A Swedish lemon cardamon sockerkaka or sugar cake

Posted on by cheryl

Lemon cardamon sockerkaka

Sockerkaka or Sugar Cake, is one of Sweden’s most popular cakes to serve, whether at tea or birthdays.
Photo © J E Nilsson and C M Cordeiro-Nilsson for CMC 2010

It’s difficult to forget the things that you’ve grown up with, such as the blue pleated pinafore, walking through void decks, eating potong ice-cream bought from the streets, and having HDB heartland bakery butter sponge cakes when you want them. Oh! What it is to have a sponge cake or a chocolate cake when you need it in Sweden!

And when in need of a sponge cake fix today, I fingered the bookshelves in the pantry and landed upon some traditional Swedish recipes for cakes. My favourite book being this lightweight, Sju Sorters Kakor or Swedish Cakes and Cookies that has now been translated into English by Melody Favish.
Continue reading “A Swedish lemon cardamon sockerkaka or sugar cake” →

Gravlax – Swedish food in the raw

Posted on by cheryl

Gravlax sandwich

This Swedish specialty – the salt, sugar and dill cured salmon – these days internationally known under its original Swedish name gravlax or gravad lax, is served with a dill and mustard sauce and is prepared completely without any actual cooking.
Photo © J E Nilsson and C M Cordeiro-Nilsson for CMC 2010

Reading up on the latest food trends, I see that the Californian raw food is getting back in the cool stream of things with the idea of no heat, no cooking. The concept is today, spreading as an ecological trend and with the addition of ‘raw’ as in unrefined and unpolished that refers to back to basic foods. Like raw elk. With the horns on. Or, at least that was how I initially read it, and was admittedly not very impressed.

Personally I appreciate gourmet cooking as the ultimate in good handicraft and I see no point in flairs, fashions and useless embellishments. I have eaten my share of culinary creations that don’t taste good and combinations of flavours that just don’t work together, and have a healthy appreciation for the chefs that actually know what they are cooking, and don’t just combine textures and colours on a whim.

That we ever got stuck with the useless aspects of gourmet cooking is actually the fault of numerous cooking competitions where taste is only judged as one of several aspects of good cooking and not even the most important. In my view, taste should be ranked appropriately much higher than for example, the even thickness of slices or whether the display table has four equal legs.

Continue reading “Gravlax – Swedish food in the raw” →

Travel staples: Ferragamo Vara and Hélène Rancé 1795

Posted on by cheryl

Ferragamo Vara pumps, Hélène Rancé 1975 eau de parfum, Chanel 2.55

Ferragamo Vara pumps in nude beige and a small bottle of Rancé 1795 Hélène eau de parfum
Photo © J E Nilsson and C M Cordeiro-Nilsson for CMC 2010

When it comes to packing for my travels nowadays the ideal for me is to go very light. If I could get away with a pair of pants and a skirt for three weeks abroad on business with some alternative tops, I would certainly go for that.

But this isn’t all that easy if the countries that you’re going to range widely in terms of temperatures as in winter in Sweden, autumn in China, and humid tropical weather, in Singapore.
Continue reading “Travel staples: Ferragamo Vara and Hélène Rancé 1795” →

Jonsered – Swedish knowledge industry now, and then

Posted on by cheryl

Jonsereds herrgård, terrace.

Jonsered Mansion, today owned by the Gothenburg University
Photo © J E Nilsson and C M Cordeiro-Nilsson for CMC 2010

When we first approached the Jonsered Mansion it was one of those early winter days where the night frost had added a crystal sparkle to everything, like a dusting icing sugar on the grounds.
Continue reading “Jonsered – Swedish knowledge industry now, and then” →

Trying out the Inova

Posted on by cheryl

Image1

After an interesting seminar on potatoes organized by the Western Swedish Academy of Gastronomy, Sweden, we decided to do some research on our own …
Photo © J E Nilsson and C M Cordeiro-Nilsson for CMC 2010

There are so many basic things in life that one take as given, that one should just “know”. Like walk, know that water is wet and that the sun is warm, and in the western hemisphere – how to cook potatoes.

