The Hungry Cailín Goes West - Part 1

One of my favourite things about Sweden has to be the ‘klämdag’ or ‘squeeze day’ tradition.  If a public holiday falls on a Thursday or Tuesday, you take the day squeezed between it and the weekend off!  What’s not to love?

Last weekend, Mountain Man and I took advantage of Sweden’s National Day on Thursday 6^th of June and the klämdag on Friday.  We ventured into the wilderness; setting off from Malmö on Wednesday afternoon and by early evening setting up camp in the beautiful campsite ‘Klättertorpet’ in Bohuslän, Western Sweden.  Run by climbers Hanna and Petter, this place is not a typical 5*campsite - there is no hot water or showers and there is no 24 hour reception.  To me though, it has everything that qualifies as 5*.  There is endless peace and quiet, beautiful views, great climbing in every direction, 2 affectionate cats, composting toilets, a fire pit with a shedful of wood and a barn with cosy couches, a fridge and cooking facilities.  Everything about the place is relaxed and informal…like most climbers I know.

On Thursday, Hanna took me out to a nearby crag (that’s a cliff for those of you who don’t climb and for people like me who are just learning the lingo!) to give me some one-on-one instruction.  I’ve climbed before and Mountain Man has been climbing since he was a teenager, but I’ve never felt 100% comfortable or confident when it came to knots or technique.  We spent 4 hours practising, I climbed some of the toughest routes I have ever attempted and even learned how to hand jam (that means putting your hand into a crack in the rock and basically using it as an anchor to hold you…scary, right?!)  There are very few feelings like the one you get when you abseil off a tough climb and one of Sweden’s strongest climbers (read ‘shit hot’) high fives you.  What a morning, I was practically levitating with joy. 

To celebrate our return to our climbing harnesses (it’s been a while for me and my Mountain Man) we ventured a little further down the road to ‘Stenugnsbageri’ a gorgeous little bakery sitting all alone on the side of the road, in the middle of the countryside.  The lady behind the counter heard us conversing in English and immediately asked if we would like to taste their breads, so of we course we took her up on the offer and dived into the little jars of bread samples, every ingredient listed on the blackboards on the wall.  As we tasted, oohing and aahing all the way, the owner appeared, covered in flour, drawing us over to look in the window of his kitchen, pointing out his enormous oven, fuelled with 1m lengths of locally supplied timber.  His pride in a 6 year endeavour radiated from his cheery face, as he told us about the suppliers of his lettuce, vegetables, herbs…his flour and cheeses.  ‘Everything is organic, it’s easier that way, than having to explain what isn’t!’  My kind of man…  We had the most delicious lunch, with super fresh ingredients and old fashioned lettuce full of flavour, unlike the baby varieties that are so popular now, but often taste of nothing!  Sitting in the sun, luxuriating in the feeling of spending all day outdoors, I really couldn’t have been any happier.

We spent the afternoon taking endless photos of the local countryside, swimming in the sea and soaking up the June sunshine.  Being outside all day long felt so good, I realised that while I love being close to everything in the city, my country roots love to ‘go wild’ as often as possible! 

We concluded our day with a gourmet meal of buttered asparagus (Kerrygold of course) homemade organic beef burgers, caramelised onions and a top notch salad…all prepared at the picnic bench beside our tent and gobbled down by two hungry climbers.  Who ever said camping food has to be basic?

Watch this space for Part 2...crayfish, crab & summer houses by the sea.

Food Orgasm in Salt & Brygga

It's been quite some time since I have experienced a meal like last night's triumph in Salt & Brygga.  Winner of numerous awards since it opened, this restaurant is a little bit special.  Most ingredients are local and organic, coffee is fair trade, organic and utterly delicious.  All of the waste produced by the restaurant is seperated for recycling and, get this, organic waste is ground down with compost mills, decomposing it and turning it into biogas.  You might expect the result of all this 'do-gooding' to be a bit earnest and um...dull, but it's not.  It's incredible.

We visited early on a Monday night, so the atmosphere was a little bit on the quiet side.  I was, admittedly, nervous about this, as I thought it had the potential to ruin the evening.  In the end I was so blown away by the food I don't think I would have noticed if there was a wild party going on around me.  

So, what did we have? Mountain Man and I both went for a set menu option, which started with 'Smoked wild duck from Skåne with sea buckthorn and pickled onions'. That description does not do this dish justice.  The duck was sublime, delicately smoked and tender.  The orangey blob in the middle of the plate is sea buckthorn sorbet.  Oh my God.  Somehow the chef managed to achieve a creamy sorbet that held together without melting all over the plate.  Wow.  Pickled onion slivers were a treat, but so too were the nasturtium leaves and delicate radish slices. 

