Swedish Fermented Fish РSurstr̦mming
“Surströmming” translates literally as “soured herring”, which is a woefully inadequate description of the monster that is this particular Swedish delicacy. The herring is fermented in barrels for a month or two and then tinned, but continues fermenting in the tin with the result that the tins often end up bulging worryingly and some airlines have banned them on the basis that they could explode dangerously while in flight.
With all this fermentation comes carbon dioxide (which causes the bulging) and also by-products. This is a bacterial fermentation rather than the yeast-based fermentation that is used to produce alcohol in wine and beer. Modern wine-making techniques insist on scrupulous cleanliness in order to prevent unwanted bacterial fermentation precisely because the by-products of these fermentations will taint the wine with unpleasant tastes and aromas. Surströmming-making techniques obviously encourage this fermentation, which the result that opening a tin of the stuff releases the most ungodly smell known to man. So much so that when renting an apartment in Sweden, the rental agreement will forbid you to eat it in your apartment.
Why am I telling you all of this? Well, last night we went to a barbecue with several friends of ours where we cooked some sausages, chops, burgers, etc, and played Kubb, which is a strange Swedish game involving throwing bits of wood at other bits of wood. To keep in with the Swedish theme, Lars (who is Swedish after all) did something that he has been threatening to do for a while – he very kindly and no doubt at great risk to himself, brought along a few tins of surströmming.
There is a technique of opening the tin in a bucket of water to hide some of the smell, but we didn’t have a lot of luck with this. In fact, for a while we didn’t have much luck opening the tin at all; Lars tried various openers but none of them were quite up to the job of piercing the armour-plated tins and it took his better half’s touch to get it going finally. When we eventually did get the tin open, the crowd of curious onlookers that had gathered close by instantly dispersed far and wide to escape the intense reek that emanated from within. It smelled Wrong. Like super-concentrated rotten eggs that had gone even more rotten than could be thought possible.
Certain foodstuffs smell bad but are still definitely edible and are indeed particularly delicious. A good example would be Epoisses and similar types of cheese that smell like sweaty socks but taste powerfully rich and creamy. Or an aged, particularly “farmyardy” red Burgundy which tastes of a perfectly elegant marriage of fruit and earthiness with a touch of spice. With this in mind, I was determined to fight past the seemingly impenetrable wall of pestilence and try it. There was a certain amount of instinct-suppression going on and I had to push the “this smells like it’s going to kill me” thoughts to the back of my mind.
After opening, the herring fillets are removed from the tin, washed in sparkling water and served with “tunnbröd” flat bread and several other accompaniments, namely boiled potatoes, chopped red onion, sliced tomato, dill and a Swedish type of cottage cheese. Being a particularly premium brand of surströmming, this one included a lot of the roe along with the fillets. We rolled all of this up in the tunnbröd to make a sort of wrap and then ate it that way. Watching Lars make his, he arranged all of the accompaniments on his tunnbröd, then topped it with two large fillets of surströmming and two large pieces of roe before rolling it all up. Trying to do it correctly of course, I copied his example closely.
How to describe the flavour? Well, the closest way I can think of emulating the taste would be to drink Thai fish sauce straight from the bottle. And in a similar way, if you have a little of it mixed in with other things, it tastes rather good, but if you have too much then its overwhelming pungency just takes over. The potatoes and cottage cheese are essential for diluting its intensity, but sometimes you do get more fish in a mouthful than you bargain for, especially as the skin is still on the fillets and makes biting through it difficult. I survived though, and even went back for a second helping. Traditional carraway snaps is also important here.
Curious about why people would want to make something like this, I did some searching on the interwebs this morning. Obviously it is a way of preserving the fish for future consumption from the days before refrigeration, but then so are curing, smoking, salting, etc, and they result in rather less offensively pungent products. What I found out was that the fermentation proess does use a little salt, but it uses a lot less of it than salting or brining would and in days gone by, salt was scarce and/or expensive. So that makes a bit of sense.
As for the smell, and how something that smells so obviously rotten can somehow still be edible, Wikipedia was quite helpful here. The four main smell categories are “pungent”, “rotten egg”, “rancid butter” and “vinegary” (I can attest to these all being present in copious amounts) and these are given off as by-products of fermentation by a particular type of bacteria. However, it is a different type of bacteria that would actually break down the fish proteins and rot it and this type of bacteria is killed off by the salt that is added. Which makes sense too, but the brain still has a way of associating these smells with something being rotten.
