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 brownie

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Chocolate brownie with fudge and bananas

Chocolate brownie served with warm chocolate fudge, bananas and crushed almonds.
Photo © Jan-Erik Nilsson and Cheryl Marie Cordeiro-Nilsson for CMC, 2009

The first time I baked a batch of brownies, I was in my teens, and a mishap in the kitchen caused the entire tin of already baked fudgy mixture to flip topside, face first onto the ground. My brother keeled over in laughter when he saw what happened, and we considered if we could save the batch by spooning up the parts that were not touching the ground and eat it there and then, off the floor.

Ingredients for chocolate brownie

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Some flowers along the western coast of Sweden

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Poppy

Orange poppy
Photo © Jan-Erik Nilsson and Cheryl Marie Cordeiro-Nilsson for CMC, 2009

Summer lends itself to a burst of colours in nature in Sweden and the pictures in this blog show some flowers you’re likely to meet when visiting the Swedish westcoast during spring and summer.

Poppies

Different from above, a more vibrant vermillion poppy, towards the end of their period of bloom.

White flowers

Cerastium tomentosum, or Snow-in-Summer, white flowers

These delicate white flowers are almost a standard garden feature along the Swedish westcoast. Soft, abundant and beautiful, they sway to the lightest breeze, helping define the core of summer romance in setting.

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Tod’s, understated luxury

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Tod\'s grained leather cornflower blue bag

Tod’s grained leather bag.
Photo © Cheryl Marie Cordeiro-Nilsson for CMC, 2009

Tod’s is an Italian luxury label that offers a distinct laid back, understated style.

The Tod’s Group that owns brands such as Hogan, Fay and Roger Vivier (acquired in the mid 1990s) began in the late 1920s in Italy. Reminescent of Ingvar Kamprad’s story of humble sales beginnings right at home, Diego Della Valle, founder of Tod’s, began selling leather goods from his basement.

Today, Tod’s can be found in select outlets around the world, from Scandinavia to the USA and Asia. No doubt though, the most exciting place to visit for Tod’s products would be Italy’s factory outlets, where its friendly customer service personnel will take pride in showing you its range of products and where shoppers can get a Tod’s for a friendlier price.

Tods logo on blue grained leather bag

My first encounter with a Tod’s product was when a girlfriend of mine showed me her latest bag purchase. It was a pristine quality Tod’s bag, large enough for her daily needs, in the right colour palette to suit her wardrobe and her fair skin, and one that I thought was stunningly bland for a luxury item.

Tod\'s blue leather bag

But after a passionate affair with Louis Vuitton monograms and Chanel quilts, where such bags are immediately recognizable on the streets, I’m now discovering with interest and delight, the subtlety of a Tod’s make.

Tod’s is hardly bland. In fact, its magnetism for Tod’s fans is precisely the Zen and simplicity in their designs. Continue reading “Tod’s, understated luxury” →

A rich chocolate cake, to complement any event

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Chocolate cake recipe

Chocolate cakes – heaven on earth.
Photo © JE Nilsson and CM Cordeiro-Nilsson 2009

I love chocolate and with that, anything chocolate. In Singapore, it was a favourite past-time of mine to explore cafés, eateries and bakeries in search of very good chocolate cakes, chocolate desserts and that exceptionally rich, warm cup of hot chocolate to complement the events of the day.

I have specific chocolate cakes to fit specific moods and chocolate cakes to suit the weather or the time of day. And I went absolutely berserk when Marcel Desaulniers’ (2000) Death by Chocolate: an astonishing array of chocolate enchantments hit the bookstores in Singapore almost a decade ago.

In Sweden, I was crushed when I my first chocolate cake craving hit (which wasn’t too long into my stay in Sweden) and found that I had nowhere to go to, to buy that perfect chocolate cake.

I needed to bake one if I wanted one.
Continue reading “A rich chocolate cake, to complement any event” →

French Onion Soup à la Provençal

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French Onion Soup à la Provençal 1

French Onion Soup à la Provençal
Photo © Jan-Erik Nilsson for CMC 2009

One usually associates the summer heat with a cool ice-cream. But today, the heat utdoors triggered a nostalgia of growing up in the tropics and of having hot soup on a hot day. So I thought I’d look around for something nice and warm for lunch, something that would go nicely with a glass of red.

My choice fell on a traditional onion soup à la Provençal. This soup is different from the clear broths I grew up with, but it’s a fairly well-known dish in the West. It exists in numerous variations and hopefully nobody will mind if I add our version to what is already available on the internet. You’re most welcome to enjoy the recipe or take it as inspiration.

Ingredients:

4-5 Onions
1 – 1,5 liter of calf broth. Meat cubes might do instead.
1-2 cloves of garlic
10 All spices seeds
Bay leaves
Thyme
Basil
Sherry
Butter
Olive oil

Peeling onions in warm water

Onions in warm water

When handling onions, my favourite is to soak them in hot water, which also makes them easy to peel.

Stirfry the onions

Quarter the onions and stir fry them until golden brown.

At the end of the stirring I add the spices; some All Spice seeds, Bay leaves, a few cloves of garlic and a few branches of fresh thyme (nice, but you will need to pick them out later). Then I add the calf broth and a dash of sherry. Leave on medium heat until you feel it is done. 30 minutes should do but this soup actually gets better the longer it cooks. Tomorrow it will be even better.

