Trying your hands at homemade ice-cream sorbet

Posted on by cheryl

Home made elderberry sorbet.

Home made elderberry sorbet topped with frozen raspberries.
Photo © J E Nilsson for CMC 2010

When summer finally arrives in Scandinavia and Northern Europe it hits all of us as a great event that somehow needs to be dealt with and celebrated. The dishes gets lighter, are often served cold and more efforts are put into deserts that might even develop into a full meal, and lets admit it, might end up as the meal itself since it turns out so delicious you start with it, and then you get too full to eat anything more.

I have many favourite ice cream parlors in Sweden as well as in Singapore but occasionally it is fun to see how far you can get on your own with all natural ingredients and a few minutes of efforts.

This is how to make the above sorbet with no special machinery or very complicated ingredients.
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Swedish crayfish lunch

Posted on by cheryl

crayfish_july_2010

Swedish crayfish for lunch. One more no cooking lunch suggestion for a sweltering hot summer’s day.
Photo © J E Nilsson for CMC 2010

I don’t know what it is with the Swedish summer heat that makes me, an absolute tropical person who should be able to deal with searing heat with a smile, completely lose all motivation when it comes to spending time over a hot stove, cooking something for lunch.

As luck would have – a large tub of ready cooked Swedish west coast crayfish for sale at a nearby island, presented itself as a saviour. Served with a freshly baked baguette, homemade mayonnaise and a glass of iced white wine.

Splendid.

And something sweet for dessert – fresh strawberries and cream.

No cooking whatsoever. All at home were delighted.

Strawberries and cream – a forgotten art form

Posted on by cheryl

easy_summer_dessert

Nothing can bring out the flavours of sun warmed fully ripened strawberries, fresh from the field than sugar and full fat cream.
Photo © J E Nilsson for CMC 2010

Sometimes it occurs to me in these days of sophisticated cooking, when so often, food gets over the top complicated to make, to think back on how our grandmothers did it. They had all the responsibilities of running a large household while hordes of toddlers ran around their feet. Still they managed to cook and offer their families good meals, often delicious and in the process creating culinary traditions that would live for generations. In that spirit I’d like to remind you about the easiest of them all, a Scandinavian summer classic, offering culinary sensations of unsurpassed quality.

No gourmet chef could ever top this – fully ripened strawberries fresh from the field, drizzled with sugar and savoured with full fat cream.

Ben and Larry’s in Singapore, thinking outside the ice-cream box

Posted on by cheryl

Cheryl Marie Cordeiro and Ben Chung, owner of Blic's homemade ice-cream parlour in Tampines, Singapore

With Ben Chung, part owner of Blic (Ben and Larry’s Ice-Cream) ice-cream parlour at Tampines, Singapore
Photo © Cheryl Marie Cordeiro-Nilsson for CMC 2010

Tucked away in the cozy heartland of Tampines in Singapore, not too far from Tampines SAFRA, I was surprised to find an ice-cream parlour with a sleek orange and cream interior called Blic. Following my instincts in finding good ice-cream, I went in. The place served up authentic homemade ice-cream and sorbets without preservatives, artificial flavours or fillers – a pure food philosophy that was right after my heart!

Ben Chung of Blic (Ben and Larry’s Ice Cream) is the creative force behind Blic and has created more than 40 ice-cream flavours of which some 20 flavours are rotatingly available at the counter at any one time.

Sea Salt Malt, Kahlua Cookies Caramel and Tiramisu from Blic, Singapore.

That gorgeous melt! Seasalt Malt, Kahlua Cookies Caramel and Tiramisù.

Ben’s first original creation was Seasalt Malt, inspired by Japanese ice-cream parlours and a variation of a popular Japanese Seasalt Caramel he once tried.

