Exploring Scandinavia

According to Norwegian chef, food anthropologist and author Signe Johansen, “people are tired of Italian and French, they are searching for something new and want to expand their spectrum.” In her book, “Secrets of Scandinavian cooking – Scandilicious”, you’ll find lots of food inspiration.

The book contains more than 80 recipes with inspiring photography and we consider it the home cooking bible for those wishing to cook simple, easy and flavorsome Nordic cuisine without the Noma complexities.

Signe Johansen reveals the skills and secrets behind Scandinavian cooking, a cuisine very much in the forefront since Norma opened people’s taste buds for Northern European vegetables and foraged goodies.

As the title promises, the book will reveal the secrets of Scandinavian cooking, from delicious healthy breakfasts and leisurely brunches to tasty suppers and plenty of stress-free crown-pleaser puddings. Signe Johansen will also teach you putting together the perfect smorrebrod for a speedy Scandinavian lunch and the best way to let cakes and biscuits accompany your afternoon cuppa.

According to Hip and Healthy, “the world of Scandinavian food is on the rise. The delectable combination of fresh seafood, delicious berries and whole-grains is enough to tempt healthy foodies across the globe.”

The young cook, Signe Johansen, trained by the best British chefs, shows you that the Scandinavian kitchen not only consists of herrings and meatballs – although they are in here as well.

The Danish acclaimed chef Rene Redzipi asserted that “if a “Nordic terroir” really exists, then it is firmly anchored in the wild, in foraging for local ingredients, in celebrating our maritime and hunting heritage and marrying that heritage with modern culinary techniques and flavors. Food in Scandinavia is perhaps best understood as a way of life, as an ecology, rather than a distinct cuisine. That philosophy of resourcefulness, a discreet frugality and a focus on provenance makes Scandinavian food distinctive but of course not unique.”

This book is fresh, light and surprisingly indulgent, this is food to lift your spirits – it’s quite simply Scandilicious! Measurements are metric.

Signe Johansen, with a Norwegian father and English-American mother, is a food writer and cook who grew up in Norway and now lives in London. She trained at Leiths School of Food and Wine, and after graduating went to work for Heston Blumenthal in his Experimental Kitchen, at the Fat Duck in Bray. She co-wrote “The Ultimate Student Cookbook” with Fiona Beckett.

Saltyard Books published Signe’s first book Secrets of Scandinavian Cooking…Scandilicious. in 2011. Scandilicious Baking followed in 2013.

Absolutely Scandilicious!, written by Tor Kjolberg

It is easy to forget how important typewriters were for the development of our modern society. Easy to forget what they meant for the development of the press and typography. And, not less, easy to forget how important they were for the entry of women into the workplace.

By learning “touch-typing”, a method which allows text to be written fast and accurately, the modern typist was born, indispensable in any modern office.

Touch or not, the arrival of the electric typewriter onto the market was a huge step forward. For that we can thank Russell G. Thompson, who invented it as far back as 1923.

We can also thank IBM, who launched the golfball typewriter in 1961, thereby putting an end to keys that were always getting jammed together. Ink cartridges also replaced ink ribbons. You know, the ones that were red at the top and black at the bottom.

I still have my first typewriter in my desk. But if you would like to see these old wonders, take a trip to the Museum of Science and Technology in Oslo and follow the rest of the story – from the first golfball machines to modern computer systems.

Pastor Rasmus Malling- Hansen constructed this ‘typing ball’ to enable blind people to write more easily. It is one of the first typewriters to be mass produced. The machine cost USD 35, hugely expensive in its day. Although they were originally sold as a help for the blind, they were also bought by a number of companies for business correspondence.

Malling Hansen was head of an institute for the deaf and mute in Copenhagen. His prototype was finished in 1867. The typewriter was  the first to be industrially produced (a total of 100 machines).

A Wave of Nostalgia in Oslo, written for Daily Scandinavian by Hans Helmersen

All photos Wikipedia

Scandinavia is home to a number of exquisite and unique milk products, aside from all the ones available in the rest of the world.

Sour milk, like yogurt, was originally produced to make fresh milk keep, but also for its health-giving and culinary properties.

The fermenting process makes milk much easier to digest. Most Scandinavians are able to digest milk, when over the age of breast-feeding, as opposed to many other human beings who, apart from nomads, are usually not able to digest milk, and will get sick from eating large amounts of milk products.

The ability to digest milk is taken too far in Scandinavia, where almost every adult drinks lots of milk every day. It stems from a popular misconception that milk is the only source of calcium and that it is just basically good for you.

The truth is more complex, and milk drinking is certainly a way to get fat. Obesity is now a huge problem in Scandinavia.

Let’s have a look at the three most common sour milk products:

Långfil
This is a type of fermented cow’s milk, which is only available in Sweden. It ferments at low temperatures over a long period, and was traditionally a way of making milk keep (and still is), to make while you are out in the wilderness tending your herd, timbering or hiking or just to take along.

Skyr
Originally from Norway, skyr was taken by the Vikings to Iceland, where it is tremendously popular as an everyday health food. Skyr is a dense, drained milk product, essentially a fresh, unfermented cheese, much like fresh ricotta.

Buttermilk
The story of butter and the resulting buttermilk is closely entwined with the Scandinavian pig export business. Genuine buttermilk is the whey that’s left after you have churned the butter, and the real stuff is delicious.

Recipe:
Buttermilk and sweet grass cream whith rhubarb jelly

2 sweet grass leaves or 4 rose geranium leaves
250 ml water

For the cream:
100g sugar
300ml full-fat cream
200 ml buttermilk
4 leaves of gelatin

For the jelly:
5 leaves of gelatin
500ml rhubarb cordial or leftover syrup from rhubarb compote or soup
A handful if edible flowers

Serves 6

Boil the sweet grass in the water for 10 minutes, the leave to cool. Discard the grass.

Bring the sugar and cream to the boil, then take off the heat. Stir in the grass water and buttermilk.

Soften the four leaves of gelatin in a little cold water for a few minutes until it feels like a jellyfish. Squeeze off any excess water and place in a small pan along with a little of the cream. Put over a very low heat until the gelatin is completely melted, then stir in some more of the cream, making sure there are no lumps, and finally the rest of the cream.

Divide between six tall glasses or bowls, allowing room for the jelly on top. Leave in a cool place to set.

Meanwhile, soften the gelatin for the rhubarb jelly as before, and then dissolve in the rhubarb cordial. When the buttermilk cream has set, pour or spoon over the rhubarb jelly, and leave it to set completely. Do not put it in the fridge, as this will spoil the taste. Decorate with edible flowers.

Enjoy!

Variations: berries instead of rhubarb

Scandinavian Sour Milk Products, written by Tor Kjolberg