Kalle Bergman2013-06-19T05:57:54-04:00Kalle Bergmanhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/author/index.php?author=kalle-bergmanCopyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc.HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Kalle BergmanGood old fashioned elbow grease.A Scandinavian Hamburger Story: Danish Hakkebof with Soft Onionstag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.10632632011-10-28T11:21:44-04:002011-12-28T05:12:01-05:00Kalle Bergmanhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/kalle-bergman/
Whether or not that is the true story of the origin of the hamburger is probably best left unsaid, but since it is undeniably fitting in the context of this recipe -- let's all agree to pretend that it is, okay?
What is absolutely true, is that a Danish food writer visited the U.S. in the mid 40s and immediately fell in love with the country's emerging fast-food culture. He brought his new found love for burgers back to old Denmark, and started spreading its gospel to anyone that would listen. Married couple Oscar and Anni Pettersson jumped on the idea of a burger joint in Copenhagen and opened Oscars Bøf Bar (Oscars Beef Bar) in late May, 1949, in the amusement park Bakken (which by the way is the oldest amusement park in the world), on the outskirts of Copenhagen. And the Beef Sandwich -- as the Danish version of the American hamburger was called -- was an almost instant success.
Today Oscars Bøf Bar is still going strong as an active institution in Danish culinary life, now run by the third generation of the Pettersson family at the same place as always, in Bakken.
Hakkebøf Med Bløde Løg (Chopped beef with soft onions) is what you might call the "dinner version" of the beef sandwich. In this dish, the bun is removed and replaced by potatoes, gravy, pickled accessories and lots and lots of soft onions. A great fall dish!
Danish Hakkebøf with Soft Onions
Serves: 4
1 1/2 Ib ground beef from the butcher's
salt & pepper
2 large onions
1/2 cup water
Sauce
2 tablespoons of organic butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups of really good beef stock
salt & pepper
a dash of food coloring
Instructions
- Take the meat out of the fridge about 15 minutes before you want to start cooking. Shape it onto four round hamburgers and season with salt and pepper. Fry them in butter in a large pan for about 5 minutes on each side.
- Peel and slice the onions. Put in a medium-heat pan with a little bit of butter, and fry for a minute. Add water and simmer until the water has evaporated.
- Melt butter slowly in a casserole. Add the flour and use a whisk to mix it for a minute or two.
- Slowly add the stock in portions, and keep whisking while you pour it in. Season with salt and pepper, and add just a dash of coloring to get the right dark brown color.
- Serve the hakkebøf with soft golden onions on top, together with boiled or roast potatoes, brown sauce and pickled cucumber or beets.
Photos by Mads Damgaard ]]>Culinary Woodstock at MAD Foodcamptag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.9414612011-08-30T09:57:09-04:002011-10-30T05:12:02-04:00Kalle Bergmanhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/kalle-bergman/This past weekend saw the first annual MAD Foodcamp staged in the Danish capital of Copenhagen. A nerdy Woodstockish foodie festival and conference that showcased some of the most in vogue gastronomy profiles in the world.
MAD Foodcamp is the brain child of René Redzepi - the Über Chef behind the famed "best restaurant in the world" Noma - in an effort to increase focus on plants, vegetables and herbs in food and cooking.
On the Refshaleøen island, a 10 minute boat ride from downtown Copenhagen, a hippie like tent city covering 50.000 sqm had been built for the occasion, creating a vibe mixing everything from medieval fairs to rock festivals and circuses.
MAD Foodcamp was divided into two main parts. First the public area, where farmers from across Denmark and southern Sweden took part in what might be best described as a huge farmer's market. Showcasing local berries, fruit, kale, apples, cheeses, beers and many other products from the region - visitors could sample and buy products they might not normally be able to find in the supermarkets. They were also able to take part in seminars, competitions and outdoor cooking sessions.
The second part of the camp was closed to the public, and only open to invited Chefs and farmers (plus the occasional freeloading food writer) from across the globe. This was the Symposium called "Planting Thoughts". In a large circus tent, and under the direction of René Redzepi himself - the two symposium days saw lectures from world class Chefs, farmers, scientists and political figures on the subject of plants, flowers, herbs and vegetables.
Among the Chefs, we had Daniel Patterson of Coi Restaurant in SF talking about the history of beets (handing out beet gummy bears), and how he uses them in his multi starred kitchen (beets, not gummy bears). We heard Magnus Nilsson of the extreme-local-cooking Fäviken Magasinet in Northern Sweden run us through everything from how he works in his potager to the preservation techniques that help him cope with the fact that his surroundings provide him with absolutely no fresh vegetables for 8 months a year. New York Chef David Chang of Momofuko fame took us on a trip through their restaurant's efforts to decode the secrets of yeast and bacteria in fermentation processes. Brazilian Alex Atala of D.O.M. brought with him Amazon-ants in gelatin for the audience to taste (lemony, crunchy, gingery), and talked about how the perception of food is based on cultural interpretations - "In Brazil, we think lemongrass taste like ants". And legendary French Chef Michel Bras showed us his iconic gargouillou plating technique, the visual style he created in the 80's and that has influenced almost every contemporary high-end Chef in the world. Among farmers and scientists, we heard an inspirational speech from Thomas Harttung of the Green Carbon Initiative about the possibility for urban farming using ancient techniques, master forager Miles Irving talked about how his interest in herbs and plants helped him create a foraging business supplying the best restaurants in Britain and neurobiologist Stefano Mancuso flipped our perception of plants upside down by showing us how they can feel, act, communicate and even move and play. As the list of inspiring speakers just went on and on, the vibe in the circus tent gradually grew from happy to rock n roll euphoric causing Jay Rayner of food-tv-show fame following the Twitter stream at #madfoodcamp to tweet "I'm sure #MADFoodCamp is a great thing, and it's probably just jealousy, but some of the tweets coming out of CPH are sounding cultist". And to an extent he was right. Several participants in the symposium told me that they had experienced more than one hallelujah moment during the weekend.
René Redzepi himself both opened and closed the symposium with a quote that tore down ecstatic cheers from the audience "-Anything is possible, and even if it isn't, we still have to try."
