Scanorama

I've just returned from Sweden and it's everything it should be, the land of clean beaches, long walks, brilliant design and pint glasses full of... prawns- a place where equality and eccentricity manage to enhance each other.

We were very much on the go from touching down onwards and frankly I mostly just slept on the plane journeys but I did want to quickly mention Scanorama which is the in flight magazine for the Swedish airline SAS because it's one of the best travel magazines I've read in quite some time.

Of course the seven page article about Grasse in the south of France (the home of perfume) could have been written for me but there were also interesting and extremely well written features on Manchester and Brooklyn. I find travel magazines can be even harder than fashion ones to read without thinking the entire copy has been written by a PR but I genuinely felt that the writers of these articles wanted to give an impression of the place- and yes they recommended places to stay, eat and see but I actually felt they meant it and they gave me reasons why.

You can read Scanorama online here; the issue I'm referring to was for May 2011.

Picture from Salt Restaurant, more of which soon...

Cold water surfing

Surfing in Sweden- it's unexpected.

I first came across the notion that people actually walk out into the surf of the Baltic Sea in Intelligent Life magazine. Their story was inspired by and featured the beautiful photographs of Daniel Månsson.

The art of photography has been long established and with digital cameras giving most of us the ability to take passable photographs it is easy to forget just how remarkable these still moments in time can be. Månsson's pictures reminded me how much I wished I was a great photographer and that I am definitely not.

The pictures speak for themselves- both for his talent and for his desire to share the story of the Swedish surfers. You can view a slide show of the pictures at Kontinent. Daniel also has his own website with a print shop and guide to his books- and you can like his Facebook page (if you like to like). He doesn't just do surfing- he has some awesome pictures of skateboarders doing things I don't understand which look good and gorgeous pictures of Sweden that are making me want to visit there again sooner than now (happily I am actually going in May).

It was the cold water surfing that first led me to him though- and which particularly inspired me too. Having surfed in the relative warmth of British waters in the summer (with a wet suit on, obviously) and found my body elated but exhausted afterwards I can only imagine loving something so much that you would wear a 5cm thick wet suit and get into water that is colder than the freshly chilled glass of water on my desk- that is making my teeth stand on end and my fingers turn white when I drink from it. To need to do something so much, that's cool- that's what I want to find in the world.

If you like surfing stuff why don't you also check out this blog by Joanna Goddard on pre second world war surf photographer Don James- with a great re- print.

When I got in touch with Jo to ask if she could give me the link to this story she also recommended a really interesting documentary called Surfwise about an 85 year old surfer, his wife and their nine children- thanks Jo!

I've started making a Spotify playlist of surf songs which I will be popping up here later- but you know what- just put on the Beach Boys and you're pretty much there.


Thanks very much to Daniel for letting me use the above image.

The Scandinavian Cookbook

Scandinavian food has been a particular favourite of mine since I was a little girl, thanks to having the good fortune of having Swedish and Danish neighbours (despite growing up in a little corner of Surrey).

I distinctly remember my first open sandwich and wondering why there was no roof on it- it was a revelation- as a child I couldn't understand why no one British hadn't noticed that less bread meant more room for filling! (now I also see it is a healthier option but you don't care about all that when you're five do you?).

I also remember the creamy Danish blue cheese, the cinnamon buns and the tale of the grown up dinner party where our Danish neighbour cooked the best sea bass the adults of our road ever tasted by steaming it in a dish washer (inside a covered pan you understand).

So I was delighted to be given the chance to review The Scandinavian Cookbook by Trina Hahnemann- who is a sort of Scandinavian cross between Nigella Lawson and Delia Smith with a bit of Hugh Fearnly Whittingshall thrown in (for her love of seasonal produce and unusual ingredients only!).

The book is beautifully presented- the recipes are arranged seasonally and accompanied by wonderful photographs of spring, summer, autumn and winter in the different Scandinavian countries as well as of the glorious food- so you see the food in context but are also enjoying some stunning photography in it's own right that will have you looking for flights straight away- this is more than merely a recipe book- it's a window into Scandinavian life through food.

I look at cookery books in book shops a great deal. I find it completely relaxing to sit down in a corner of a shop and really look at new titles to see how well they explain recipes and I must say time and time again I put books back that don't have pictures of the dishes they are telling you how to make. I know pictures add a great deal of expense to a book but I really value being able to see what my end result should be. The photographs of the food here are plentiful and mouth watering.

The recipes on offer vary in terms of formality and the time and skill required to make them. So there are recipes for simple, easy to make but important, staple dishes like Smorrebrod and Langoustines with mayonnaise but also more complex and unusual dishes like veal with rhubarb. I'm particularly keen to make my own elderflower cordial and the artichoke soup.

I find it fascinating and I think I have said it here before that the Nordic countries are so close to us relatively but we tend not to immediately look to them for- inspiration I suppose. Certainly food wise we look to Paris, Milan or Barcelona for new recipes far more than Stockholm or Copenhagen. These countries have so much to offer and not least in their food. The food is at once really quite similar to our own but different enough to seem exotic and it's certainly very hip. It is also often extremely healthy and there is a dedication to seasonal eating that seems real rather than our British flirting with it but ultimately still buying strawberries from three time zones away in the middle of winter.

I understand Trina will also be opening a pop- up restaurant in Londonfor ten days in November and December. If the recipes from those months in the book are anything to go by it will be a real treat. The pop- ups menu is describes as a modern version of the smörgåsbord. It will include open sandwiches with home-baked rye bread and various toppings, and some Danish cheeses. Then there will be an afternoon tea with traditional glühwein and Swedish cinnammon rolls. And for dinner there will be a four-course menu with soup and fish, plus a main course and a pudding. I will post more information about the restaurant nearer the time- I will certainly be going and hope to maybe see some of you there too.

The Scandinavian Cookbook is available in paperback from pre- order here and is released on the 1st of October. The hard back is available here.

Nordic bakery

I seem to be having a very Nordic few days. My discovery of the word hygellig detailed below was quickly followed by lunch at The Nordic Bakery on Golden Square on Friday. I have chatted away about wanting to go to this and other Scandanavian restaurants in London for ages without actually getting round to it but a particularly bitter, grey December day seemed like the perfect day to change that.

The bakery is immediately homely despite being quite spare (as is only fitting for a Nordic themed place). The menu is perfect for this time of year, there are thick, hearty but not stodgy rye breads, good strong thick coffee, spicy, fragrant and delicious Glogg and, as I had wished and hoped, gloriously sticky indulgent cinnamon buns.

Honestly I could move into this place. I feel a strong affinity with all things scandanivian and had Swedish, Finnish and Danish neighbours as a child whose Mother's gave me a love for sour yoghurt, cloudberry jam (and later liquer) and of course the buns (recipes seem to vary from country to country).

We spend so much time chasing the cuisine and ingredients from far flung places but I think, certainly until recently, slightly ignore food from Nordic and Germanic countries here- and I don't know why because there are so many delicious things to try- and actually they are often quite budget friendly. Happily this does seem to be changing and we are all getting more adventurous. My kitchen is currently full of lots of things from the German shop at Borough market. I don't know what to with half of it but I am going to have learning.