork, bork, bork!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Actually, no, Sweden has a few celebrity chefs, but as soon as they attain a certain level of fame they run to New York, or to other places, where people appreciate truly good food. Marcus Samuelsson<\/strong> and his \u201cAquavit\u201d restaurant immediately come to mind. I was just reading the \u201cAquavit\u201d site, and I don\u2019t know about you, but when a restaurant’s website in the very first sentence chooses to praise its interior d\u00e9cor and furniture, something seems amiss to me. I was going to peruse the menu as well, but when a famous restaurant still uses pdfs for its menus, which additionally open in a new pop-up window, I kind of lose interest. Maybe they are so focused on their celebrated interior d\u00e9cor, sorry, I meant food, they didn\u2019t get the memo that most people these days use pop-up blockers.<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s get back to our misguided minister of agriculture. He reportedly likes simple home cooking, like meatballs, potatoes and pancakes accompanied by a glass of cold milk. Hey, sounds like a perfect example of world-class haute cuisine to me.<\/p>\n

Really\u2026 When thinking about countries famous for their gastronomic achievements, places like France and Italy and Japan come to mind. Sweden? Nah! When thinking about Swedish gastronomic achievements, meatballs, pickled herring, fish eggs (called here \u201ckaviar<\/strong>\u201d, but trust me, it\u2019s as close to real caviar as I am to Miss Universe) in a tube, falukorv<\/strong>, gravadlax<\/strong> and pytt i panna<\/strong> come to mind.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

From left to right: oxpytt<\/strong> (potatoes in pieces with bits of meat and onion, a variety on pytt i panna<\/strong>), gravadlax<\/strong> (raw salmon cured in salt, sugar and dill), sill<\/strong> (pickled herring in a jar), falukorv<\/strong> (not exactly sure what it is, but it purports to be a big fat pink sausage), Kalles kaviar<\/strong> in a tube, and typical northern flatbread.<\/em><\/p>\n

And oh yeah, don\u2019t forget surstr\u00f6mming<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

Surstr\u00f6mming<\/strong> can be considered many things. It can be an explosive, or a biological weapon, or an instrument of torture, but to think of it as food is a bit of a stretch. Because the season for surstr\u00f6mming<\/strong> is approaching, I will prepare a separate post about it soon \u2013 I even found a willing victim, err, I mean a taster, to demonstrate this delicacy for you.<\/p>\n

Here I suppose would be a good time to declare that I do like most Swedish food. After all, I bought all of the stuff in the photo above. High-class cuisine it\u2019s definitely not, but it\u2019s simple, easy to make, convenient and very utilitarian.<\/p>\n

And if there\u2019s one Swedish dish that I\u2019m a huge fan of, it would be souvas<\/strong>. Technically, \u201csouvas<\/strong>\u201d is a Sami word meaning \u201cr\u00f6kt<\/strong>\u201d (smoked) in Swedish. And that\u2019s exactly what it is \u2013 thinly sliced smoked reindeer meat, which can be later stir fried and eaten fajita-style wrapped in a typically northern sheet of flatbread. So you could say, it\u2019s an Arctic kebab, or a polar fajita. Oh yeah, now I guess I need to tell you about the Sami. OK, I will. Wait for the next post.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Making souvas at the Gammlia Christmas market last year.<\/em><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how I make my souvas:<\/p>\n

A couple of slices of reindeer meat, cut up in strips
\nA handful of shredded cabbage (yes, I know it\u2019s not traditional, but you need to get your nutrition from somewhere)
\nA handful of sliced mushrooms
\nSome shredded carrot if you like
\nA bit of sliced onion<\/p>\n

Stir fry everything with a bit of oil, add salt and pepper to taste. Or be unorthodox and use soy sauce.<\/p>\n

Add some parsley if you like the taste.
\nSlice a couple of tomatoes.
\nPrepare some sour cream or yogurt dressing.<\/p>\n

Get a pita bread, or even a tortilla, if you don\u2019t have Nordic flatbread handy and stuff if all up, roll it up and enjoy!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Last week when I read about the Swedish agriculture minister Eskil Erlandsson‘s statement that he hopes to establish Sweden as haute cuisine leader of the world, I naturally assumed it was a joke. Or maybe that the venerable government official had one too many shots of Absolut. Because c\u2019mon now, \u201cSweden\u201d and \u201cworld-class\u201d cuisine in…<\/p>\n

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