Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

A semla, eaten in hetvägg (in hot milk) fashion.
Photo Jan-Erik Nilsson, Cheryl Cordeiro-Nilsson for Cheryl Marie Cordeiro © 2009

Eaten previously only on Shrove Tuesday, one of the last festive meals before the period of Lent leading up to Easter, it was not five days after the twelfth day of Christmas that in this time of mass consumerism that the shops in Sweden began selling some gorgeous looking semlor fully stuffed with whipped cream. As eyebrow raising as it was, I wasn’t one to complain finding ready made semlor in the shops because, I love these!

So decadent is the semla that it seemed to have contributed to the death of King Adolf Frederick of Sweden (1771) after topping off his already heavy meal with 14 of these buns!
Continue reading “A homebaked semla in hetvägg fashion” →

Avocado with shrimps, an au naturel entrée
Photo Jan-Erik Nilsson for Cheryl Marie Cordeiro © 2009

Crisp and refreshing, this avocado entrée with shrimps provides a filled with natural goodness, creamy but not too heavy entrée to any dinner party. Most alluring about this dish is that all ingredients can be homemade without preservatives with little time and effort.

Remove the avocado seed with a slight twist of the knife.

What you’ll need for this are equal parts of crème fraiche and mayonnaise, a dash of black and white pepper, pinch of salt, some fresh dill that is chopped finely, and a squeeze of lemon juice. If you don’t wish for the slight sour tint of flavour that comes from the crème fraiche, you can substitute that with whipped cream instead. Mix all the ingredients till the flavours are well incorporated, then add the shrimp, stirring again. This can be prepared the night before, which I find a real time saver for dinner parties.

Mixing the ingredients.

I’ve really only come across eating avocados with shrimp when in Sweden a few years ago. Because of its simple luxury – quick and easy to prepare, something that looks decadent without the extravagant prices, plus it’s as eco-friendly as cooking can get with all natural ingredients – it’s been one my favourite things to eat when living in Sweden since.

Enjoy!

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.
Continue reading “Amaro Montenegro Tiramisù” →

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:

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.

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!

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.

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.
Continue reading “Swedish Christmas ham” →