Unless you count frequently visiting the IKEA marketplace and staying well stocked in lingonberry jam, I have little experience with Scandinavian cuisine. Had the opportunity for more experiences arisen, I would have snatched them up as it’s an area of the world that has always intrigued me, and one that has been on our travel list for a while. It’s just that even in this diverse food scene that I now live in, Scandinavian still doesn’t top the list of well-marketed options.
When I saw Tina Nordström’s Scandinavian Cooking I knew I needed a copy for my cookbook shelf. What a unique addition! I can safely say that I have nothing like this book in my collection. It not only fills a cuisine void, it is also a pretty outstanding cookbook.
Tina is a Swedish celebrity chef, host of the PBS show New Scandinavian Cooking and author of several cookbooks. This book, which she describes as the most comprehensive book that she has written, is speckled with family photos, letters and personal essays that give you a peek into her life. It’s comfortable style makes you feel as if you are in the kitchen cooking with her or dining at her family table. It’s an intimate feeling that you don’t get from many cookbooks.
After feeling at home as a result of the intro, next I was drawn in the by the food photos. They are exactly how I love them – moody and intriguing with a classic comfort that makes you feel happier by simply viewing them.
Next the recipes were there to educate me. It wasn’t enough to see the delicious titles. I just had to read the intros and ingredient lists to see what the food was all about. The book is a true lesson in Scandinavian cooking. I learned so much. Especially that the cuisine goes far beyond fish and my beloved lingonberries.
Whenever I explore new foods, I always go straight to the bread. I’d like to think that it’s not because I like carbohydrates so much. I’d rather think that it’s because breads, crackers or buns and rolls of some form or another tend to be at the foundation of so many cuisines (and if it isn’t bread it’s often rice or noodles).
That’s the first reason why the Swedish Crisp Bread with Cumin caught my attention. The second, was all the flavors. Yogurt, cumin and anise in a flatbread-like crisp? Sign me up!
I can’t stop gushing over the great flavors in this recipe. The tang of the yogurt with the spices is unlike any crisp bread or cracker I’ve had before.
I didn’t get mine rolled out quite as thin as the version pictured in the book, so on the second round of baking I decided to cut them into squares to create crackers. It worked great. Either way they are delicious. (I paired them with a quick spread of thick sour cream and herbs from the pantry.)
If your shelf has a void when it comes to Scandinavian cuisine, this is the cookbook you want to fill it with.
Swedish Crisp Bread with Cumin
Excerpted with permission from Tina Nordström’s Scandinavian Cooking: Simple Recipes for Home-Style Scandinavian Cooking by Tina Nordström. Photographs by Charlie Drevstam. Copyright, 2014. Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.
From the book:
I think it’s easier to bake crisp bread in a frying pan. It’s quite traditional and delicious with gravlax and some lemon mayonnaise (see page 92). Or try some green pea guacamole (see page 252). You can even break the crisp bread into a bowl of tomato soup.
30–35 CRISP BREADS
3 cups (700 ml) wheat flour
1 1/4 cups (300 ml) rye flour
1 1/4 cups (300 ml) yogurt
1/2 cup (100 ml) olive oil
2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp salt
6 tbsp ground cumin
2 tbsp ground anise seeds
DIRECTIONS:
1. Mix all ingredients into a smooth dough.
2. Roll the dough out into flat pieces and bake them for about 4–5 minutes per side in either a cast iron frying pan without any grease or oil, or in the oven at 425ºF (225ºC) on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
3. Store the crisp bread in a metal box in a dry location.
Disclosure: This book was sent to me for review purposes. I was not required to write about it and received no compensation for doing so.
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I pretty much know nothing about scandinavian cooking also! Time to expand my horizons. These crackers look awesome!