Born in the vibrant city of Singapore with a unique Eurasian blend of Portuguese and Chinese heritage, my journey has taken me from the bustling streets of Singapore to the serene and open landscapes of Sweden. My educational pursuits in Singapore culminated at tertiary level with two separate Master degrees, after which I embarked on a new adventure in 2002, moving to Sweden. In Sweden, I pursued with deep interest, the knowledge field of applied linguistics, particularly corpus linguistics research methods, earning a doctoral degree from one of northern Europe’s largest universities, the University of Gothenburg. I currently work as Project Manager, focusing on EU and international projects, at RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, at the Division of Bioeconomy and Health, Department of Agriculture and Food. My office is located in Mölndal municipality. Mölndal, known also as the Valley of Mills, is located about ten minutes by bus ride from the city center of Gothenburg to the south. If you’re ever traveling south from Gothenburg to Malmö, whether by train or car, you will likely come by Mölndal municipality. In these pages at cmariec.com, you’ll find my lifestyle musings on culinary and travel adventures from Singapore to Sweden, and from when I lived and worked the Arctic City of Tromsø (2018 to mid-2022). SINGAPORE | SWEDEN | NORTHERN NORWAY Life in Singapore Pursued all academic interests in Singapore, of which the post-graduate years were founded in two separate disciplines. In 2000, graduated with two separate Masters Degrees: (i) Master of Science in Information Studies at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore (ii) Master of Arts in the English Language at the National University of Singapore (NUS). In 1999, represented the Republic of Singapore at the Miss Universe Pageant in Trinidad and Tobago. With this came a variety of film, educational TV, media, and ambassadorial work for the Singapore Tourism Board. Life in Sweden In 2002, moved from Singapore to Sweden in order to pursue a PhD in Gothenburg, where a number of international corporate head offices were located that all had a substantial business presence in Singapore and also Asia in general. In 2009, graduated with a PhD in applied critical linguistics from the faculty of humanities at the University of Gothenburg, with a cross-disciplinary thesis entitled, Swedish management in Singapore: a discourse analysis study, looking particularly into the concepts of assimilation, integration and hierarchy, at top management levels of Swedish-Asian corporations in Singapore. 2013, as research fellow at the Centre for International Business Studies (CIBS), School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, researching the future implications of increasing Asian-Swedish cooperation within the field of international business. The project is entitled Gothenburg in Asia, Asia in Gothenburg, funded by the Anna Ahrenberg Foundation. The project is aligned with the 400 years anniversary of the city of Gothenburg in 2021, and falls under the broad category of Kunskap Göteborg 2021 initiated by city representatives of Gothenburg, Göteborg & Co, University of Gothenburg and Chalmers University of Technology. 2015, was granted the Flexit post-doctoral scholarship by Bank of Sweden Tercentennary Foundation (Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, RJ) for a three year project together with the Swedish-Swiss multinational enterprise ABB. From 2015-17, the research will take place at ABB Corporate Research Sweden HQ in Västerås, and at CIBS during 2017-18. The research focus of the project is how new technologies are perceived and accepted by users and customers, using linguistic methods of data analysis. More information can be found at RJ’s website, at Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (RJ) Felxit 2015. Life in Northern Norway (2018-2022) 2018, late summer. I acquired new work as Market Scientist at Nofima. Having moved to the county of Troms in August, I’m currently enjoying myself, exploring the island city of Tromsø. From the 1900s, this city became known as Paris of the North due to how the people of Tromsø were exceptionally stylish and sophisticated in contrast to the fishing village preconception that many might have of a city located in the Arctic Circle. In my years in Sweden, I have known Sweden to be called the land of the midnight sun. During the long summer mights, it was beautiful to sit and watch the sun’s languid pendulation between east and west, touching the horizon out at sea before going up again. Northern Norway takes this languid pendulation of the sun to the extreme. It is not only known as the land of the midnight sun, but it is also the land of polar nights and the northern lights. This is my new adventure. And in these lifestyle blog pages, you’ll find my personal thoughts, insights and musings. Cheryl Marie Cordeiro | PhD MSc MA ACADEMIC REFLECTIONS | CV LIFESTYLE BLOG

Chocolate Fudge

Old fashioned chocolate fudge 1, Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

Smooth and melts in your mouth!
Photo Cheryl M Cordeiro-Nilsson © 2009

It was late in the evening and it had been a long day of reviewing papers for an upcoming conference. I didn’t feel a need for a full meal but needed a sugar rush fix of sweet chocolate. I thought I could reach into the cabinet for that packet of chocolate coated Daim bits but alas! Someone else had gotten to them before I. So I settled to make chocolate fudge.

Chocolate fudge or fudge in general is not for the faint of heart calorie counters because it is by definition, a sugar bomb. It’s fairly easy to make because it doesn’t need that much looking after (like kaya or bernaise sauce) and it takes about 30 minutes cooking time.

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Perfect Polar Bear swimming weather!