Photo byMads Eneqvist More fromKalle Bergman ]]>Eating Death In Denmarktag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.8592442011-05-24T08:24:10-04:002011-07-24T05:12:01-04:00Kalle Bergmanhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/kalle-bergman/NaCl is a Scandinavian collective of cooks that take haute cuisine experiments out of the high tech kitchens and onto the customer's plates. I sat down at the table at one of their latest events at a ghost haunted medieval castle and came back with memories of a culinary rollercoaster ride.
Based purely on media coverage, one might be lead to believe that Scandinavian cooking is all about the famed Noma restaurant in Copenhagen and it's avantgarde Head Chef René Redzepi. But it turns out there are others who want their share of the limelight waiting in the wings.
Because behind Noma, and behind some of the other two-star restaurants in the region like Mathias Dahlgren and Frantzén & Lindberg, there is a new breed of young cooks waiting to make their mark on the international scene. Most of them with The New Nordic perspective on Scandinavian food as their Alma Mater.
NaCl is an experimental not-for-profit show-cooking concept that is held about every second month in different locations across Denmark (and abroad). It was founded by a group of ambitious young Danish cooks who felt that working the traditional (or even untraditional) gourmet kitchen was sometimes just a little bit tedious, or at the very least kind of repetitive. And as top of the line gourmet restaurants are fine tuned precision tools where nothing is allowed to go wrong - ever - they missed an occasional outlet for spontaneous fun and culinary experiments.
With NaCl they wanted to create a tool for developing their own culinary creativity, a place where they could hang out with a group of likeminded up-and-coming cooks to experiment, talk, discuss, make mistakes and find new inspiration. And they wanted to finance the whole thing by having hard core foodies and willing sponsors pay for the party.
Every NaCl event has its own theme, ranging from "bathroom" to "meat" and just about anything in between. The themes are freely interpreted by the participating Chefs, who all make one dish each for the dinner. They don't compose a real menu, every participant has the right to cook whatever he or she wants - which means that guests can end up having a dinner consisting of 8 appetizers, no main course and 4 desserts. You never know, and until the day of the event, the Chefs don't even know themselves what their colleagues will make, often resulting in last minute changes and improvisation.
- We want to test both our own limits and the limits of our guests, saysNicolai Tram who is one of the founders of NaCl. Here we can do things we've never done before, try new flavor combinations, techniques or just have fun with a specific ingredient without having to risk the reputation of a restaurant. And our guests expect us to try stuff on them. They'd rather eat something challenging, and risk culinary failure, than to be served the same old gourmet food. And we do have dishes that fail, but that also creates an environment where new stuff that is completely astonishing is being invented from time to time, he concludes.
Nicolai Tram, Founding Member Of NaCl - Photo By Mads Eneqvist
Essentially, where the big names in cooking have their own experimental kitchen where we, the eater, never get to see or taste the mistakes - NaCl has moved the experiment out of the comfort of the kitchen and on to the plate of the guests. A bold move, and not always for the faint hearted eater.
I decided to join NaCl for one of their latest events, at the ghost haunted medieval castle of Dragsholms Slot in western Zealand. An evening where "roughly" 12 courses and a bulging open wine bar was on the menu. Nothing else. Visitors just got a starting time and a place. The theme for the event wasn't disclosed in advance either, but considering the haunted surroundings, it wasn't far fetched that we would be in for a slightly scary culinary ride.
The Haunted Dragsholm Slot
The mood at a NaCl event is very laid back, and the Chefs are quick to make all the guests feel comfortable. Far from the stiffness of traditional haûte cuisine dining, we are encouraged to ask questions and comment on the food. Dishes are plated in front of the guests, and the creator of each dish talks us through both the conceptual idea of the dish and the cooking process.
It is almost impossible to do a chronological walk through of an evening with NaCl, as the experience is so different from traditional restaurant dining. There is no obvious starting point and finishing line. But the dishes range from surprisingly restaurant-ready to half-shockingly experimental. In the former segment, we get a deliciously smooth licorice Turbot, served with Pernod purée, blood orange, apples and braised fennel. Another one is the main dessert from Dragsholm Slot Head Chef Claus Henriksen, a smoked milk ice cream served with quince syrup, pear toddy and caramel. Absolutely delicious. And in the latter segment, three dishes stand out. First the blue cheese in fat from Bo Lindgaard. A combination that puts even the most fat-loving (yours truly) eater to the test. Strong blue cheese and fat are whipped together and served with mashed boiled vegetables in something I can only describe as a blue cheese flavored mix of remoulad and butter. Surprisingly, it tastes great - even if the portion is absurdly over sized.
Bo Lindgaard's Blue Cheese & Fat - Photo By Mads Eneqvist
Secondly the Tartare. Created by Anton Eff, who used to cook at WD-50 in New York, you can certainly see the spirit of Wylie Dufresne in the dish. At first glance, it is a classic beef tartare. But instead, it is a tuna tartare with seaweed capers and a faux egg yolk made from Miso. The dish is so incredibly well done visually that it is almost impossible to tell the difference from a traditional tartare unless you know what to look for.
Anton Eff's Miso Egg Yolks - Photo By Mads Eneqvist
But the most challenging, and the most theatrical serving of the evening is the one created by Nicolai Tram himself. And even if the dish itself isn't exactly delicious, the presentation and culinary concept turns the dish from food to physical and mental experience. We are all asked to leave our seats, and accompany the waiters across the courtyard into the old castle church. The church is pitch black, and the only lights come from the small headlights some of the Chefs are wearing. We are asked to take a seat in the benches, and are then served a dish inspired by nothing more and nothing less than death. Yes, death. On a black granite plate, what looks like (the little we can see in the dark) gelatinous cerements cover a grave like pile topped with inscripted parchment paper and dirt. Cutting into the dish feels like being a grave-robber, and eating it is sensationally strange. It turns out, the dish is a rather simple beef tartar mixed with Jamon Serrano, with edible paper and toasted rye bread. But the eery experience of "eating death" in a pitch black medieval church in a haunted castle will be up there with any major culinary experience I have ever had. Chef Tram certainly knows how to put up a show and push boundaries.
Nicolai Trams "Death" - Photo By Mads Eneqvist
Back in the dining room, and as the "help yourself" wine bar is more and more frequented, the atmosphere gets even more casual, and conversations are struck left and right between hard core foodies, politicians, journalists, financiers, restaurant professionals and regular Joe's that in many cases don't have anything else in common than the love for good food and wine.
