Eyvind Hellstrøm is a Norwegian chef who gained fame with restaurant Bagatelle in Oslo between 1982 and 2009. Under the direction of Hellstrøm it became a two-Michelin-starred phenomena. Kristin Jacobsen is a Norwegian chef who has published 7 cookbooks and been a regular contributor on Good Morning Norway, as well as assisting chef to Hellstrøm during countless TV-productions and cook books.
Since my husband is the Norwegian adult in the family, he always cooks a Norwegian Christmas dinner. I have gratefully sampled, praised and enjoyed it for the past 15 years, but have no idea how to make it. Last year I was asked to bring a traditional dessert to the book club christmas party, and finally had to purchase a recipe book with Norwegian christmas foods. With plenty of options, I decided on Duft av jul by Eyvind Hellstrøm and Kristin Jacobsen, subtitled as a "kitchen handbook for the christmas season".
In it I found exemplary simplicity in its organization with five main chapters: Seasonal dishes, Christmas dinners, Side dishes, Desserts, Pralines & Cookies. Each chapter is in turn organized by main ingredient: meat, fish, game etc.
Chalk it up to good sense, good taste or good training but you will not find crossover versions such as gingerbread-spice-brownie-with-peppermint-frosting here. This kitchen duo has perfect pitch when it comes to adapting traditional flavours for a more contemporary palate. Ingredients range from humble to fancy, but each dish is well balanced, never excessive. The attention to detail is visible in every aspect but never intimidating. I grade its range of diffculty as from "beginner" (fruit salad) to "proud home cook" (pork roll with glazed peach).
The dessert I brought to the party? It was simple, but it was a success.
The first 50 pages are available as a sample read here.
You can find six recipes from the book on Hellstrøms homepage, and also watch Hellstrøm prepare a roast pork flank (in Norwegian).
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The Museum of Swedish history has a fun daily calendar on IGTV, historiskajulkalendern. They share a fun fact or story about Scandinavian christmases through history, followed by a short tutorial for a craft that relates to the story. If you don´t speak Swedish, you can skip the story and watch the tutorial. I quite enjoy it!
Did you think that Scandi style is all about bright, light and stark interiors?
If that is still yout MO check out:
The past 5 years the Scandi-trends have been rich colours and pastels, a lot of pinks and plenty of brass. To see more, visit the christmas sections of:
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Elvang, a small Danish importer of Peruvian alpaca wool make the loveliest throws, pillows and scarves. And apparently also the sweetest little stuffed alpacas I have ever seen.
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Perstorp AB is a Swedish business group producing industrial chemicals. In the 1950s one of the founders designed a shopper in plastic. His grandchild put them back in production in 2006 and the Hinza bags are now considered a modern classic. I was hesitant about getting our family new plastic items, until I learned that the bags are extremely durable, and the plastic is recyclable.
At first I wanted one to store and transport all the library books that we are reading at the speed of light during home isolation. After trying to sort our recycling storage today, I think we might need more than a book carrier. It takes me 15 minutes to walk to the nearest glass and metal recycling container. Perhaps a couple of these in the kitchen nook is the perfect solution?
Available in several sizes and a wide range of colours, covers sold separately.
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Have you noticed the potted small wispy trees that are ubiquitous in the highly stylized, all white Scandi winter interiors (one example)? Karoline and Bjørnstjerene Bjørnson apparently had a fine specimen as well, as seen here in a photo from their living room at Aulestad in 1908.
IMAGE: BY PHOTOGRAPHER ANDERS BEER WILSE, FROM THE COLLECTIONS OF THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF NORWAY
Pick a new soundtrack for this gray Thursday:
So for two years I have been trying to construct a situation where this basket is moved from the want-list to the need-list. Perhaps my last resort is to misplace our current breadbasket. If you invite me to a pot luck in the near future, please ask me to bring bread rolls...
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