Swedish westcoast, iced seas, January 2010

After several weeks of snowfall and -15 C along the Swedish westcoast.
Photo C M Cordeiro-Nilsson © 2009

It has been several weeks of snowfall and a constant -15 C in Sweden, though this week has warmed to a -8 C. Nonetheless, the temperatures have resulted in a blanket of white on land and an ice capped sea that is currently perfect for the Scandinavian sauna tradition that comes with winter swimming.
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Amaro Montenegro Tiramisù

Amaro Montenegro tiramisu with shaved chocolate topping

Tiramisù with Amaro Montenegro.
Photo JE Nilsson and C M Cordeiro-Nilsson © 2009

It was in Venice slightly more than a year ago, that I really fell in love with Tiramisù. It came as a wobbly cake served in a backlane restaurant of the labyrinth of Venice that would have been difficult to locate, if not for the recommendation.

Although many would today experience Tiramisù in the form of a cake slice, this Italian dessert had its beginnings during the 17th century in Siena, a northwestern Italian province of Tuscany, when the Grand Duke Cosimo de’ Medici III (1642-1723) had a somewhat similar dessert during his visit there in a custard consistency.
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January Epiphany in Frost

Frosted windowpanes, Sweden, January 2010, Epiphany

Frosted windowpanes, for real.
Photo Cheryl Marie Cordeiro-Nilsson © 2009

Here are two postcards from the westcoast of Sweden today. Epiphany in Sweden is a public holiday, where most would by now, take down their Christmas decorations after 12 days of Christmas. The difference this year is that Epiphany arrived along with snow drift and gorgeous frosted windowpanes!

Snow weathered, Sweden January 2010, Epiphany

Weathered.

Growing up in Singapore, it was always spray painted snow on windowpanes that I saw come Christmas in the department stores. While the decorations were pretty, it failed to convey the real meaning of frost to one so tropical as I.

The windowpanes frost over when the outside is minus degrees and the inside gets from plus to a subsequent minus in temperature, thereby allowing the moisture on the glass panes to crystallize – it all sounds so technically simple. Of course. But fact is, it’s as cold indoors as it is outdoors!

Cheryl Marie Cordeiro reading Anthony Robbins

Some quiet reading with Anthony Robbins.

It being a public holiday and snowy outside, it gives perfect opportunity for me to fold up in front of a fireplace in warm woollen clothes and catch up on some of my favourite reads.

Chocolate gyllenmust

Swedish gyllenmust, Vahlrhona cocoa powder, gingerbread cookies

Chocolate gyllenmust (oatmeal drink) with gingerbread cookies.
Photo Cheryl Marie Cordeiro-Nilsson © 2009

As with the United Kingdom, Sweden is experiencing some harshly cold weather these days, averaging a -10 deg C outside with strong winds.

What I find quite comforting for the weather is an oatmeal based hot drink that in Sweden is called Gyllenmust. The finely ground oatmeal once cooked, gives a wonderfully thick consistency that fills the stomach.

Milk in a pot, on a stove with cinnamon, ready for gyllenmust making

A dash of cinnamon into the warming milk starts the process.

Traditionally, Gyllenmust is made with milk and sweetened with raisins dropped in during the cooking process. I like to have mine unsweetened, with a hint of cinnamon and a more generous helping of cocoa powder. A cup of this chocolate oatmeal drink and some gingerbread cookies can make most anyone snug in the cold.

A Swedish westcoast New Year’s 2010

Cheryl Marie Cordeiro, Swedish westcoast New Year's 2010

Ushering in 2010 along the Swedish westcoast.
Photo Jan-Erik Nilsson © 2009

New Year’s Eve 2010 was greeted along the Swedish westcoast by a bluemoon (a second full moon this month that happens once every 20 years) that hung low and glowed luminously. Beautiful sight!

Swedish westcoast New Year's 2010

Fireworks in the neighbourhood, Swedish westcoast.

In Sweden, it’s customary that people buy their own fireworks to set alight in their gardens. About fifteen minutes to midnight, people were already setting off their fireworks!

New Year's fireworks, Swedish westcoast 2010

A burst of purple and gold for 2010!

This year, our neighbours had a riot of a time with fireworks, with their children filling the air with excitable screams and shouts as each rocket took off.

1 am into the night and the odd set of fireworks box was still going off. Surreal.

Hönsafest i juletid 2009: homecoming party aboard the Swedish East Indiaman Götheborg III ship

Jan-Erik Nilsson, Anders and Berit Wästfelt, founders of the Gotheborg III ship project, Sweden

Founders of the Swedish East Indiaman Gotheborg III ship project: Jan-Erik Nilsson (right), Anders and Berit Wästfelt (left). They’re standing with Stefan Andersson (in 18th century attire), who provided the main entertainment for the ship’s homecoming party.
Photo JE Nilsson and CM Cordeiro-Nilsson © 2009

Definition of Hönsafest by Västsverige

It was with their lives that sailors put out when they set sail to China during the 1700s aboard the Swedish East India Company vessels from the port of Gothenburg. Crew members had to endure storms, pirates, shipwrecks and sudden death. The attraction for them were money, adventure, the smell of warm spices and the possibility of a romp or two with exotic women from distant lands. All crew had to pay a mandatory hösapengen or homecoming money once the vessel reached the Equator. This money went into a big party when they came home again. Perhaps it was the idea of this feast, which lasted for three weeks, that kept up the spirits for the sailors when their teeth fell out in the aftermath of scurvy.

