An Adventure with Swedish Chefs
No, this is not about the Muppets. Although, that's not a bad idea...
I have enjoyed some very good food on this trip to Sweden, and thought I would share tonight's meal with you. But first, last week I attended a conference on the fascinating island of Gotland, in the Baltic Sea (more about Gotland later) and the closing dinner was held at the Visby golf club. The chef introduced the meal, speaking about his focus on fresh, seasonal local ingredients. And it was superb. From the starter of leek soup, through the main course of lamb three ways, to the dessert of cheesecake with local berries, everything was bright, fragrant, and flavourful. The localness shone though, and each item was perfectly cooked. A memorable meal, which was better than the one eaten two nights later in Stockholm.
Lux Dag by Dag has the same approach as the culinary team on Gotland - use only the freshest local ingredients available to create the menu for the day. Having a Michelin star heightened expectations, perhaps unfairly, and while the meal was very good it did not perform as well as the Visby golf course. Their house pate was brilliant, however, so much so that we took some away!
Tonight, another Michelin-starred restaurant, this time in Gothenburg. Kock & Vin (Chef & Wine) also has a local philosophy, this time focused on products from the west and south of Sweden. They offer three dining options: a four course, a six course, and a nine course, each of which can be paired with wines. Six courses proved to be more than sufficient.
A rich flavourful mushroom broth was offered in a small cup before we started. While it was only two or three sips, the earthiness and fullness of the mushrooms was present in the fragrance and in the liquid, and served to raise expectations for the first course. Next, two dishes to share were placed on the table. On the left, small pieces od Swedish octopus crusted with almonds, presented on a bed of beach pebbles, and on the right, onion bread with chives. Each was a single bite, an amuse bouche to delight. And it did. The octopus had a tangy sharpness to it, and the onion bread a mellow sweetness that contrasted nicely with the octopus. And the presentation was interesting.
Next, three items. And again, single bites. First, rye bread crackers with a confit of tomato and anchovy, a brilliant pairing that juxtaposed the sweetness of ripe tomatoes with the saltiness of the anchovy. Next, a Swedish take on bresaola, with cured chuck beef. And third, a miniature pie of smoked herring and lingonberries (or partridgeberries, as we know it in Newfoundland). Kock & Vin again succeeded with a rich and contrasting flavour combination, smoky and tart and dense with taste.
We were then served butter and bread. Sounds pedestrian, but it was not. The butter is a cream and sour cream combination, all made at the restaurant, as were the three types of bread - sourdough rye, baguette, and crisp bread, each of which was excellent. But the sourdough rye was the best, balanced to allow both the sourdough and the rye to be clearly tasted and toothsome enough to be satisfying to chew.
Now for the first course. Yes, the six preceding items (plus bread) were not part of the meal!
The first course was crab, sourced from Bohuslan province on the country's westernmost coast. The crab and dill were on a bed of slow-roasted tomato, to bring out the richness of the fruit, and then topped with thinly sliced kohlrabi and sprinkled with frozen butter. An excellent starter, this dish continued to prove the palate of the chef in combining sweet, savoury, tart, and salty in an intriguing way.
Viskafors, a community of about 4,000 people in the same county as Gothenburg, provided the mushrooms for the second course. They were pan-fried with spring onions, served on a bed of unripe currants, and topped with baked goat cheese. The second bite, when I scooped up some of the currants, yielded an unexpected burst of sweetness - not too sweet - that accentuated the earthy and strong taste of the mushrooms and the tartness of the cheese. Another powerful combination.
European plaice, a flatfish, was next on the menu. A delicate white fish, it was served with cauliflower and oyster cream, with clams and a sprinkle of dried kelp powder. This was very well-placed in the serving order, providing a subtle and somewhat more refined taste to contrast with the previous (and following) more hearty, earthy dishes.
If there was a true main course to the meal, it was the fourth course. Thinly sliced and very rare beef heart with oyster mushrooms and blackberries were served over a juniper cream and sprinkled with broccoli. I am not a fan of beef heart, but this was excellent. Another interesting flavour combination, rich and layered, with multiple textures. The meat was actually sweet, with the sharpness of juniper and blackberries providing a nice contrast.
The fifth course may well have been the highlight of the night. A mature, three year old Wrangeback Sweden cheese from Almnas Bruk, an organic farm that starting producing this handmade cheese in 1860, was the star. Mellow and rich, it lingered nicely on the palate. And it was well matched with pickled mustard seeds and celeriac, bringing out the flavour of the cheese even more prominently. This dish was so good, I wanted it to be the last, so that taste would be the final one of the evening.
Dessert was interesting, to say the least. An Alicia apple was mixed with sunflower seeds in a salt toffee, then topped with a cream cheese ice cream. The waitress then put fresh apples in a mortar, poured over the liquid nitrogen, and then smashed the now frozen apples with a pestle, which were then sprinkled over the apple mixture and ice cream. Sweet, bright, texturally intriguing, and overall bursting with flavour. A great close to a great meal.
An excellent coffee followed, and a final bonus offering of a Swiss roll filled with raspberries and fennel cream, and buttermilk cream and bark crust crumbles. Delicious little bites that concluded the meal on the main thematic note sustained throughout, contrasting flavours that heightened the taste of each element in the dish.
It is difficult to overemphasize how good this meal was. It is likely the best I have ever had, and is certainly the best in recent memory. Excellent fresh ingredients combined in inventive and pleasurable ways, with creative presentations, is hard to beat. Kock & Vin is highly recommended, and if I get back to Gothenburg again, I will be eating there.
To learn more about Kock & Vin, visit their website at www.kockvin.se.
