Finally. Finally I'm able to tell you about a really good book about Swedish food - that's available in English! This gem of a book is called "Very Swedish" or in Swedish, "Längtans Mat" (which means food that you long for) and is written by Annica Triberg. (At Max Ström publishers.) It truly is the best book of this genre that I've found in a long time, and I'm happy to say that it's also a really beautiful book. Max Ström publishers focus on beautiful books with lots of photos, and this is no exception. There are beautiful nature photos from all over Sweden (by Tore Hagman), and excellent food photos. (By Per Hanung)
My copy is as you can see from the photo, in Swedish. I sent an English copy to friends in Canada though, so I know that it's just the same as this one - I hope they'll enjoy it! Let me point out some of the recipes you'll find in this lovely book: Cured salmon (gravlax) with "head-waiter sauce" as the book calls it, I'd call it a Dill-Mustard sauce, but sure, "head-waiter sauce" is the literal translation. Or how about salmon pudding with clarified butter? Potato cakes with bacon? Saffron pancake? (Really more of a rice pudding.) Baked apples with custard?
This book will give you a really good introduction to classical Swedish cooking. I really recommend it for anyone who might be interested.
You can find a lot of Swedish recipes right here, of course - have you seen the "Swedish" category in the index recipe on the right? Some of the ones I've posted are also in the book (well, the recipes are not the same, but the dishes are) - such as Jansson's Temptation, Västerbotten Cheese Pie, Christmas Ham, Kroppkakor, Kåldolmar, Swedish Meatballs, Tjälknöl, Elderflower Cordial, Crisp bread, Sandwich cake, Gingerbread cookies and much, much more.
13 comments:
Annika Triberg is a good author. She wrote a book on bread, around the world on 80 doughs (in swedish, världen runt på 80 degar), which I, as a bake freak, couldn't resist.
There are some articles in the book, like a haphazard visit in Eritrea brought on by an injury. Brought an introduction for the author to bread and an environment she had not seen before; a brothel, although they only saw the back entrance and all were very kind.
Thank you for the information on this cookbook. I am interested in getting it. I love trying to make food from all over the world and have never made anything Swedish. Great blog. Keep it up.
Brad and couldn't be happier with this beautiful book! Quite easy recipes, great photos, and VERY Swedish! Thanks so much again, Anne! The last few weeks have been extraordinarly hectic here, with a lot of eating out and eating on the run, but I hope to make several recipes from this in the near future.
Big hugs,
Jeff.
Thanks for the heads up Anne! I suppose it must be better than my IKEA cookbook LOL!
Sounds like a good cookbook! I'll look for it next time I'm in Sverige!
Thanks for posting about this cookbook. I've been waiting for an English translation of a good all-purpose Swedish cookbook. Is there an online store that carries the English version and ships to the US?
Shelly, I'm not sure about that - but I'm trying to get in touch with the publisher about that. I hope so!
Bokus.com sells Very Swedish for 196 SEK. They do ship abroad, but shipping to California came out to about $35. I bought it online and shipped to a colleague who is in Göteborg right now. (Yay!)
But I imagine not everyone has really nice colleagues who visit Sweden a lot. So here's hoping that Max Ström sell the book on other sites outside the EU.
hej anne! so fun to read baout this on your blog. i actually bought this book a few weeks ago and haven't tried any of the recipes until tonight...we're having the västerbottenpaj for dinner...just took it out of the oven! and i'm making the bondkakor as well! those are my friend hanna's favorite and i first tried them at her place for fika yesterday. YUM. so i'll bring her some of my batch tomorrow :) jag kommer att använda den här boken mycket mer tror jag! ;)
I know I'm awfully late but my goodness, I am terribly excited to have stumbled across your blog. Having lately been quite intrigued by Swedish (and other Scandinavian) cuisine (and therefore cooking), I've been on a hunt for a reliable, authentic cookbook. So lucky for you to have recommended this book; I see it's available on amazon although it's fairly pricy, which is understandable considering the book seems to be rare. In the meantime, however, there's your recipes that I can saveur. Lovely blog and I really hope to read more on Swedish cooking.
Hi Anne,
I tried emailing you but perhaps it didn't get through. I found your blog after searching for the book Very Swedish by Annica Triberg. I am interested in finding a good Scandinavian cookbook as a gift for a friend, in english, and I was wondering if you might have any suggestions. The Annica Triberg book seems to be my best bet so far but after stumbling upon your blog, I thought I might as well ask your opinion :). Thanks.
Hi Tim! Oh - my spam filter needs a checkup, how annoying. Glad you left a comment too though. I still really recommend Very Swedish, I don't feel that there's a better Swedish book on the market. Smorgasbord is another option,but it's not at all as allround as Very Swedish is. There is a new one out as well, but I haven't had a chance to review it yet - I'll try to get around to that soon!
Thanks Anne!It's very much appreciated. Let me know if you ever need any advice on things Australian, I'd be happy to help. Keep up the great blogging.
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