Towards the end of the evening, the Chefs come back out into the dining room and seat themselves among the guests. After a couple, or more than a couple, of glasses of wine and the friendly treatment from the Chefs, we feel like we're also contributing to the experiment just by being there. Culinary conversations are started across the room as the Chefs engage in honest and open talk about food, recipes, restaurants and just about anything else. This is the kind of way you wish that all gourmet experiences end, isn't it? That the Chef brings out and extra bottle of wine, and sits down for a one on one - genuinely interested in what you thought about the food - or perhaps just where you're going on vacation this summer.]]>Smoked Salmon Buttertag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.8210212011-03-18T09:17:40-04:002011-05-25T18:30:24-04:00Kalle Bergmanhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/kalle-bergman/I am very passionate about classic and contemporary Scandinavian food, but I do actually wander off and cook things from other cultures quite often. But every time I do, I realize that I (perhaps subconsciously) tend to incorporate a few typically Scandinavian ingredients into the original recipe. Sometimes the result is horrible. But sometimes, it actually works.
Here is one of those recipes where it does work. Originally Italian, and actually fantastic just the way it was. But with that slight Scandinavian twist, it becomes something a little bit more elegant to serve as a pre-dinner snack, an appetizer, a preemptive food missile - an hors d'œuvre if you will. Whipped Smoked Salmon Butter On Toast. Yum.
You'll find variations on this lovely bite in many Italian cookbooks, and I have tried not to stray too far from the beaten path here. Just added a little dill to the butter, making it slightly more Scandinavian. But you can absolutely experiment with other variations. A little cayenne pepper, perhaps a slight hint of roasted garlic, or why not a few pinches of crispy fried pancetta?
The important part when making the smoked salmon butter is to wait, wait and wait just a little bit more, until the butter really is at room temperature. If you don't, you won't get that fluffy, whippy, creamy look, feel and taste to the butter. So, when you think the butter has reached room temperature - wait an extra 10 minutes before you start beating the bejeebers out of it.
HOW TO
3,5 oz Smoked Salmon
3,5 oz Organic Butter
2 Tablespoons dill, finely chopped
Your favorite white bread (baguette, toast, ciabatta or anything else), toasted
Sea salt & black pepper
1. Chop the salmon into very small pieces.
2. Whip the butter by hand or in a food processor until very airy, almost whipped cream like.
3. Gently mix the salmon, butter and dill by hand. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Serve on toast, garnish the plate with dill and freshly ground black pepper.
BON APPÉTIT!]]>Smooth Cauliflower Soup With Smoked Salmon And Arugulatag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.8210002011-02-18T10:40:16-05:002011-05-25T18:30:24-04:00Kalle Bergmanhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/kalle-bergman/
First, the cauliflower. Creamy, smooth and round in itself, pimped into something even smoother in a steamy tête-à-tête with a cup of heavy cream. Then the smoked salmon, with its fatty, smoky taste and textures. And to top it off (literally), the earthy and peppery mineral flavors of the arugula. The result is a match made in heaven. Layers of flavors where one lead to the other, like a stairway to... well you get the idea.
If you have the time to make a homemade chicken stock -- I applaud you -- but here I have just used a bouillon cube from the supermarket. Works perfectly fine.
HOW TO
Serves 4
1 Cauliflower
1 Cup heavy cream
1/2 Cup white wine
6 Cups water
1 Chicken bouillon cube (or two tablespoons of bottled stock)
2 Tablespoons organic butter
4 0z Smoked salmon
1 Fistful of arugula
Salt & white pepper
Extra virgin olive oil for serving
1. Finely slice the salmon and arugula.
2. Rinse and chop the cauliflower into 10-15 pieces. Boil in lightly salted water for about 20 minutes or until the cauliflower is soft.
3. Remove the cauliflower - but keeping the water, add the bouillon and white wine. Bring back to a boil and reduce by half.
4. Return the cauliflower to the soup, and blend until completely smooth. Add the cream, bring back to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt (carefully, as the salmon is quite salty as well) and white pepper. Finish off by whisking in the butter for extra smoothness.
5. In the middle of a deep plate, pile up a generous amount of salmon. Add the cauliflower soup around the salmon, and top off the salmon with the arugula. Also sprinkle a small amount of arugula around the soup. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil for visual effect and an extra layer of flavor.
Bon Appetit!
]]>Enchanting Cloudberriestag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.8210342011-02-11T15:20:33-05:002011-05-25T18:30:24-04:00Kalle Bergmanhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/kalle-bergman/To me, Åre was almost unthinkably far north, and very exotic.
So many things were different there, and on the road to Åre we'd drive by fields with wandering reindeer and moose. Strange, beautiful animals that I had only seen on tv and at the zoo before. And there were Sami people, the indigenous ethnic group of the region. From my narrow city perspective, they were a fairytale people with their colorful robes, strange language and exciting customs.
And even the food was exotic. In restaurants across the village we were confronted with an abundance of meat from game. Reindeer, elk, grouse and many others. The food was powerful, and even if some of the compositions reminded me of what I had tried at home, the wild flavors were completely new and exhilarating to me.
But it wasn't the meat that thrilled me the most. Instead, the number one exciting flavor I encountered in Åre came from berries. Cloudberries, to be precise. As I remember it, these divine berries were very rare in the Stockholm area back then. They grew in the wild far up north, and were extremely exclusive. Mysterious. Almost secret. Now I know that they do actually grow all over the country, but back then they were a magical symbol of the exotic Northern Sweden (which was actually Middle Sweden) to me. I am still enchanted by the flavor of Cloudberries, and I eat them with everything from Croissants to pancakes.
Here they are served in one of the most traditional Swedish manners - hot Cloudberry Jam together with a smooth homemade vanilla ice cream. Still magical.
HOW TO Serves 4
Cloudberry Jam 1 1/2 Ib of cloudberries
3/4 Ib of sugar
Vanilla Ice Cream 1 Cup of heavy cream
4 Egg yolks from free range eggs
1 Cup of milk
3/4 Cup of sugar
1 1/2 Vanilla pod, split and scraped
1. Rinse and clean the berries. Place them together with the sugar in a large sauce pan. Shake the pan lightly every now and then, but do not stir it. Leave the pan in a cool place for 2 hours.
