Swedish cuisine had a seat at the table during Nordic Feed event I attended late August in Copenhagen.
It was not represented on my ever expanding bookshelves until I was the lucky recipent of Traditional Swedish Cooking (Skyhorse Publishing, October 22, 2011) by Caroline Hofberg.
I will not try to highlight the differences between Swedish cooking and that of its Scandinavian neighbors. I am still getting my feet wet regarding this region of the world.
In her introduction, Caroline Hofberg credits her grandmother's cookbooks as an inspiration instarting this project.
Like her Danish neighbors, she writes that she 'is concerned with how to preserve our traditional Swedish food culture while alllowing it to develop with the exoric influences that our current times give us access to.'
Her book offers numerous 'herrings' variations including buckling recipes, for example Aquavit herring with root vegetables.
The photos illustrating Traditional Swedish Cooking don't limit themselves to food, they show its scenery from flowers to sea, its people. They give you a real feel for the place, illuminating the subject.
Choosing a couple recipes to share was a challenge as I liked many of them.
What could be more part of Nordic food than lingonberries?
Here's a slice of Traditional Swedish Cookbook.
LINGONBERRY CHEESECAKE
To me, lingonberries and cinnamon are typical fall and winter flavors, but they go well together any time of the year. I like to use lingonberries and lingonberry jam when baking, because the berries have a refreshing and moderately sweet taste.
Serves 8–10
8.8 oz. graham crackers
7 tbsp. melted butter
1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
Filling
3 eggs
3 tbsp. granulated sugar
7 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup crème fraîche
2 tsp. vanilla sugar
1/3 cup lingonberry jam
Jelly
1 gelatin leaf
1/3 cup of concentrated lingonberry juice (You can also use concentrated cranberry juice.)
1/3 cup lingonberry jam
– Crumble biscuits in a food processor.Add the melted butter and cinnamon and mix into a crumbly mass. Press the dough into a baking pan with removable bottom, 10 inches in diameter. Let it stand in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
– Preheat the oven to 325°F. Prebake the piecrust in the middle of the oven for about
– Beat eggs and sugar until fluffy.Whisk in the remaining ingredients.
– Pour filling into the pie shell and bake on the middle rack of the oven, about 35 minutes. The filling should have gelled somewhat but still be a little loose in the middle.The filling will firm up even more once it cools off. Let the pie cool.
– Soak the gelatin leaf in cold water for about 5 minutes. Heat the lingonberry drink and remove the pan from the heat. Remove the gelatin leaf from cold water and allow it to slowly melt in the lingonberry drink. Let the gel cool in the fridge until it has a suitable consistency that can be spooned over the pie.
– Spread a thin layer of jam over the pie and carefully spoon the gel over it. Cover the pie and store it in the refrigerator, preferably overnight.
(* Lingonberry Cheesecake recipe from Traditional Swedish Cooking by Caroline Hofberg- Skyhorse Publishing, October 22, 2011- reproduced by permission of the publisher, all rights reserved)