So, a rather smelly food adventure, but one that was certainly worthwhile. It is certainly an acquired taste, and Lars ensures me that over the few times that he’s had it, he has definitely moved out of the “distinctly wary” camp into the “actually it’s not too bad, I think I’ll have some more” camp. I’m not sure when I’ll have it again, but hopefully I’ve started on that path.
The Phoenix
I had lunch at the Phoenix today, the training restaurant in Lewisham attached to the local college. The food is cooked by third year students and served to paying customers by their classmates. For four days a week, during term-time (plus some evenings) you can enjoy three courses of ‘exciting modern’ food, for less than £15.
I was really excited by the idea of dining somewhere completely different, I haven’t made it along to any of the underground restaurants currently taking London by storm but this felt similar in some ways. We didn’t know what we were going to be served or how well it was going to be cooked so there was an element of uncertainty about the whole thing, we did know that Friday was gourmet day though so we weren’t taking too many risks.
The whole experience was very different to eating in a “normal” restaurant, the dining room was tucked away somewhere in the middle of the college and, despite the proper tablecloths and attempts at silver service, we were still essentially eating in the middle of an academic building.
The ‘staff’ couldn’t have been friendlier, they weren’t professionally trained and made some small mistakes with the orders that might have lost them points in a proper restaurant but they were incredibly enthusiastic and keen – we were even treated to a joke while dessert was served.
And so to the food. After a well presented and technically skilful amuse bouche, I opted for the salmon and crab starter. The crab was somewhat over-powered by the salmon and it was rather too large a portion but it was all very well presented and attractive to look at.
My main course of stuffed pork with a thyme jus was lovely, the meat was well seasoned and perfectly cooked and the jus was a great match in terms of flavour. I was particularly impressed with the well-cooked and expertly crafted vegetables – another example of the skills the students are obviously learning and one I could do with adopting at home.
The desserts though were the real star of the show; even a s a dessert novice, I could tell my choice of apple tart with a crumble topping and caramel sauce was exceptional. I swithered over whether to order dessert or not because I was already approaching fullness but I’m glad I did. Everything about it was brilliant from the perfectly cooked pastry to the crunchy crumble topping and the deliciously sweet but not cloying sauce. I couldn’t eat it all but I’m glad I attempted it.
It was great value and a really good experience which I would definitely recommend if you’re in the area.
Two Bean Chilli
Yes, three or even four bean chilli would have sounded better but I forgot that we had other beans hidden away when it came to soaking time last night. We ended up with black beans and haricot beans which worked well anyway.
The basic recipe is based on our recently tweaked chilli con carne but this version is meat-free, partly because we wanted to eat something slightly lighter than normal this evening and partly because this recipe relies on store-cupboard basics. As there isn’t any meat, I’ve reduced the spicing slightly because I have a vague notion that meat can carry stonger flavours than pulses.
4 tbsp olive oil
2 red chillies, roasted, deseeded and pulped
4 garlic cloves, roasted and then pulped
1.5 tsp ground cumin
3/4 tsp ground coriander
3/4 tsp chipotle chilli powder
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp smoked paprika
Glass red wine
1 large onion, finely chopped
600ml beef stock
400g tin chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato purée
Salt and pepper
Bay leaf
500g mixed beans
1 tsp cocoa powder
Roast the chillies and garlic in the oven for about 30 minutes, on 190 degrees, before removing from the oven leaving to cool down. Remove the seeds from the chilli and squash together with the garlic.
Boil the (soaked overnight) beans for 20 minutes and then rinse well.
Grind the coriander and cumin together in a mortar and pestle and transfer to a bowl, mix with the chilli powder, cinnamon and paprika.
Soften the onions with some salt, add the garlic and chilli pulp to the softened onions and let it cook together for a couple of minutes. Into this mixture, add the powdered spices and cook for a further couple of minutes. Deglaze with some red wine and allow the alcohol to cook out.
Next, add the stock, tomatoes, tomato puree, the bay leaf and season. I left this to bubble together without the beans for a few minutes, mostly because they hadn’t finished cooking but it did give me the opportunity to squash everything together so there weren’t any lumps. Add the beans, bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for an hour and a half. Add the cocoa powder and cook for just a few more minutes.
This would be better left to cool, refrigerated overnight and then served the next day but I wasn’t organised enough for that. It ended up sitting for about four hours and I added the chocolate powder while I was re-heating it which worked well.
