Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

Award winning Best Meat Chef of the Year 2009, Fredrik Andersson, at Råda Säteri, was one of today’s celebrity chefs at the public cooking school organized at the Passion for Food Fair. After the demonstration we were all invited to sample the results.
Photo © Jan-Erik Nilsson and Cheryl Cordeiro-Nilsson
for Cheryl Marie Cordeiro 2010

Today was spent alongside the harbour front at Eriksbergshallen in Gothenburg Sweden. This hall was a part of the old Eriksbergs shipyard that was located here from the late 19th century. It has been given a face lift and been turned into a modern medium sized exhibition hall for specialist events that will not kill your feet or take days to cover. This time the hall was filled to the brim with the best locally produced, first class gourmet food that Sweden could muster. The fair is aimed at professionals, gourmet chefs and restaurants, and basically anyone with a serious interest in first class food.

If you’re a food enthusiast with a sincere interest in the culinary field, you’ll not be disappointed. This is the third consecutive year that this fair is held in Gothenburg and with the best stalls thus far.

It wouldn’t be too far fetched a guess that this food fair will soon create a niche for itself as a ‘must do’ event on the Scandinavian culinary scene. So I’d suggest that you take a look in the calender for next year if you are heading this way and try to make it to this event if it fits with your other plans and general interests.
Continue reading “Passion för Mat 2010: for food enthusiasts 26-28 Feb., Gothenburg, Sweden” →

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!