Personally, I have to admit I’m not too adventurous when it comes to ice-cream flavours, preferring all my life to stick with dark chocolate, rum and raisin and coffee flavours. Then several years ago when sushi bars were becoming popular and established in Singapore, I tried Matcha or green tea ice-cream which I thought was radical! I’ve personally never tasted an ice-cream flavour that was sweet-salty as in this Seasalt Malt flavour, so this was a first! Another first was Kahlua Cookies and Caramel, where I’ve only ever tried the conservative Cookies and Cream flavour prior to my visit to Blic.
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Entrecôte a la Suede

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My take on a Swedish meat classic, in Nordic summer’s evening light.
Photo © Jan-Erik Nilsson for CMC 2010

Strangely enough the most common meat dinner in Sweden – at least in the mind of the Swedes themselves – would be a French slice of beef or an entrecôte, with fries on the side. But how did it come to be like this in the land of elks and the Midnight Sun?

Well contrary to Singapore, Sweden does not really have a tradition of eating out on a daily basis. In Singapore one would eat out three times in a day (and then some inbetween) without thinking about it, but in Sweden eating out has always been a little bit of an event where people are more likely than not to dress up a bit and expect something out of the ordinary. The up side of this is that this attitude from bygone days until now had helped create a ready market for gourmet cooking and fine dining, which in turn, had helped skyrocket Swedish culinary art to world fame. 

However in 1954 the ‘French Bistro’ was introduced into the Swedish food scene by Chef Yves Fitoussy at the newly opened restaurant Cassi in Stockholm. Here the open bar kitchen was introduced where steaks could be fried very quickly in front of the guests and served instantly over the counter, and with French Fries – also a novelty at the time – on the side. The impact was tremendous.
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Swedish Midsummer’s dessert

Posted on by cheryl

Fresh strawberries and ice cream dessert, the ideal midsummers party dessert. No preparation time at all leaves plenty of time for your friends.

Fresh strawberries and ice cream dessert, the ideal Midsummer’s party dessert. No preparation time at all leaves plenty of time for your friends.
Photo © Jan-Erik Nilsson for CMC 2010

The upcoming weekend is the traditional celebration in Sweden of the absolute longest day during the whole year and consequently the shortest night. Originally a pagan tradition, it is still celebrated with dancing around the midsummer’s pole – symbolizing fertilization of the soil – and in anticipation of bountiful harvest.

Nowadays the harvest is not so much the issue as a splendid opportunity to have a barbecue party in the garden and meet friends. With this in mind I would like to share one of the simplest ideas of the whole year as a perfect dessert – plain vanilla ice cream and fresh strawberries.

The strawberries however, not travel well and should be had ideally directly from the field.

All things considered this might actually be on of the few occasions where Scandinavia have an advantage over tropical Singapore. They might not have ripe mango, rambutan or lychee but – they do have sun ripened strawberries.

La Braceria – an Italian home away from home, in Singapore

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Appetizer of parma ham at La Braceria, Singapore.

Slices of velvety smooth, salty-sweet Prosciutto – Italian ham – served as antipasti – before the main course, at La Braceria at 5 Greendale Avenue, Singapore.
Photo © Cheryl M. Cordeiro-Nilsson for CMC 2010

For the small community of Italians in Singapore, La Braceria is like a home away from home. Tucked away in a residential cove off 6th Ave, even the entrance of the restaurant is obscured by large, leafy potted plants, so that when you walk in, you feel as if you’re walking into a private garden of your very own.

Quiet and cozy, the interior is not large at all, though warmly lit. What immediately caught my eye was the brick pizza oven that features prominently behind the counter near the kitchen entrance, making it the sort of kitchen I would yearn to have at home.

At La Braceria IV, Singapore.

In the middle Fabio Iannone, with friends.

At La Braceria II, Singapore.

At La Braceria III, Singapore.

In good company.

The crowd at La Braceria is distinct, willfully understated and elegant. Dressed mostly in smart casual, they are people who enjoy good food and wine and take their time doing so. You can expect too, to meet an eclectic mix of Europeans and Singaporeans alike at the restaurant.
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Nurul’s Pandan Chiffon Cake

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Nurul's pandan chiffon cake, one of Singapore's favourite chiffon cakes.