I have enjoyed some very good food on this trip to Sweden, and thought I would share tonight's meal with you. But first, last week I attended a conference on the fascinating island of Gotland, in the Baltic Sea (more about Gotland later) and the closing dinner was held at the Visby golf club. The chef introduced the meal, speaking about his focus on fresh, seasonal local ingredients. And it was superb. From the starter of leek soup, through the main course of lamb three ways, to the dessert of cheesecake with local berries, everything was bright, fragrant, and flavourful. The localness shone though, and each item was perfectly cooked. A memorable meal, which was better than the one eaten two nights later in Stockholm.
Lux Dag by Dag has the same approach as the culinary team on Gotland - use only the freshest local ingredients available to create the menu for the day. Having a Michelin star heightened expectations, perhaps unfairly, and while the meal was very good it did not perform as well as the Visby golf course. Their house pate was brilliant, however, so much so that we took some away!
Tonight, another Michelin-starred restaurant, this time in Gothenburg. Kock & Vin (Chef & Wine) also has a local philosophy, this time focused on products from the west and south of Sweden. They offer three dining options: a four course, a six course, and a nine course, each of which can be paired with wines. Six courses proved to be more than sufficient.
A rich flavourful mushroom broth was offered in a small cup before we started. While it was only two or three sips, the earthiness and fullness of the mushrooms was present in the fragrance and in the liquid, and served to raise expectations for the first course. Next, two dishes to share were placed on the table. On the left, small pieces od Swedish octopus crusted with almonds, presented on a bed of beach pebbles, and on the right, onion bread with chives. Each was a single bite, an amuse bouche to delight. And it did. The octopus had a tangy sharpness to it, and the onion bread a mellow sweetness that contrasted nicely with the octopus. And the presentation was interesting.
 |
| Swedish octopus (left) and onion bread (right) |
Next, three items. And again, single bites. First, rye bread crackers with a confit of tomato and anchovy, a brilliant pairing that juxtaposed the sweetness of ripe tomatoes with the saltiness of the anchovy. Next, a Swedish take on bresaola, with cured chuck beef. And third, a miniature pie of smoked herring and lingonberries (or partridgeberries, as we know it in Newfoundland). Kock & Vin again succeeded with a rich and contrasting flavour combination, smoky and tart and dense with taste.
 |
| L-R: tomato & anchovy confit, cured beef, herring & lingonberry pie |
We were then served butter and bread. Sounds pedestrian, but it was not. The butter is a cream and sour cream combination, all made at the restaurant, as were the three types of bread - sourdough rye, baguette, and crisp bread, each of which was excellent. But the sourdough rye was the best, balanced to allow both the sourdough and the rye to be clearly tasted and toothsome enough to be satisfying to chew.
 |
| Rye bread, with the butter (and traditional wooden butter knife) |
Now for the first course. Yes, the six preceding items (plus bread) were not part of the meal!
The first course was crab, sourced from Bohuslan province on the country's westernmost coast. The crab and dill were on a bed of slow-roasted tomato, to bring out the richness of the fruit, and then topped with thinly sliced kohlrabi and sprinkled with frozen butter. An excellent starter, this dish continued to prove the palate of the chef in combining sweet, savoury, tart, and salty in an intriguing way.
 |
| Crab with tomato and dill |
Viskafors, a community of about 4,000 people in the same county as Gothenburg, provided the mushrooms for the second course. They were pan-fried with spring onions, served on a bed of unripe currants, and topped with baked goat cheese. The second bite, when I scooped up some of the currants, yielded an unexpected burst of sweetness - not too sweet - that accentuated the earthy and strong taste of the mushrooms and the tartness of the cheese. Another powerful combination.
 |
| Forest mushrooms with goat cheese and unripe currants |
European plaice, a flatfish, was next on the menu. A delicate white fish, it was served with cauliflower and oyster cream, with clams and a sprinkle of dried kelp powder. This was very well-placed in the serving order, providing a subtle and somewhat more refined taste to contrast with the previous (and following) more hearty, earthy dishes.
 |
| Plaice with cauliflower, oyster and clams |
 |
| Beef heart with mushrooms, juniper, and blackberries |
The fifth course may well have been the highlight of the night. A mature, three year old Wrangeback Sweden cheese from Almnas Bruk, an organic farm that starting producing this handmade cheese in 1860, was the star. Mellow and rich, it lingered nicely on the palate. And it was well matched with pickled mustard seeds and celeriac, bringing out the flavour of the cheese even more prominently. This dish was so good, I wanted it to be the last, so that taste would be the final one of the evening.
 |
| Wrangeback cheese with mustard seeds and celriac |
Dessert was interesting, to say the least. An Alicia apple was mixed with sunflower seeds in a salt toffee, then topped with a cream cheese ice cream. The waitress then put fresh apples in a mortar, poured over the liquid nitrogen, and then smashed the now frozen apples with a pestle, which were then sprinkled over the apple mixture and ice cream. Sweet, bright, texturally intriguing, and overall bursting with flavour. A great close to a great meal.
 |
| Apple with sunflower seeds in salt toffee, topped with ice cream and shattered apple |
An excellent coffee followed, and a final bonus offering of a Swiss roll filled with raspberries and fennel cream, and buttermilk cream and bark crust crumbles. Delicious little bites that concluded the meal on the main thematic note sustained throughout, contrasting flavours that heightened the taste of each element in the dish.
 |
| Buttermilk cream crumbles in the foreground, Swiss rolls in the back |
It is difficult to overemphasize how good this meal was. It is likely the best I have ever had, and is certainly the best in recent memory. Excellent fresh ingredients combined in inventive and pleasurable ways, with creative presentations, is hard to beat. Kock & Vin is highly recommended, and if I get back to Gothenburg again, I will be eating there.
To learn more about Kock & Vin, visit their website at www.kockvin.se.
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