2. Slowly heat the berries, and simmer on a low heat for 20 minutes. Remove any foam that might arise.
3. Pour the milk, cream, vanilla seeds and vanilla pod into a saucepan and bring the pan slowly up to boiling point. Remove from heat and leave to cool off for 15 minutes.
4. In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar until fluffy. Remove the vanilla pod from the pan and pour the milk/cream into the egg mixture whilst stirring. Pour the mixture back into the pan and re-heat gently - keep stirring and do not let it boil. Leave to cool and freeze mixture in ice cream maker.
BON APPÉTIT
Photo By Mads Damgaard]]>The Ultimate Swedish Meatballstag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.8107922011-01-25T16:53:43-05:002011-05-25T18:25:24-04:00Kalle Bergmanhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/kalle-bergman/Any self-respecting Scandinavian food writer must have a good Swedish Meatballs recipe. We are after all talking about a dish that can only be described as The King Of Swedish Cuisine. Brought to the world - in a horrible version - by Swedish furniture giant IKEA, there is much more to this lovely dish than prefabricated and thawed out miniature ping pong balls accompanied by boiled to death potatoes and industrial "cream" sauce en masse.
Served homemade - this ultra classic has a very special place in the hearts of most Swedes. And why shouldn't it? It is after all a miniature version of the entire Swedish cuisine, with many of the classic ingredients that we see across not only Swedish, but Scandinavian food culture. Ground beef. Pickled cucumber. Lingonberries. Mash. Cream sauce. Powerful and smooth at the same time. Simple, but actually still quite refined.
There are as many Swedish meatball recipes as there are Swedish mothers. All with their individual secrets and tweaks, and all claiming position as "the original". Many use a bread and milk mixture to make the meatballs smoother (I don't, as I like 'em chunky), others mix pork and beef to make them lighter (I don't, as I think that brings them too close to the Danish frikadelle). Some season with everything from allspice to nutmeg (I don't, as I think really good beef handles itself perfectly well without it).
This is my personal Swedish Meatball recipe, and it is quite decadent. The meatballs, rich and deep with the flavor of dark beer and beef stock. The pickled cucumbers, with just a little sting from red chili. The mash, so packed with butter it makes the angels of saturated fat sing. Everything accompanied by sweet lingonberries and a velvety smooth cream sauce.
Anything to keep you away from the IKEA version.
Photo By Mads Damgaard
Swedish Meatballs With Cream Sauce And Mash Serves 4
Meatballs
1 1/3 Ib of ground beef
1 Large onion
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 Tablespoons of beef stock
2 Tablespoons of dark beer
Cream Sauce 1/2 Cup of beef stock
1 Cup of heavy cream
Salt
White pepper
1 Tablespoon of organic butter
Thickener to taste
A pinch of sugar
Mashed Potatoes 2 Ib of potatoes
1/4 to 1/2 Cup of warm milk, amount depending on what consistency you like
3 Tablespoons of organic butter
Salt
Pepper
Pickled Cucumber ½ Cucumber
½ Cup of Vinegar
½ Cup of Water
½ Tablespoon of salt
1/3 Cup of sugar
1 Bay leaf
1 Red chili, finely chopped
Lingonberry Jam (can be replaced by store bought jam or redcurrant jelly)
1 1/2 Cups of lingonberries
1 1/2 Cups of sugar
HOW TO
z FOR THE CUCUMBER 1. Mix water, sugar, salt and vinegar in a large bowl. Whisk until sugar and salt is disolved completely. Add the chopped chili. Finely slice the cucumber, and add to the bowl. Make sure they are completely covered by the fluid. Add bayleaf, and place in the refrigerator for at least one hour (the longer the better).
FOR THE JAM 2. Rinse the lingonberries thoroughly and put them in a bowl. Pour over the sugar, and gently stir until sugar is dissolved. Store in the refrigerator until serving. You can replace this for store bought lingonberry jam or redcurrant jelly.
FOR THE MASH 3. Peel the potatoes and boil them in lightly salted water until very soft. Pass through a fine sieve to get the smoothest mash. Add the butter, and then the milk (less for a firmer mash, more for a soft purée) slowly as you whisk the potatoes. Season with salt.
FOR THE MEATBALLS 4. Peel and grate the onion coarsely. Fry it in a hot pan together with a little bit of butter and vegetable oil until golden brown.
5. Put the ground beef in a bowl, add the browned onions, about two tablespoons of the beef stock and the same amount of dark beer. Season with salt and pepper, and mix together. Leave for 15 minutes.
6. Roll the meat into small balls with a diameter of roughly one inch (wetting your hands slightly from time to time makes it easier to shape them). Fry the meatballs in batches together with butter and vegetable oil. Set aside while making the sauce.
FOR THE SAUCE 7. Deglace the frying pan with a little water and add the stock. Reduce by a third, and then add the cream. Bring to simmer, and add the butter and a pinch of sugar. Whisk until dissolved completely and reduce by about a third again. Thicken with thickener to taste. Taste and season it with salt and white pepper.
8. Add the meatballs to the sauce, or serve them separately.
]]>Soccer And Hash At The Milltag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2010:/theblog//3.7929662011-01-14T10:07:50-05:002011-05-25T18:15:22-04:00Kalle Bergmanhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/kalle-bergman/Stockholm is to watch "my" soccer team Hammarby play. The club is absolutely legendary in Sweden, and has its roots firmly placed in the historically poor southern parts of the Swedish capital. A working class club by tradition, and even if gentrification has turned the south into one of the most chic and expensive areas in Stockholm, the DNA of Hammarby as working class is still as alive as it ever was. Hammarby was, is and will always be the people's team. Always fighting an uphill struggle (make that very uphill), but never giving up. Other teams might be successful and loved by Kings or business leaders, but Hammarby is loved by the people. And to me, born in the heart of Hammarby country, it is more than a favorite team. It is a part of me that I carry with me regardless of where in the world I live or travel...
