Kindvall - Smorgasbord: the art of Swedish breads and savory treats

acknowledgments

First, I want to thank Marek, my husband, for always being there with coffee and cocktails, grating the horseradish, correcting my English, and for always inspiring me in my progress in the kitchen as well in my drawing studio. With you there is never a dull moment. I love you.

A special thanks to my mother, Mona, for showing me the ways of real food in my early years, for baking every Friday, and for always encouraging me to taste new things. And thanks to my father, Lennart, who made sure we never ran out of drawing supplies and for teaching me to pick mushrooms long before I even liked to eat them. To my twin sister, Anna, and my brother, Oskar, for your inspiring input in the making of this book.

As I developed the recipes for this book, I created smrgsbord parties for my friends. At some point I had over fifteen guests who were all mingling and pairing nibbles around our kitchen island. It always ended up being a festive and excellent way to see what worked and what didnt. Thank you all for coming and for sharing your palatable thoughts.

To Jytte Hansen, Bent Bgedal Christoffersen, Helene Toresdotter, Max Andersson, and Anna Sjdin for letting me use your wonderful recipes here in this book. To Jenny Widov, Alex strand, and Bengt and Anja Brock for your great knowledge around Swedish crayfish.

I also want to thank my recipe testers and those who helped me in the kitchen when I needed an extra hand to knead bread, crank sausages, or just keep me company with a glass of wine: Stefani Bardin, Amanda McDonald Crowley, Linda Sarris, Johan Kohnke, Eira Ahlgren, Vivian Selbo, Carl Skelton, Mark Shepard, Antonina Simeti, Ursula Endlicher, Lee Day, Scott Reiner, Hedvig Bourbon, Sara Hgberg, Erik Sanner, Kristie Redfield, Jack Toolin, Genevieve Leloup, and Anat Ishai.

Thanks to Sofi Meijling, Anna Billing, Alice Brax, Kine Lillestrm, Heidi Mara, Anneli Jangester, and Ulrika Pettersson for your special inputs into the Nordic food culture.

Thanks to Andrew Janjigian for your special edits of the bread sections. And thanks Andrew, Renee Baumann, Shay Moscona, and Iban Yarza for being such inspiring and splendid bakers.

A special thanks to my friend Tenaya Darlington who did the first edit of this book. Im not sure what I would have done without you. Your inputs are always inspiring and encouraging.

Thanks to Lizzie Allen, the art director of this book. You did a splendid job and I really enjoy working with you.

Lastly, I want to especially thank my fabulous and talented editor, Kaitlin Ketchum. You are the best!

CHAPTER 1

swedish breads

If Im not drawing in my studio, Im most likely in the kitchen, dusty with flour and my hands sticky with dough. I love the smell of rising bread and bubbling sourdough. I see kneading as a healthy exercise and freshly baked bread as one of lifes most rewarding treats. The happy memory of my mother baking bread every Friday and the lack of well-made bread near my home in Brooklyn encourage me to bake almost every bread we eat at home. I think I will never stop being fascinated by what you can accomplish with just three ingredients: flour, salt, and water.

Bread is definitely an essential part of any smrgsbord and totally fundamental when making a smrgs. Pretty much any bread can be used, although I believe homemade bread will make it a little more special. Throughout the northern countries the most distinctive type of bread is rye bread, which can be thin and crisp, soft and moist, or dense and filling, depending on the baking method and the rye-to-wheat flour ratio. In Finland, they bake rye breads with 100 percent rye flour, called