I'm sure many of you know who Art Smith is. He's a pretty famous chef, and among other things, a personal chef to Oprah Winfrey. He's in charge of stocking her cupboards with all her favorite foods, and he likes to sneak in new products that he thinks she will enjoy. One day, he placed a packet of knäckebröd there - that's Swedish crisp bread, usually made from rye - and suddenly, Oprah declared on her show that she just "loved those little Swedish delights!".
A Swedish editor picked up on it, and was quick to ask Art to write a cookbook about knäckebröd, in Swedish. And so he did. And a few weeks ago, he visited Sweden to launch that book - "I Love Knäckebröd", and I was lucky enough to go to the press conference.
I also got a chance to chat to Art about blogging and new medias and he was very nice and interested. He seemed really excited about his book, which is so far just released in Swedish but the editor told me that they're definitely wanting to release this in English as well - I'll let you know!
The book isn't very extensive - after all, how many recipes using crisp bread can you think of? - and has a total of 32. It ranges from breakfast items to snacks and main dishes and even desserts. We got to sample several - a turkey chili, a frittata (that was divine!) and a mini burger that was also really good, as well as a muesli with knäckebröd, a chocolate cake and a key lime pie that was definitely my favorite.
It goes to show that crisp bread is *really* versatile, as well as healthy and tasty! Wasabröd is one of the largest producers of crisp bread and they export a lot so I bet you can find it pretty much all over the world now - at least in your local IKEA. You can also bake your own - I have a great recipe.
And... an update on the kittens - sadly, two of them have passed away. The other two - the girls - are doing quite well, but we're feeding them every other hour. I have high hopes for them, but do keep your fingers crossed for us. I'll update when they're a bit more stable, as it is I don't really want to disturb them by taking any photos.
14 comments:
I just saw this in NK! It's a really creative book. How I wish it were in English. But may be a good way to help learn some Swedish:-)
As a cat owner and cat lover it breaks ny heart to hear about the kittens. The law of nature are sometimes hard
Anne,
So sorry to read of the two little kitties... My very best wishes for the others!
Re the Maya Gold, I think I may have been the person who introduced you to it!? I think I included a couple of their small bars in the little package I brought you - gory, can you believe it? One year ago now! IN any case, I ADORE Maya Gold and Green and Black's in general - their Creamy Vanilla White Chocolate is my absolute favourite for white chocolate. I use the Maya Gold bar to glaze my Boston Cream Pies.
Big Hugs to you and Per.
Jeff
So sorry to hear about the kitties!
Where does the crispbread go in the frittata?
Karin, Jeff, Foodycat, thank you. :)
Jeff, you're totally right! It's all your fault :)
Foodycat - I actually think that it was just ground breadcrumbs on top of the one I ate, but in the recipe, it's in large chunks.
Anne, I am so sorry that two of your kittens died. Life is hard sometimes. I am happy that you still have two kittens and I hope they will do very well.
Keeping my fingers crossed for your darlings!
Anna
Anne, just wanted to say I'm really sorry that the two kitties have now passed away :-( That's very sad... I hope the other 2 go from strength to strength & are better soon.
Best wishes & hugs,
Cassandra
Oh Anne, how sad. Wish I could e-mail you a hug. But hopefully the remaining two will go from strength to strength.
I´m really sorry about the kittens. My son loves to watch cats and kittens on your blog.
About knäckebröd, the other day I overheard a man in my ICA-supermarket calling his wife in America asking her what kind of knäckebröd he should buy for her. I felt had to talk to him and he told me that knäckebröd are more expensive in the USA. I told him about Art Smith´s book and and recommended some of my favourite knäckebröd, for example Finn Crisp (I know, they are Finnish...) and Pyramidbageriets knäckebröd.
(Hoppas du har en trevlig midsommar!)
Hi Anne
Love your posts. Do you know where I can get a copy of this book? I have tried searching on amazon and sweden bookstore but I can't seem to find it.
Thanks.
Nisa
Hi Nisa!
Sorry, I don't know that. I haven't seen it in print recently either...
I have a copy of this book in English! It has 32 delicious recipes using Wasa crispbread. The photos are gorgeous too! I'll be doing a giveaway for it on my blog in a few days. So please feel free to stop by.
Here is the link to the giveaway...but US residents only please! http://myrecipejourney-lillian.blogspot.com/2012/07/art-smith-oprahs-chef-cookbook-giveaway.html#
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