Now naturally, every time I visit my native city I try to watch my team play, and next time you go to Stockholm - so should you. And when you do, if you want to experience the very welcoming and special atmosphere surrounding the club, there is one thing that brings the Hammarby myth to life more than anything else. And that's visiting one of the classic beer halls on the island of Södermalm on match day. There are a few of these old fashioned pubs that are well worth a visit from a historical perspective, but there is one that stands out of the crowd. One place that personifies the club more than anything else. Kvarnen.
Kvarnen - meaning The Mill in English - is a more than 100 years old beer hall, and it has been the most beloved meeting point for Hammarby fans for the past 50 years. Placed proudly in the center of Södermalm, it is still as popular as ever. With its striking ascetic beauty and huge windows, it has the traits of a church, and the passion with which the fans relate to Kvarnen is as religious as their passion for the team.
Go through the old doorway, and the grand hall reveals itself to you. Dark wood, white stone and wooden benches along the walls. Paintings of legendary players and sculptures of local artists on the walls. Old school waiters that take their jobs utterly seriously, even if the audience might not be a hundred percent appreciative at all times. Young and old people mixed together, and a warm and hearty atmosphere that you won't find in many other pubs or restaurants.
So have a seat at one of the tables. Order a Pytt i Panna (Swedish hash) and a cold beer, and just absorb the scenery. And welcome to Hammarby.
Now, if you can't make it to Stockholm - here's a suggestion on how to make your own Pytt i Panna. This great dish is normally considered "leftover food". Use whatever you have lying around from yesterdays dinner, chop it up and fry it. But in my opinion, treating Pytt i Panna (literally meaning small pieces in a pan) as leftovers is a shame. It is actually more than good enough to deserve the ingredients to be bought for the occasion. The great thing though, is that you don't have to be all strict about the ingredients. Just use your preferred meat, together with some of the seasons best root vegetables and top with a fried egg and some beetroots - a rustic dish, but still quite elegant!
HOW TO Serves 4 6 Diced potatoes
2 Diced onions
2 Diced carrots
2 Diced parsnips
2 Tablespoons of organic butter
1 1/2 Ib good beef
4 Free range eggs
1/3 Cup chicken stock
Pickled beetroots
Strong mustard
Salt
Pepper
1. Cut the beef into dices of about 1/2 inch squared.
2. Gently fry the onions in a little butter until golden. Set aside.
3. Fry the diced potatoes carrots and parsnips in butter for 8-10 minutes over medium heat. Add the chicken stock. When the stock has boiled in/evaporated completely, turn the heat up for 2-3 minutes or until the vegetables are golden and crispy on the outside.
4. In a separate - very hot skillet - fry the beef quickly until browned but not well-done.
5. Add the vegetables and onion to the beef (for an extra decadent version, also add 1/4 cup of cream) and cook together for about a minute. Season with salt and a good amount of freshly ground black pepper.
6. Serve with fried eggs, beetroot and some good mustard. Garnish with chopped chives.
SMAKLIG MÅLTID
Food Photography By Mads Damgaard Kvarnen Photography By Kvarnen]]>Spinach And Ricotta Gnocchi With Parma Hamtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.8034602011-01-08T12:05:56-05:002011-05-25T18:20:30-04:00Kalle Bergmanhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/kalle-bergman/Scandinavian cooking are some of the same qualities that are attributed to Italian cuisine. A very deep respect for local produce. An honest cooking process. The use of natural preservatives and a simplistic approach to combining flavors and textures.
Yes, Scandinavian food has another set of ingredients and flavors, and it certainly hits your palate differently than Italian food, but in many ways the philosophy is quite similar. "Make use of what the land has to offer, and don't fuzz around too much with it."
These wonderful spinach, ricotta and parma ham gnocchis are so simple to make - and they are just adorable. Smooth and elegant, but at the same time rustic and very traditional. They could have been Scandinavian, had the city of Parma only been located about 950 miles to the north.
SPINACH AND RICOTTA GNOCCHI WITH PARMA HAM
Serves 6 as an appetizer
9 oz fresh spinach
7 oz ricotta cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
5 slices of parma ham
2 tablespooons of wheat flour
2 tablespoons of organic butter
Salt
1. Rinse the spinach and strain it.
2. Heat up a little olive oil in a deep pan. Add the finely chopped garlic and spinach. Let it "boil" for five minutes without any other water than the water that is still there from rinsing. After five minutes, strain off the remaining water - and squeeze all the water you can out of the spinach before finely chopping it.
3. In a pan, fry the slices of parma ham with a little oil until golden. Remove from pan, but save the oil and remaining fat until later. Let the ham drip off on a kitchen towel, and then finely chop it.
4. In a bowl, mix spinach, parma ham, ricotta cheese, flour and 3/4 of the parmesan cheese well. Season with a small amount of salt (the cheese and parma ham adds saltiness).
5. Shape small round gnocchis, place them on a floured plate and sprinkle a little flour on top. Leave in the fridge for 10 minutes.
6. In the same that pan you fried the parma ham, melt the butter on medium heat and leave it until golden.
6. Boil the gnocchis in batches in salted water, they are done when they surface - remove with a slotted spoon and place them on hot plates.
7. Spoon over the melted butter, and sprinkle with the remaining parmesan cheese
BON APPÉTIT!]]>A Simple Compromise: The Danish New Year Caketag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2010:/theblog//3.8014812010-12-28T18:10:29-05:002011-05-25T18:20:30-04:00Kalle Bergmanhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/kalle-bergman/any relationship consisting of two alive homo sapiens is bound to run into situations where the background and traditions of each individual collide and cause more or less heated discussions. "That's the way my family always did it, and that's the way I'll keep doing it"...
But if you factor in that the two of you come from different countries - even if the countries are neighbors - you're entering a whole new dimension. Then it's not just personality issues or the way you were brought up that will collide. Suddenly, you have two proud (hopefully) national identities that need to be coordinated and fine-tuned to run smoothly together. And even if most of the time is pretty easy (the whole love conquers all thing), often even charming, there are certain occasions where problems can - and will - occur. These occasions are usually called "holidays".
My wife and I have actually - knock on wood - been able to find a pretty good balance between Danish and Swedish traditions over the years. We run an "every second year" cycle where the cultural collision is simply too vast to bridge, and otherwise we have just chosen to have an unusually large amount of holidays in our home as we run both the Swedish and Danish calendars. A clever solution where everybody is a winner.