Eventually when you look deeper into things you might find that it is not that easy at all. At a recent restaurant professionals’ seminar on potatoes which I attended mostly out of curiosity, we eventually brought home a whole box of a variety called Inova. An early winter, firm cooking potato that in the testing sessions just struck me as unusually good tasting, with a full, sweet round and lacking a better word, “buttery” flavor.

Then we set out to try out how this Inova would turn out in home cooking. When talking to the “potato guru” Dan Berntsson, we had felt that the Inova despite being a fairly firm cooking kind, might be just the right thing for a gratin, which according to regular wisdom instead should be made from a soft boiling variety such as a King Edward VII.
Continue reading “Trying out the Inova” →

Meeting with Dan Berntsson, the “Potato-Guru”

Posted on by cheryl

Dan Berntsson, Potato Masterclass lecture.

Dan Berntsson, giving a lecture at the Potato Master Class organized by the Western Swedish Academy of Gastronomy, Sweden.
Photo © J E Nilsson and C M Cordeiro-Nilsson for CMC 2010

The weekend’s culinary adventure was directed towards one of the most common staple root vegetables in the world, the potato. Admittedly, when the Invite to a Master Class on Potatoes by Sweden’s foremost expert on potatoes, Dan Berntsson, landed in the mailbox, I wasn’t exactly all fired up in terms of enthusiasm, but I’m always one for new adventures, so I signed up. As it turned out, there was a lot to learn about potatoes, in fact, much more fact and information than one could process in the four hours allotted to class.
Continue reading “Meeting with Dan Berntsson, the “Potato-Guru”” →

Autumn blues in Filippa K and Isabel Benenato

Posted on by cheryl

Cheryl Marie Cordeiro, Filippa K dress, Louis Vuitton Suhali L'Impétueux 2.

Autumn outfit: dress is by Swedish designer Filippa K and wool shawl by Naples born Italian designer Isabel Benenato.
Photo © J E Nilsson and C M Cordeiro-Nilsson for CMC 2010

These pictures were taken a few days ago, after which the Swedish west coast turned grey, stormy and with winds so strong the trees needed effort to stay rooted and keep their last red-gold leaves of the season, if not only for decorating themselves.

Cheryl Marie Cordeiro, Isabel Benenato wool wrap shawl, back.

The green fabric belt with gold buckles in the outfit is a find from a vintage store here in Sweden.

From the pictures, you’ll also see the characteristic colours of autumn displayed in yellows, browns, reds and gold. The low rays of the sun at this time of year helps cast an over glow of gold on everything it touches. There are however, other complementary colours of autumn that we see here in Scandinavia, particularly in Swedish design houses such as Filippa K that favour shades of beige, grey, blue and black for autumn as shown in their Autumn 2010 Lookbook, with some exceptions, the sheer gathered dress I’m wearing can be found in lilac.
Continue reading “Autumn blues in Filippa K and Isabel Benenato” →

Autumn pears

Posted on by cheryl

pearl_blog

Mature Camembert cheese, Conference pear with a dollop of homemade boysenberry marmalade.
Photo © J E Nilsson and C M Cordeiro-Nilsson for CMC 2010

One of the things I like most about autumn is that it is harvest time for so many of the nice things I have seen growing over the summer, from the fresh green leaf sprouts of the spring, to the happy flowers of early summer and then finally the fresh fruit presented clean, crisp and straight from the tree!

A last harvest celebration before the winter!

Chanterelle forest gold

Posted on by cheryl

fresh

The golden Chanterelle – meaty, fragrant and perfect in a dollop of butter and cream!
Photo © J E Nilsson and C M Cordeiro-Nilsson for CMC 2010

There is in particular one mushroom in Sweden that is most popular with amateur mushroom pickers – the Chanterelle mushroom. This yellow-gold treat of a fungus is freely available in the forests during autumn for anyone who bothers to go out to find it, and for the less adventurous of us, it’s available at the wet markets and in the grocery stores for purchase.

Autumn is the season of Chanterelles, where you can find them lying hidden and camouflaged among the piles of fallen autumn leaves. Deliciously edible, this mushroom is easily recognizable by its rich yellow colour, its flat umbrella top, long ribbed stem and characteristic fragrance of something in-between flowers and forest after rain.
Continue reading “Chanterelle forest gold” →