Our main course was even better, if that is possible; 'Venison with lingonberries, preserved chanterelles and cider sauce'.  The smell seduced me all on it's own, as it wafted it's way to the table.  The menu didn't mention the incredible smoked turnip mash or the gorgeous edible nasturtium flower.  I savoured every bite of the perfectly cooked venison (not easy to achieve, I've tried and failed a few times at home, turning it rubbery and nasty) and our incredibly friendly and knowledgeable waitress recommended a dark, locally brewed beer 'South Plains' APA to complement the dish, which was perfect - rich, mellow and...6%

Dessert was the most unusual dish I think I have ever had.  For a 'modern style Skåne apple cake with apple sorbet'  I was expecting a slice of tart or cake, with a scoop of ice-cream or sorbet on the side.  How wrong!  Instead this little piece of heaven arrived at the table. I'm not sure how to describe this, but I'll try.  Close your eyes and imagine this...a collection of apple desserts - another non melting apple puree like sorbet, chunks of apple bread, apple ice cream, crunchy caramelised pieces of appley meringue and sugar and...I'm not sure how to describe the final element - a frothy dry appley foam that disintegrated in the mouth.  Oh my God...heaven.

The aforementioned fair-trade, organic and delicious coffee finished off the meal with a final whiskey for himself and a Baileys for me.  The only moment of disappointment was when we realised that while spirits are priced per 1cl on the menu, unless you specify otherwise, 4cl are served.  So, we thought we were getting an amazing bargain for our after dinner drinks and...we didn't.  They were about the same price as you would expect anywhere else.  Once we understood the system we were pretty impressed.  Imagine being able to order a quarter of the usual bar measure?  Clever.  As we headed outside to unlock our bikes and cycle home, we were already planning a return trip.

In fact, I think this place is more than a little bit special.  It is sublime.

Juicy berries and a heavenly farmers market

Harvest time.  That's what the last couple of weeks have felt like to me.  All the hard work that was done early in the year is now rewarding us with the most divine gifts.

We've been in Malmö for 2 weeks and until yesterday we had the most glorious crisp, bright, mild weather.  Leaves crunched underfoot, sun sparkled through tree branches and Mountain Man & I must have stood out like the tourists we still are, in our shorts and sandals.  We certainly got plenty of funny looks from the locals who were already wrapped up in scarves and down jackets.

And oh...the food.  Harvest time it clearly is...  The two experiences I had of the Saturday farmers market just around the corner on Drottningtorget were resplendent with organic berries, plums, sweetcorn and apples.  The market runs from the end of August until mid October, so it really is just a gloriously short but sweet taste of the bounty of local farmers.

Last Saturday I stocked up on blueberries, raspberries & strawberries fresher than I have ever seen...anywhere.  The gent who sold Mountain Man a bunch of sunflowers on our first weekend sold us a very sturdy pot of thyme on this occasion.  A few kilos of organic apples for juicing & stewing were carried home and the lovely ladies from Marcello's Farm provided us with the most beautiful red lettuce, carrots, broccoli & fresh corn on the cob (when did I last have that?).  It called to me, I really couldn't resist those beautiful silky threads peeking from their green wrapping. They provided a midday snack today, simply steamed and slathered in butter.  Taking a photo of them became less important than wolfing them down...er...ooops.

  

Today, as the rain came down in a relentless drizzle (just like home then) I decided to combine all the fruit I had failed to eat - and was at risk of ending up in the compost bin - into a crumble.  I baked some overripe cherries and plums with a mix of orange juice, honey, star anise, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves and then mixed the perfumed, juicy piece of fruity heaven with 1 sliced apple.  This mix formed the base of the crumble and a quick wholegrain flour/butter/rapadura sugar mix formed the crumble topping.   Baked in the oven for 35 minutes and hey presto, dessert.  If anyone would like a more detailed recipe, comment below and I will post it.  For now, I am luxuriating on the bed, with a bowl of crumble and a dollop or organic Swedish yoghurt.  This Cailín is no longer hungry...

The big move...

I am moving to Malmo, Sweden.

In 11 days I will be on a ferry from Rosslare to Cherbourg, from where I will share the driving with my husband and my brother to bring all of our belongings to our new home.  We're going in convoy, borrowing my parents' van to bring everything with us.  That journey alone will be an adventure.

The bigger adventure is what comes next.  2 years in Malmo.  2 years where I get to choose how I spend my time, without having to work to pay the bills.  For the first time in a long long time, the plan is, there is no plan.  This is exciting.  So far, fear hasn't made an appearance, but I am sure it will.

Leaving my rather wonderful husband aside, my biggest love is food.

I am almost always hungry.  I wake up hungry, already thinking about breakfast, my day moving from meal to meal.  I adore food, finding new ingredients and turning them into something delicious.  I love meeting the people who put love and attention into producing much of the food that I eat and choose to feed those I love with.

I intend to eat (and cook) my way around Malmo.  I will recount my experiences here and share my story of living in Malmo as a Hungry Irish Cailín.