Tag Archives: recipe

Hirkum Pirkum

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At the end of June or the beginning of July is when St John’s wort starts to bloom. In Sweden, the plant is both common as a perennial in gardens and wild in the woods. I find them every year next to my house on the edge of our gravel road. I pick the flower or rather the buds to soak in vodka. In Sweden we call the spirit Hirkum Pirkum which comes from the Latin name of the plant, Hypericum perforatum.

As I’ve said before, St John’s wort is supposed to heal angst and depression. In the old days it was used to drive spirits away. You just needed to hang some twigs of the herb over an image of the ghost or even the devil and that specific spirit would leave you alone.

For the snaps essence: Pick about two tablespoons of St John’s wort buds (skip the flowers that are in full bloom). Rinse and clean them if neccessary. Put the flowers in a jar or a bottle. Cover with 200 ml vodka and soak for about 8 hours. Strain and add some more vodka if you like (I added about 200 ml). The result is a pink and pretty delicious snaps! (You can soak it longer if you want a sharper taste).

This recipe was first published in Honest Cooking, 4 July 2011.

Elderflower Cordial

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Every summer I collect elderflowers to make cordial for my summer drinks. I especially like the cordial with gin and some fresh mint from the garden. To make elderflower cordial is easy…

40 elderflower clusters
4 lemons, sliced
2 kg (just about 4 1/2 lb) sugar
2 liter (8 1/4 cup) water
30 gram citric acid

Pick the flowers. Wash the Elderflowers carefully and separate the tiny flowers from the stalk using a fork or a pair of scissors (optionally if you are lazy you may keep the stalks on). Place the flowers in a bucket together with the sliced lemons. Boil the water and pour in the sugar. When the sugar is dissolved add the citric acid to the water. Pour the sugar mixture over the flowers. Let stand covered for 3-4 days in a cool place. Strain and pour into clean glass bottles. Keep the bottles in a cold place. To store longer I recommend freezing the cordial. Dilute the cordial with still or sparkling water to your own taste.

Another successful treat I make, is to add the flowers or even the cordial as a flavor while curing trout. Its the same method and ratio as when you make gravlax.

Get my Elderflower Cured Trout recipe and read the whole article over at Honest Cooking (published 14 June 2011).

White Asparagus (collaboration)

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The other day I made some illustrations for Steen Hanssen‘s article about White Asparagus, or Spargel as you call it in Germany. Steen is a food writer living in Berlin and a weekly contributor for Serious Eats. Like me, he also writes for Honest Cooking, where the current article was published.

Did you know that White Asparagus is dead when the cherries are red or that your pee smells funny after eating them? I always learn something new from Steen’s food stories and best of all they makes me hungry. Steen recommends to eat the asparagus with some cured Schinken, fresh new potatoes and Hollandaise sauce or just plain, simple and buttery!

Read the whole story about Germans culinary spring delicatess here and get hungry like me!

Sticky Chocolate Cake (kladdkaka)

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Most Swedes have probably made Sticky Chocolate Cake (kladd kaka) at least once or twice in their lives. If not they’ve eaten it for sure. I don’t know if this sticky chocolate cake is originally from Sweden but its something that’s definitely a Swedish thing to bake and enjoy. The ingredient that really makes this cake, aside from the unsweetened cocoa powder, is the ingredient that isn’t there: baking powder. The idea is that the cake should be chocolate rich, sticky and dead baked (it doesn’t rise)!

Most recipes for Sticky Cake contain the ingredients: egg, sugar, cocoa powder, flour, salt and melted butter. The ratio varies from one baking Swede to another. However the ingredients are simply mixed together with no fuss and baked just enough.

I have enjoyed it filled with mint or licorice, topped with whipped cream and bananas, flavored with Cognac or just plain and wonderful. In my latest version I have switched the flour to milled almonds. I also use the richest unsweetened cacao powder (like Valrhona) and, as I’m married to a Pole, I like to top the cake with Poppy seeds (makiem). The flavoring is plain, with Rum or star anise.

Kladdkaka

2 eggs
250 ml (1 cup) sucanat (or muscovado sugar)
4-6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (of good quality)
one teaspoon salt (less if using salted butter)
200 ml (almost 1 cup) milled almonds
4 oz (a touch more than 100g) butter, melted

alternative flavors (optional)
1-2 star anise (crushed and soaked in 2 tablespoons of vodka for one hour)
about two tablespoons Rum

topping
poppy seeds

Whisk eggs and sucanat together in a bowl. Stir in the milled almonds, cocoa powder and salt. Pour in the butter and stir until smooth.

Add the flavor (optional), either Rum or the star anise infused vodka to the mixture.
Pour the mixture into a greased 9” spring form. Sprinkle some poppy seeds on top.

Bake the cake in the oven at 350 F (150°C) for about 15 minutes. The cake should just be set on top and sticky inside. Let the cake cool off.

This recipe was first published on Honest Cooking, 4 May 2011.

 

Akvavit

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In the old days they used to add different kinds of herbs to vodka. Back then it was often for healing purposes but also as a way, I think, to take out some of the sharp taste in pure spirits. Wormwood was used to cure loss of appetite, both Caraway seeds and Fennel was used to treat digestive problems and St John’s wort was supposed to heal angst and depression.

Whether these cures are true or not my husband and I enjoy flavoring pure vodka with different kinds of herbs and plants. Some of the herbs we find during the summer in the woods (St John’s wort and Bog Myrtle) or in our own garden (black currant, wormwood and coriander). My husband has even engaged one of our friends, who has a backyard garden in Brooklyn, to grow wormwood (for Swedish Bäsk) and sweetgrass (to make Polish Zubrówka).

To make aquavit you don’t really have to go to the woods, you just need three simple spices that you may already have in your pantry: (one table spoon) coriander seeds, (one table spoon) fennel seeds and (one and half tablespoon) whole caraway seeds. Crush them roughly with a mortar and pestle and soak them in 200 ml pure vodka for a day or so. Let it soak longer for a stronger essence or less if you want a lighter taste. Strain and dilute with more vodka to the taste that you like. I recommend using the lightest pure vodka that you can find. For example, outside of Sweden I suggest Swedka or triple-distilled Smirnoff and in Sweden I recommend Renat.

Enjoy Snaps with different kinds of cured herrings, crayfish (Swedish style), caviar and oysters.

This recipe was first published on Honest Cooking, 28 April 2011.