It couldn’t have a been better time to throw a staged homecoming party for the Swedish East Indiaman vessel Gotheborg III than in the wintry months of Sweden, when the ship is safely tarpaulined and docked.

Looking like a large white Christmas package at dockside, guests to the Hönsafest i juletid event that began in late November and continues through December 2009 in Gothenburg, were first invited for refreshments at the main warehouse before boarding the ship.

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Knäck – the classic Swedish Christmas candy

Julgodis, knäck, Swedish toffee, Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

Swedish classic Christmas candy – knäck.
Photo Jan-Erik Nilsson © 2009

Not too complicated to make, always appreciated, but demanding of your patience is the Swedish classic Christmas candy – knäck. It’s similar to English toffee but still not quite. Nothing sets the Christmas mood as well as a full tray of knäck. Here is how we made it this Christmas:

Julgodis, knäck in pot, Swedish toffee, Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

To use a large pot and to stir all the time is an essential trick of the trade. Possibly more failed candy are eaten straight out of the pot then actually perfected ones. But no worries, as it’s all part of the fun.

You can make knäck with or without nuts. Our batch this year was smooth, without the crunch.

Swedish classic Christmas candy – knäck
3 dl cream
3 dl sugar
3 dl light syrup
2 tbs butter
2 dl sweet almonds peeled and chopped (optional)

1. Chop the almonds. Lose the smallest particles.
2. Mix all ingredients minus the almonds in a large pot.
3. Boil while stirring until it reaches 125 centigrades, don’t even look away.
4. Add almonds
5. Fill the paper tins (ca 100). Don’t let the pot get cold.
6. Store on an open tray.

Julgodis, knäck filling up in paper forms, Swedish toffee, Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

Find a small good suitable spoon for filling the paper tins or they will topple.

Some useful tips when making knäck:

Use average, not too hot a flame. Stir absolutely all the time. Find a small good suitable spoon for filling the paper cups or they’re prone to toppling over by the weight of the seductive goo. Avoid stacking the filled paper cups since they will stick together. There is a “drop test” in water that you can use to see if the temperature is right.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Mousse and Peppermint Chocolate drops

Chocolate mousse with brownie in the middle, strawberries on top and white chocolate, Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

Chocolate mousse with shaved white chocolate and strawberries on top.
Photo Jan-Erik Nilsson for CMC © 2009

The Swedish julbord or Christmas Table is not complete without its array of sweet desserts. In this blog are two of what we had made at home, the first is a Chocolate Mousse cup, filled with a rum soaked brownie in the middle, topped with sliced strawberries and white chocolate shavings.

Chocolate mousse takes very little time to make, though you do need to put aside some time for it to set. What I like about this particular dessert is that you can put this together hours before guests arrive, even the day before, so on the evening of the party, all that is left to do is glide over to the refrigerator and bring out these gorgeous things for serving.

A good chocolate mousse recipe can be found at The Joy of Baking website.

Peppermint and chocolate drops, julgodis, Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

Chocolate Peppermint Drops – a Swedish Christmas classic!

A candy classic found in many Christmas markets in Gothenburg would be Peppermint Chocolate Drops. You’ll recognize it by a white, sometimes near translucent peppermint base with a drop of dark chocolate on top. Chocolate coupled with peppermints, like After Eight mints, are always popular with guests.

We made ours by whipping together 300 g of icing sugar with about 3-4 egg whites and a squeeze of lemon juice. After the whipping is done, we dropped in about 3-5 drops of Japanese peppermint oil because it contains 85% menthol. If you don’t wish for the peppermint flavour to be too pungent, you could try using English peppermint oil with 60%-70% menthol or American peppermint oil, with about 50%-60% menthol. You could rather also use less peppermint oil in the mix altogether.

The chocolate drops came from unsweetened cooking chocolate with about 70% cacao. We used them as is, with no sugar added, to counter balance the sweetness of the icing peppermint base.

Enjoy!

Swedish Christmas ham

Julskina recept Christmas recipe, Swedish westcoast, Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

Honey mustard baked ham.
Photo Jan-Erik Nilsson and Cheryl Marie Cordeiro for CMC © 2009

Baked ham is perhaps what Sweden and Singapore share most in common at the Christmas table, the difference being that in Singapore one could easily order it over the counter at the shops, whilst in Sweden, each household is more likely to bake their own.

Boneless gammon in pot, Swedish Christmas ham, julskinka

Salted gammon in the pot.

What you’ll need if you’re going to do a homebaked ham is to purchase cured ham or boneless gammon that is readily available at the grocer’s. In Sweden, a little recipe follows each netted packaging of salted, raw ham.

The entire boneless gammon goes into a pot of water and simmered for about 3 hours. We dropped bay leaves, peppercorns and some carrots in our pot. Most recipes recommend that the inside of ham should reach between 70 and 74 deg C, you could go higher or lower, depending on how cooked you want your ham.
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