But there is actually one day that's still a little bit problematic to us, and that's New Years Eve. To make a long story short, it's mostly a schedule thing. Danes and Swedes watch the same shows (Dinner For One), just on different time slots, and we eat basically the same kind of food. There are a few differences - Danes wouldn't dream of missing out on the Queen's (the actual Queen, not the band) New Year Speech, and they have a peculiar passion for climbing chairs at midnight and jumping into the new year. But really, that's about it, and those differences shouldn't be too hard to bridge. They are. It seems the closeness of the traditions makes it even more difficult to settle the question of national power over the remote control.
Now, there is one Danish New Years Eve tradition that I have been happy to accept. The lovely New Years Cake - the Kransekage. This marzipan based cake is traditionally served in layers of wreaths, topped with frosting and sometimes chocolate or almonds, eaten together with Champagne at midnight. But here, I have turned it into a petit four-like cookie, completely frosted and topped with a single fresh raspberry - I think it looks beautiful, and fits perfectly together with a cup of strong coffee after dinner. A simple compromise.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Kransekage - Danish New Year's Cookies Makes 12
4 Oz of fresh marzipan
2 Oz of sugar
1 Egg white from free range egg
Frosting 4 Tablespoons of icing sugar
½ Tablespoon of water
Fresh berries for garnishing
1. Mix the egg white and sugar until fluffy. Fold in the marzipan and beat until a smooth dough. Roll into a tube and cut into 12 cakes. Roll each cake into a ball. Bake in a preheated oven at 450°F for 6-8 minutes or until they are light golden. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
2. Whisk together the icing sugar and water for the frosting. When the cakes have cooled off completely, cover each one in frosting. Place a single fresh berry on each cake when the frosting has almost stiffened.
PHOTO BY MADS DAMGAARD
]]>Christmas Fullness And The Sexiest Potatoes Alivetag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2010:/theblog//3.7995802010-12-22T11:06:09-05:002011-05-25T18:20:30-04:00Kalle Bergmanhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/kalle-bergman/I was convinced that the highest level of "fullness" a man could reach was through the Swedish Christmas dinner. In my world, three hours of constant buffet eating had to be the most heavy and numbing food experience anyone could be exposed to. A wall of small dishes, from cold to warm. First an exuberant and almost aggressively hungry pace, the first cold plates of herring are devoured easily. Then slightly slower over the meatballs, Christmas ham and prince sausages. Fork and knife are rested more often than before. Finally, in time for Janssons Temptation, rather desperate expressions are shared across the table. Scattered sighs, as participant after participant realize that there are still dishes on the buffet that has not been tested yet.
The Swedish Christmas fullness is special (and very dear to me). It is numbing, heavy and swelling - and for a long time I believed that this was the Everest of fullness.
But that all changed when I met my wife.
Because I didn't know that there was another door. That somewhere, right in the very darkest and most distant corner of the Swedish Christmas fullness, was a slightly lit last door. A door with a discrete warning sign. A door with the text "Danish Christmas Dinner".
The Danish Christmas dinner is a 9 on the Richter Scale. A Defcon 1. Why? Well, first of all it incorporates all the ingredients you need to make a bursting culinary atomic bomb. Butter, sugar, potatoes, pork, duck, fat, cream, cherry sauce, red wine, jelly, cream and a little bit more cream. But the ingredients themselves are not the main issue. Because if it was all in the fat and the carbs, you could just eat a little bit less of everything and steer clear of food coma. No, the main problem with the Danish Christmas dinner is that it is so amazingly good that the "eat less method" is almost impossible to implement. A small bite more turns into two small bites more. Two turns into three, and three turns into burst pant buttons, meat sweats and dinner guests lying stretched out on the floor. It is the Danish Christmas Curse.
One of the key players on the Danish Christmas table is the Brunede Kartofler - Browned Potatoes. I know I have been focusing a little too much on potatoes the last few weeks - but Christmas time is tater time in Scandinavia (hell, any time is tater time in Scandinavia), and these ones might just be the sexiest spuds alive. Small boiled potatoes, cooked in butter and melted sugar. Golden, sticky and sweet. Wonderful and deadly at the same time. A perfect representative for the Danish Christmas Curse.
Browned Potatoes 2 lbs of small potatoes
3 Tablespoons of sugar
2 Tablespoons of organic butter, unsalted
1 Tablespoons of water if needed
1. Boil and peel the potatoes.
2. In a large frying pan, cook the sugar on moderate heat until completely melted. Do not stir! When melted, add the butter and stir until the two are combined into an almost syrupy mixture.
3. Add the potatoes, and a little bit of water to the mixture. If the mixture starts to stiffen and form lumps, don't panic. Turn the heat up and it will melt again. Slowly rock the pan and cover each potato in the mixture, continuing to cook for about 8-10 minutes.
TIP: During the rest of the year, I like to spruce these potatoes up with a little fresh sage or chopped chili at the end - but for Christmas, I always serve them in this traditional manner.]]>Janssons Temptation: Star Of The Swedish Christmas Smorgasbordtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2010:/theblog//3.7980812010-12-17T09:20:36-05:002011-05-25T18:20:30-04:00Kalle Bergmanhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/kalle-bergman/An ultra classic Swedish dish, one of my personal favorites and an absolute legend on the Swedish Christmas table. Say hello to Janssons Frestelse - Janssons Temptation. This lovely fella is essentially a potato gratin, topped with crispy breadcrumbs, soft on the inside and spiced up with small pickled sprats to add an amazing and almost undefinable sweet saltiness to the dish. But don't be alarmed by the sprat thing. It doesn't taste like fish - the sprats are just seasoning - a Temptation tastes smooth and creamy with just a tiny hint of the ocean.
Many English Jansson Temptation recipes erroneously use anchovies - due to a very common translation mistake. The Swedish word ansjovis is often translated (and understandably so) into the English anchovies, but the fact of the matter is that ansjovis in Swedish actually means pickled sprats. Why Sweden decided to be all rebellious about this subject - and name anchovies sardeller, and pickled sprats ansjovis - we'll never know, but I guess that's how some countries try to stand out from the crowd. Now, you can actually substitute the sprats for matjes herring if you have a hard time finding pickled sprats (and a suprisingly easy time finding matjes herring). My personal tip is to visit that huge Swedish furniture store you might have close by to see if they carry these small salty snorklers. But please stay away from using anchovies.
