Hej Hej from Stockholm

For those of you who don't speak Swedish, hej hej means hello!  It's Petchi and Markus, and we're here to tell you about our recent trip to Sweden.  It was a cold few days in April...

Hello Palace Guard!

The weather forecast was calling for snow for a few days, but luckily, we didn't see any of it!  The sun was shining and Spring was rapidly approaching.  Even the trees had awakened from hibernation to say hello.

Today, we're going to cover our first experience of traditional Swedish food.  First stop, the grocery store.  One of my favorite things to do when I'm in a new country is visit a grocery store.  You can see what kinds of foods are popular and frequently eaten.  You can also see what kinds of different things that are offered in your favorite department like the candy aisle!  There were definitely some strange names for chocolate bars.  I wonder what kind of chocolate Plopp is?  It looked like a Kit-Kat so we weren't to intrigued by it.

Our next adventure was to Restaurant KB Smalandsgatan 7.  This place was recommended to us as a nice traditional Swedish restaurant.  When you walked in, it felt like you were walking into your grandma's attic.  There was a lot of antique looking furniture and fixtures mixed in with floral wallpaper.

We were seated very quickly and offered drinks immediately.  I opted to share a Swedish weisse beer with Markus.  It was nice and light but it wasn't like your typical Belgian or German weisse beer.  This wasn't our favorite brew but it was definitely good to try.

After our drinks arrived, we ordered our appetizers for the table.  A Swedish tradition is to start a meal with pickled herring as an appetizer.  There are many varieties and ways to prepare it.  The ones included here are starting the with the pink one, beet, creamy chive, garlic, and plain, and it is served with small potatoes and Swedish cheese.  Each variety is distinct; none of them tasted fishy at all.  These were fun to try and were a great way to start a meal.

For my entree, I ordered the slow cooked lamb brisket.  It was stuffed with pistachio nuts, topped with gravy, and served with carrots and leeks over a lemon and potato puree.  The lamb was very fatty and tender.  There was  lots of slow cooked flavor and the meat just melted in your mouth.  The potatoes were creamy and fluffy with a slight tangy taste.  The only thing missing was the pistachios.  I'm not quite sure if they ever made it in.  It did taste nutty but it definitely didn't feel like there was any stuffed in there.

Markus ordered the fillet of char with celeriac, apples, bleak roe, white wine foam and potato puree with smoked cod. The fish was very tender and tasted very rich with the foam and the roe.  The sweetness of the apples and the earthiness of the celeriac, which is a turnip like veggie, made this dish explode with a great mix of textures and contrasting flavors.  

Other dishes being served that evening included the sirloin steak with four onions...

and a whole spring chicken!  

Those dishes looked very hearty.  Each of those dishes were also served with potato puree.  Our waitress did keep asking if we ever needed more potatoes so I imagine the potatoes are on a free refill system?Interesting....

For dessert, we ordered the coffee candy which was a chocolate truffle made with cloudberry liqueur, biscotti and nougat.  Cloudbeeries by the way are very similar to raspberries and are found in the arctic tundra.  This assortment is ordered and eaten with an after dinner coffee.

We also ordered the pear and ligon berries dessert.  It was a tureen of pear and lingon berries with biscotti crumbs served with ginger ice cream.  The dessert was like a jello with fruit chunks.  It was slightly tart and went well with the spicy ginger ice cream.  Mmm... I wish I could have had a refill of the ginger ice cream.  

For our first outing in Stockholm, this was a great way to get acquainted with traditional Swedish cuisine.  I'm glad we got a chance to experience dinner in Granny's attic.  Until the next adventure!