Sunday, June 10, 2007

A beautiful day with friends

nackastrand-070606-1
Statue of God, putting stars in the sky, By Carl Milles.

We had another very warm summer day today. And Per and I had visitors! Jeff, who's a Canadian foodie who reads this blog, and his partner Brad were in Stockholm for the marathon. And today, they came here for some Swedish traditional summer fare, and company. It was a perfect day! We also invited Tesse and Danne, and we had a great time together.

sill

We ate sill, which is Swedish pickled herring - both the traditional matjessill and a mustard sill. It's served with sour cream and chives, and new potatoes with dill. You can also see in the background, our beautiful crisp-bread box. We had crisp rye bread with sharp Vasterbottenscheese.

lax o sik

Gravad lax - cured salmon - and smoked sik (lake whitefish). And a dill mustard sauce for the salmon, not pictured.

cloudberrysauce

A very yummy cloudberry sauce - simply mix crème frâiche and cloudberry preserves. Goes perfectly with smoked fish!

We then took a walk to nearby Nacka Strand, where the statue you see up top is situated. It's about ten minutes from our house. After that, dessert - traditional Swedish cheesecake with fresh strawberries, strawberry preserves, strawberry sauce and whipped cream! Didn't think to take pictures of it though.

Jeff and Brad brought me lots of great goodies from Canada, too! More about that another day!

12 comments:

Shaun said...

Anne - Although I am intensely jealous that Jeff and Brad got to spend time with you, I think it is so great to see food bloggers from all over the world connecting in the same space. The lunch spread looks divine - particularly the gravad lax and cloudberry sauce. Your photos are the epitome of the Swedish summer I often dream about.

Anne said...

Shaun - oh, do come to Stockholm and I promise you a Swedish summer meal, too :)

Anonymous said...

I love the pickled herring. We tend to eat it more at Christmas time here but it is available all year. I must get a new batch. It's my Swedish heritage! I love the summer scenery too. I hope to be in Sweden next year at this time.

Pille said...

Sounds like a great day indeed! I love the sound of cloudberry-cremefraiche sauce for smoked fish - I've never tried that before..

Anonymous said...

Anne, you have a lovely blog.We both share a common interest, that is food.I love cuisines around the world and the ones that you've posted here are just fabulous!I wish I could visit Stockholm and savor those dishes. You are lucky to have enjoyed with your friends.Have fun!

winedeb said...

OK, clue me in on what a cloudberry is like. Looks delicious!

Karin said...

I just talked to my mum and she and dad had visited my aunt and uncle and eaten cloudberry and she said youghurt sauce with smoked fish and said it was so good

Anonymous said...

Very beautiful pictures - as always...

;)

Anne said...

Elise - oh, how lovely! Sweden is so pretty in the summer.

Pille - it's really a great idea! Sweet and sour at the same time, and a bit different. Do try! :)

Jessica - thank you! If you ever do visit Sweden, let me know! :)

Winedeb - it's a small golden berry, similar in structure to a raspberry or a blackberry, but very different in flavor. It only grows near the arctic circle, and is sometimes referred to as lapland's gold. It's delicious - and pretty expensive.

Karin - yes, I don't remember where I first read about it, but I had tried it once or twice before. It's really a good combination :)

Matvarugajden, thank you so much! :)

Anonymous said...

Hej Anne (and Per and Tesse and Danne, too!)

We had an amazing afternoon of food and friendship with all of you. We really can't thank you enough! We just arrived back home this morning, picked up our one dog at the kennel (the other guy stayed at home with Brad's niece), unpacked, and now I have to mow the jungle that our back yard has become! Our nice neighbours kept our front yard tidy!
Hope you and your mom had a great time in London. And now it's your turn to come visit us!
Tack sa mycket!

Jeff and Brad

Anne said...

Jeff and Brad, we were really so happy to have you here :) I'm curious - did you by chance buy any Swedish cookbooks when you were here?

Anonymous said...

Anne,

I was very tempted to pick up a Swedish cookbook, but owing to both a lack of space in my suitcase and a lack of time to look properly, the cookbooks will have to wait till our next visit to Sweden... And we will definitely be back. Our love affair with your beautiful country only deepened this time around! :-)

Jeff.