Now, if you don't feel like "Swedifying" your Christmas this year - don't despair. Save the recipe for any cold dark night - Janssons Temptation deserves to be eaten all through the winter, served as it is without any accessories, or together with a few good barbecued bangers.
GOD JUL!
JANSSON'S TEMPTATION Serves 4-6
4-6 large potatoes, peeled and cut into thin strips
1 Cup of heavy cream
7 Oz of pickled sprats (keep the marinade)
Salt & pepper
2 Tablespoons of breadcrumbs
2 Large onions
1 Stick of organic butter
1.Preheat the oven to 430°F.
2. Slice and cut the onion. Fry it gently in butter until golden. Layer onions, potatoes and finely chopped sprats in a large buttered oven dish (or in several smaller ones like in the picture above). Pour in the cream and about half of the marinade from the sprats. Grind some black pepper on top, spread bread crumbs over the potatoes, and top with a few slices of butter.
3. Bake in the middle of the oven until golden brown, for about 50-60 minutes. Place some aluminum foil on top during the last 10-15 minutes if you think it has gotten too much color.
TIP: You can make the Temptation the day before and re-heat it - but if you do, add a little extra cream during re-heating.]]>Saint Lucia Day And Swedish Lussebullartag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2010:/theblog//3.7948942010-12-13T10:14:48-05:002011-05-25T18:20:30-04:00Kalle Bergmanhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/kalle-bergman/December 13th is the date when children across Sweden dress up in white sheets, set their heads on fire (they actually don't, they just put flaming candles in their hair) and parade through the city singing Christmas carols. Welcome to Lucia, a slightly weird but beautiful winter celebration, deeply rooted in the heart of every Swede.
Lucia is weird partly because it's origin is a medieval patchwork of folklore combined with pagan, Catholic and Lutheran traditions from Italy, Sweden and Germany. The Catholic roots
come from Sicily where Saint Lucia was killed for her beliefs and subsequently celebrated as a saint during the old Julian calendar winter solstice - on the 13th of December. Pagan, because the winter solstice was considered an especially dangerous time in 16th century Sweden. Evil powers were at play, and even the animals were believed to be able to speak during the winter solstice. Actions were taken to keep ghosts and goblins away, and the Chrismas pig was supposed to be butchered before this day. And top if off, the Catholic fast was closing in, so in order to prepare for the dark weeks ahead - a celebration took place, a feast, to eat and drink as much as possible while people still could. The white dress and candle crown that the "Lucia Bride" was wearing was borrowed from Germany, where it was used to symbolize baby Jesus during Christmas, to add just a little bit more geographical and cultural confusion.
Then, as time pushed on, Sweden steered away from the Julian calendar and on to the current Gregorian calendar. Winter solstice was moved closer to Christmas, and as the country became Lutheran, most of the old Catholic traditions were scrapped by the new religious leaders. But the Church couldn't persuade the people to stop celebrating Saint Lucia, and so it has lived on ever since, both as a religious celebration and a cultural festivity.
These days, on the 13th of December - hundreds of Lucia parades visit churches, hospitals, schools and work places across the nation - Saint Lucia with candles in her hair, accompanied by her maids and the "Star Boys" (which is not a 17th century boy band, contrary to popular belief) - singing Chrismas and Lucia carols. It is absolutely magical, and I recommend anyone to visit one of the many Lucia parades in the US - for instance the one arranged by the Swedish Church in New York (picture).
An essential part of the Lucia celebration is the "Lussebulle" - the Lucia Bun. A golden saffron infused wheat bun, decorated with raisins. As beautiful as the parade itself and absolutely delicious. Moist, and with just the right level of sweetness.
Serve it with coffee, or even better with some mulled wine - and be overwhelmed with Christmas spirit.
HAPPY LUCIA!
LUSSEBULLAR Makes about 20 1 Stick of organic butter
1 Cup of milk
1/3 Cup of 10% yoghurt
0,5 Grams of saffron
3,5 Teaspoons dry active yeast
4 Cups of flour
1/2 Cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Free range egg
Raisins
How to: 1. Melt butter in a small pan over low heat. Add milk and warm through until body temperature. Pour into a large bowl. Add the yeast and let it rest for 3-4 minutes.
2. Add yoghurt, saffron, sugar, salt and stir for a minute until the yoghurt is almost mixed with the butter and milk. Add the flour little by little, and work it into a smooth dough (you'll need about 3/4 of the flour for the dough). Let the dough rise under a kitchen towel for about 45 minutes.
3. Punch down the dough (have the rest of the flour ready if more is needed to make it smooth), and then start making the buns. On a floured table, make 6-7 inches long tubes, and curl them up into S shaped buns. Place on a baking sheet, and garnish with raisins. Leave to rise for another 45 minutes.
4. Brush each lussebulle with beaten egg and bake in a 400°F oven for 10-15 minutes (small ones can be baked on 450°F for about 5-8 minutes).
Photographs: Swedish Church in New York & Kalle Bergman]]>Swedish Hasselback Potatoes: The Comebacktag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2010:/theblog//3.7879432010-11-30T13:00:55-05:002011-05-25T18:15:22-04:00Kalle Bergmanhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/kalle-bergman/It's the mid '80s at the Bergmans back in Stockholm. We are expecting dinner guests. Mom and Dad take turns in the kitchen, running back and forth between the stove, dining room and bedroom trying to perfect both their own outfits, the food and the table decoration at the same time. They have poured themselves a small whiskey each, in those special whiskey glasses that look like oak trees. If you fill them with just the right amount of whiskey and slowly wobble them back and forth, they produce a unique clucking sound. Dad demonstrates the clucking to all new dinner guests. I find it very fascinating.
It smells good. Warm and soft. Like an open fire wrapped in a velvet blanket. Something is roasting in the oven. Probably chicken and Hasselback Potatoes. And when Hasselback Potatoes are on the menu, you just know things are a little bit more festive than normal. That it isn't your regular Tuesday dinner. It's the weekend, and the guests are important. I myself haven't got the faintest idea of how these Hasselback Potatoes are made, but I'm enchanted by them. The fine cuts. The crispy top and the soft inside. The golden bread crumbs. It feels international and grown up. Fancy.