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Midsummer crustacean fare: Swedish crayfish

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Swedish crayfish on plate to Midsummer 2009

Swedish crayfish
Photo © Jan-Erik Nilsson and Cheryl Marie Cordeiro-Nilsson for CMC 2009

The season for these Swedish crayfish usually begins in early August, where the entire month of August is dedicated to crayfish parties around Sweden. But a neighbour had brought home a large catch of these and they thus made their way to our Midsummer table.

A significant difference in seafood sold in Sweden and in Singapore as I found out, is how most seafood in Sweden is sold pre-cooked in dill marinated brine, so that crayfish, prawns, crabs and lobsters often taste heavily salted with a hint of dill when you buy them off the shelves at the grocers. As such, cooking Singapore chilli crabs out of pre-cooked dill marinated crabs in brine, doesn’t quite give the desired results, as one can imagine.

Swedish crayfish in Kosta Boda glass bowl

Crown dill marinated and brine cooked crayfish.

Through the years though, I have found some use of brine boiled prawns bought off the shelves in Sweden, such as making quite good Hokkien prawn noodle soup from the peels. Just add butter, onion and sambal and you will have a broth that is reminescent of those sold at the Singapore hawker centers.

Swedish crayfish in Kosta Boda glass bowl 2

Crayfish bodies are usually 5 – 6 cm in length. These are shelled in the same manner as a large prawn.

Crayfish doesn’t need much to enhance its flavour. One of my favourite ways to have Swedish crayfish is to peel them and have a small pile of them with a little dollop of mayonnaise and a squeeze of lemon. Crayfish meat also makes a perfect topping on bread, and one or two crayfish sandwiches with a fresh blade of salad will make a most enjoyable meal!

And on the Swedish table, crayfish is often downed with snapps!

Midsummer’s Eve, between sunshine and rain, 2009

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Cheryl Marie Cordeiro-Nilsson in black crochet sweater

Hand crocheted black sweater made by Rita Cordeiro and silk tunic dress by Karen Millen.
Photo © Jan-Erik Nilsson for CMC 2009

Not wanting to give false hopes for Midsummer in Sweden, the newspapers had, about two to three weeks ago, already begun forecasting a grey and soggy Midsummer for the west coast of Sweden.

Karen Millen silk floral 3

Floral print on black, ending in an asymmetrical hem.

Well, the day proved their forecasts accurate with some strange oscillations between sunshine and rain.

Boho beaded chandelier earrings

Boho bronze beaded chandelier earrings.

But regardless of weather conditions, it’s heartening to know that you’ll always find some die-hard Midsummer fans who’ll spread the festive cheer by setting up the Midsummer pole. I’ve seen how this is done and it’s no task for the faint hearted. The pole is decorated with flowers and blue and yellow streamers that trail beautifully in the wind. The hoisting of the pole and securing it into the ground takes nothing less than cooperative, physical strength. Then comes the sight of little children running around the grounds and that is enough to bring a smile on just about anyone’s face.

Swedish Flags on Midsummer\'s 2009

Swedish flags in celebration of Midsummer.

There were bouts of rain both before and after these pictures were taken, but I’m glad that the rain felt warm on the skin! I never understood how rain could be bitingly cold, almost painful, until I came to Sweden.

In Singapore, you have thick, clashing tropical thunderstorms and when the rain hits you, you’re covered in warm water from the equatorial sky. Rainstorms are almost delicious in the tropics!

As this is the celebration of the summer solstice, the days and nights during these days are long. And I’m all set to enjoy the festivities, preferably indoors this year!

Glad Midsommar to all!

In season – Swedish grown strawberries

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Swedish grown strawberries

Fresh from a strawberry farm in Sweden.Photo © Cheryl Marie Cordeiro-Nilsson and Jan-Erik Nilsson for CMC 2009

I’ve always known strawberries to come bottled in sweet jams. In fact, ‘strawberry’ as a flavour was so common when I was growing up in Singapore, where you have them in almost everything from milk to kiddy toothpaste, that I thought strawberry was common commodity even without actually having tasted the real fruit.

My very first encounter with a strawberry farm was in Genting Highlands, Malaysia when I was about eight years old. Genting Highlands is about an hour’s drive from Kuala Lumpur and I found it a scenic region with cooler temperatures than the tropical heat of the lowlands. I remember Genting Highlands because every morning, the grounds of the hotel where we stayed would be covered in thick condensation, a cool fog that made you feel as if you were walking in clouds.

I liked strawberry jam but the experience of visiting a strawberry farm in Genting Highlands, changed my understanding of strawberries completely! I remember my parents buying farm made strawberry jam from the farm we visited, and after one taste of what I thought was the most decadent strawberry jam, I never liked the highly processed versions found on the sheleves at the Singapore grocery stores.

Swedish grown strawberries in sink

The strawberries, just before they disappeared!

The digression on Genting Highlands strawberries is just because Midsummer weekend is around the corner here in Sweden and we’ve tried our best, in the past few days, to seek out freshly picked Swedish grown strawberries. And today, we found some!

These strawberries are smaller and a deeper red than the hydroponically grown strawberries that are also found at the local grocers. So for those in Sweden, home-grown Swedish strawberries are in season right now and it’s a recommended buy!

A light stew in sugar and they make a perfect topping to ice-cream or have them fresh atop some traditional strawberry fruit cake with cream!