Swedish coffee and other foodie traditions

Blue cheese and butter

How does Sweden taste? Every trip is a discovery of new dishes and new flavors and combinations. As I already talked about in my past posts about Sweden and its wild berries or Jamtland, I totally get stucked by the exotic flavors I discovered up North Europe. 
Far from being boring and plain (there is a whole world beyond the Ikea meatballs), Swedish gastronomy is built upon a series of refined and delicate flavors inspired by Nature and its power.

I had the chance to really get close to Swedish families and they opened their hearts and traditions to me. Let me tell you the story of 2 amazing products: moose heart and coffee!
 

Smoked moose heart

Swedish cold cuts from moose and reindeer

The ancient way to preserve meat with salt and smoke. In this area, I am quite an expert after so many years working for the Spanish Serrano ham.

In my several trips to Jämtland, I had occasions to try all kind of smoked sausages, all delicious. I loved to discover new type of meat like reindeer and moose, and different way to prepare the pork or the sausages! 

But my best experience, came from Helen and Jan Peter, the neighbors of Cecilia and Wouter. Their only neighbor actually!

Wouter told me about a tasting he had with them, and he kindly asked Helena if she could make me try it too.

She brought me, like a Christmas present, something amazing: smoked moose heart!

Wouter loved it and I was so curious to try it. You may think it is quite disgusting, but actually, it was delicious! And Helena put in the most simple words: heart is nothing less than a muscle!

A beautiful, huge muscle, you put in salty water for a couple of days, before to smoke it at home! Woooow!

Helena and her dogs

Sweden had been the trip of the ¨woooow¨!

It was just delicious, refined and tasty! Something between the duck magret and gizzards for the texture. Moose do not have a strong wild game taste, and it is a really tasty and tender meat! Pure joy!

And talking about Helena,… she is the sweetest forest Swedish girl I have ever met! Her passion is hunting and being in the nature. This tall shy girl with her clear blue eyes turn intense  blue when we talk about the forest and the nature! 

Helena at the camp fire

Swedish coffee in a camp fire

She invited us to taste the really traditional Swedish coffee made on open fire! This happened to be one of my dearest and most intense experience in Sweden! She walked Mascha and myself to the Storjson lake shore and started straight away to prepare the fire! 

She then took a little smoked black pot out of her backpack and get some water from the lake and let it boil.

Then, she added the ground coffee and put it again on the fire, making sure the coffee did not spill all over because of the boiling. 2

Coffee pot

minutes later, she put the coffee pot away and lit it cool down a bit.

We were offered some typical plastic cups, all hikers seems to have them hanging from their backpacks in Sweden. And we could taste a very different coffee! It was intense, and a little smokey. But the whole experience was just heart warming and delicious!

These small memories shared with beloved people are the ones that make the trip worthy, like the day I tasted amazing Etna wines on a sunny terrace in the middle of the vines watching a huge valley spreading down in front of us. There is nothing 

Swedish coffee served in hikers cups

more heart warming than this special connection through food, tradition and sharing. I will never get tired of it! I really think it is what makes me travel and discover, that pulls me forward.
 

Coming back to Sweden, this country impressed more flavors that I kindly  keep in my memories and sprinkle over my creative cooking: cinnamon, cardamom, elderflower, mushrooms, liquorice, blue cheese and butter, salmon and salmon trouts, lamb, fresh potatis (potatoes in Swedish).

Swedish countryside, Jamtland

How does Sweden smell and taste for you? Would you dare to try the moose heart? ;-)

Would you like to discover Sweden, its food tradition while visiting, cooking healthy food and relaxing? Join our next trip in March 16th Sweet Life at Revsund ! More info in the link.

 
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Camp Fire with Helena, Storsjon Lake

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