A few hours later, a very young Kalle Bergman is dozing off on the couch after dinner, as the evening continues in the open kitchen. The grown ups are speaking. Arguing. Laughing. Cheering. I'm not disturbed by it, slowly rocked to sleep by the murmuring.
To me Hasselback Potatoes, along with a few other dishes, are a lost symbol of my childhood. A more innocent time. But it disappeared for some reason, both from dinner tables and restaurant menus. Exactly when and why, I don't know, but probably something new and trendy got in the way of it. My parents' generation grew tired of it, and the generation that followed never really discovered it. Today it leads a very marginal life.
But Hasselback Potatoes are fantastic and a very simple way to turn regular potatoes from dull to delish. With just the assistance of a knife, some butter and breadcrumbs, you have a side dish that's not only very pretty in all its hominess, but also super tasty.
So perhaps the Hasselback Potatoes are set for a comeback. Perhaps my generation, with fond childhood memories of them will bring them back and introduce them to a new generation. I really hope so.
SMAKLIG MÅLTID!
Hasselback Potatoes With Rosemary What you need: potatoes (medium sized), breadcrumbs, fresh rosemary, butter and sea salt.
1. Preheat the oven to 425°F
2. Peel and wash the potatoes.
3. Slice into the potatoes about 1/5 inch apart. Do not cut completely through! Top each potato with a small knob of butter and bake them in the oven for about 25 minutes.
4. Remove from the oven, and sprinkle each potato with breadcrumbs, sea salt and some rosemary (rosemary is untraditional, so if you want to stay true to the original recipe, just leave it out).. Again top each potato with a small knob of butter.
5. Bake for another 25-35 minutes (depending on the size of the potatoes) or until golden on the outside and soft on the inside. You can also turn the oven to broil for the last 5 minutes of cooking to get an extra crispy outside.
]]>The Story Of The Best Shrimp Toast In The Worldtag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2010:/theblog//3.7840892010-11-18T11:50:41-05:002011-05-25T18:10:25-04:00Kalle Bergmanhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/kalle-bergman/1956. Skagen. The northernmost tip of Denmark. This quaint little town, known for its geographical location in the middle of two great seas and its artistic heritage, is hosting a regatta with participants from several countries. One of the skippers is The Godfather of modern Swedish cuisine, Tore Wretman onboard his beatitful mahogany sailboat the Salta Marina.
The regatta is going well, and the Salta Marina is in a winning position. The crew can smell victory, and the atmosphere on board is cheerful. Plans are being made for a triumphant arrival at the banquet. The route they have chosen, far away from the rest of the pack, has proved to be ingenious.
Suddenly the wind dies. Completely. And with that, so does any chance of victory. As boat after boat passes on the horizon, the crew begins to doubt that they will even be able to make it into harbour in time for the banquet at all. The mood drops to freezing point within minutes.
Tore, ever the optimist, decides quickly that the only thing that can prevent a mutiny (okay, this was an amateur regatta, so it is doubtful that an actual mutiny was underway...) is to cook for his crew. After all, he is the owner of the beautiful Restaurant Riche in downtown Stockholm, and he is well known for his culinary skills, so if anyone can cook the mood back to normal it's him.
In the galley, he only finds a few fresh shrimps, some vendace roe, toast, butter, eggs, dill and vegetable oil. Not a lot. But it proves to be enough. He peels the shrimps, chops them up, chops the dill, whisks together a mayonnaise, fries the bread in a little butter and serves the whole thing as a toast topped with the vendace roe.
The crew digs in, and soon smiles begin to spread across the faces of the moments ago depressed sailors. The toast is a homerun, and the mood improves quickly. One of the deckhands asks Tore what this fantastic dish is called - he has never tried it before!
Tore has no idea what to tell him. But then he glances across the sea, and what was just recently way off in the horizon, the tip of Skagen is now finally getting closer. He smiles. - My dear friend, don't you know that this is the legendary Toast Skagen?
A couple of weeks later, Toast Skagen is introduced at Restaurant Riche, and the rest is history. Today this fantastic toast really is legendary. And it has a special place in the culinary heart of most Swedes.
Toast Skagen is essentially a shrimp toast, but there is one mythical ingredient that sets it apart from any other shrimp toast. Kalix Vendace Roe. This Swedish version of Russian or Iranian caviar is orange, light in taste, subtle and not as pushy as its eastern cousins. It's often served together with butter fried blinis or toast, some sour cream and very finely chopped red onions - as the star of the show. But in the Toast Skagen, it will have to settle with being the jewel in the crown. An orange colored precious gem, placed on top of this culinary treasure.
In my version of the Toast Skagen I have added a small amount of crème fraiche to the mayonnaise to make it a little lighter in texture and taste. But if you want to be completely loyal to the original recipe - just use mayonnaise. Also, there is debate as to whether or not dill should be a part of the recipe; Toast Skagen was initially served without dill at the Riche, but the original Toast Skagen made onboard the Salta Marina in the calm outside Skagen included a good amount of this wonderful herb. I personally think that dill is hugely important to lift the combined flavors and make this a true Swedish classic, but feel free to experiment!
SMAKLIG MÅLTID
TOAST SKAGEN Serves 4
3/4 Ib of Greenland shrimps, peeled
1 1/2 Tablespoon of good fresh mayonnaise
1/2 Small bunch of dill
1/2 Tablespoon of sour cream / crème fraiche
Salt & pepper
1 Lemon
2 Oz of Kalix vendace roe (or another caviar/roe)
4 Slices of toast bread
1 Tablespoon of organic butter
1. Chop the shrimps coarsley. Mix dill, mayonnaise, sourcream and lemon juice in a bowl. Add the shrimps and season with salt and pepper. Place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
2. Make round slices of toast bread and fry them in butter in butter until golden brown.
3. Serve the Toast Skagen in the middle of the plate. First the toast, then the Skagen mix and top the with the vendace roe. Garnish with dill and a slice of lemon
Placed proudly in the center of Södermalm, it is still as popular as ever. With its striking ascetic beauty and huge windows, it has the traits of a church, and the passion with which the fans relate to Kvarnen is as religious as their passion for the team. 