Pandan chiffon cake, by Nurul.
Photo © Cheryl M. Cordeiro-Nilsson for CMC 2010

The Pandan Chiffon Cake is a staple on the Singapore culinary scene, hitting right at the heart of the kampong and its people, so to speak. I grew up eating it at breakfast, tea-time and possibly any other time of the day in between full meals. Because it’s so lightly textured, it’s not unusual for fans of these chiffon cakes to finish about half of a cake before noticing what has happened, guilty that they hadn’t shared more of it with other guests at the table.

This gorgeous looking, moist, light and spongey pandan chiffon cake featured here, is not mine. It was baked and given to us by a family friend of ours named, Nurul.
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Pickled herring – A Swedish midsummer tradition

Posted on by cheryl

Boiled potatoes, ideally from this years harvest cooked and decorated with dill is a must.

Boiled potatoes, ideally from this year’s harvest
cooked and decorated with dill is a must.
Photo © JE Nilsson for CMC 2010

In mid June, Sweden arrives to an outdoor temperature and general climate we have more or less permanent in Singapore – warm, though less humid. To Swedes this but a short pleasure that lasts for a few summer months.

At this time of the year, the remarkably short nights slowly transform the warm evening sunlight to a warm dusk that after midnight eventually changes back into a Nordic lavender coloured morning. You can sit there and just look at it outdoors in your garden, cuddled up into a blanket, cupping your favourite hot beverage.

In the pot, boiled potatoes and dill for a Swedish Midsummer meal.

In the pot.

The long dusk-dawn period with its purple hues, apart from turning the entire Nordic region romantic, also begs for garden parties. It is the perfect time to chit-chat with friends about everything and nothing and eventually, you realize that you have stayed up all night and that the morning has broken into a new day.

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Muthu’s Curry along Race Course Road, Singapore

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Curried cabbage, Muthu's Curry in Singapore.

Cabbage and other dishes, served in individual dishes depending on your order.
Photo © JE Nilsson and Cheryl M. Cordeiro-Nilsson for CMC 2010

In this highly competitive culinary atmosphere that is Singapore and worse still, if the dishes in question belong to one of the country’s core ethnic groups of Chinese, Malay (even Nonya food), Indian or Eurasian, it isn’t easy to make it to the top recommendations list of places to eat of Singaporeans.

Muthu’s Curry along Race Course Road with its approximate 40 year long history came highly recommended as a place for good Indian food. What today is a restaurant chain, began in 1968 as a one-man hawker stall serving staple south Indian food on banana leaves. It was already famous during the 1970s for its full flavoured and generous servings of fish-head curry, and its signature dish has grown in popularity and reputation in its 40 years of development.

Just a quick tangent on Singapore eating…To get a feel for the local culinary scene, I would personally recommend that anyone visiting Singapore first hit a hawker center for their meals to try any, if not all authentic local food. Places such as the East Coast Hawker Center or the hawker center that is completely out of the city center that lies in the corner of Bedok in the East of Singapore (Bedok corner hawker center as I know it) serve pretty good inexpensive local fare. Other more familiar places that most visitors to Singapore might learn of from brochures obtained from their respective hotels or tour guides would be the East Coast beach (skip the seafood outlets, go for the hawker center), Chinatown for Chinese cuisine, Little India of Indian cuisine and Geylang for Malay cuisine that all have ethnic specific local cuisine.

Hawker centers are also known to charge a little less per dish / meal for no less tasty meals compared to their indoor air-conditioned counterparts of food courts and restaurants that you find along Orchard Road or in the heart of the city for example.

A naan basket, with a variety of naan types, Muthu's Curry, Singapore.

A basket filled with naan in a variety of flavours.

But alright, if you want out of the tropical heat after a long walkabout in Little India and you’ve heard about Indian food served on banana leaves, then Muthu’s Curry is a recommended experience for well-cooked authentic (mainly) south Indian food. The prices are mid-ranged, though definitely pricier than the coffeeshop and market stalls that you can find all around the area itself.
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