The end result was really good but I think I was wrong about the meat carrying stronger flavours, this was definitely spicy but I think it could have taken the same amount of heat as the meat version. We served it with a baked potato and cheese and really didn’t miss the meat at all.
Summer Lentil Ragu
I’d love to claim this as a well though-out, lighter version of our lentil ragu but, in truth, it was mostly an accident. We normally use puy lentils for this dish but bought green ones by mistake last time we went shopping, they behave in pretty much the same way but the result is less dense and altogether lighter. Vegetable stock instead of beef aids the lightening of the dish, as does the lack of hearty mushrooms. I forgot the garlic and also used white wine instead of red which likely contributed to the change in flavours too.
1 onion, finely chopped
1 stick of celery, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 small packet pancetta
200g green lentils
Mixed herbs (I used thyme, rosemary and parsley)
Salt and pepper
1 glass white wine
300ml vegetable stock
1 tin chopped tomatoes
Tablespoon tomato puree
Teaspoon tabasco
Fry pancetta until fat has rendered and remove from the pan. Fry onion, celery and carrot until soft. Add lentils and mix until coated, return the pancetta to the pan. Add herbs and season.
Deglaze with the wine, add the rest of the ingredients, bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer until cooked – I think this took about 45 minutes.
Alsace Tasting – Green and Blue
Last night, Kerri and I went to to an Alsace wine tasting at Green and Blue in East Dulwich. We have been there before for a rather intruiging wine and chocolate tasting and were excited about going back, so much so that on the evening of an impending Tube strike, we ventured out there without knowing how we were going to get home.
Green and Blue are running a three-month promotion on Alsace wines at the moment, which was the reason for the complimentary tasting, and they are also offering some specially chosen dishes that complement the wines well. I have been quite partial to Alsace wine for several years now, but don’t drink it very often. There is something very seductive about the aromatic bouquet of the wines from that region. They can verge on the slightly too sweet side at times and it is hard to tell just from looking at the bottle which ones do, but none of those that we had over the course of the evening fell into that category.
For those that don’t know, Alsace is situated in north eastern France, on the border with Germany. It is in the rain shadow of the Vosges mountains, which means that it is dry and sunny, while its northerly latitude ensures that it is not too hot. These make for ideal vine-growing conditions. Being so close to Germany, and having been part of Germany on and off over its history, there are a number of German influences in the region and one of these is that their wine is sold in tall, German style “flute” bottles. This does tend to put people off them though, which is unfortunate. On the other hand though, it is one of very few French wine regions that actually puts the name of the grape variety on the label, which is helpful to the modern international wine drinker who doesn’t have time to study the intricacies of the Appellation Controllee system.
Okay, enough background and onto the business of the tasting itself. The first of the dishes was marinated artichokes. Artichokes are notoriously difficult to pair with any wine as something in their chemistry or flavour profile just clashes with most wines and leaves a nasty, metallic taste in the mouth. So we were pleasantly surprised to find that they went rather well with the Muscat. There was a brief hint of nasty metallic taste forming, but it soon gave way to a pleasing merge of flavours that for some reason also made the mouth water rather a lot. Maybe this is what washed the nasty taste away? Either way, the result was good.
Reading the back label of the bottle (this was the only one of the four bottles that sported such a modern invention), it made mention of the pink sandstone on which the vineyard was situated. Having just had a look over the Alsace section in my wine diploma text book on the way to the tasting to get some background, one thing that I do remember is that it said that the pink sandstone of the area was generally not very high in minerals and therefore not very useful for growing wine. So it surprised me to read that on the label; not only did they grow it there, but they were proud enough of it to put it on the label. It was a light and delicate wine though, so maybe the lack of minerality was a good thing in this case – no smokiness or earthiness to get in the way of the delicately grapey and floral muscat fruit (yes, this was a wine that actually tasted like grapes!)
Next up was crab with dill mayonnaise and toast, which was served with a Riesling. This was a lovely Riesling, with the nose full of honey, grapefruit and minerality and the same flavours on the palate with a high dose of acidity which gave it a lovely length. This was probably my favourite wine of the evening. It did match the crab well, but I felt that it would have gone better had there been a little lemon in the crab and/or mayonnaise. We discussed this with Kate who was running the tasting and she said you’d need to be careful not to put in too much lemon which would make it too acidic and make the wine taste flabby in comparison. As it was a wine high in acidity I think it could have taken a little, or maybe just some lemon zest and not too much juice.
Then we were served a slice of Popina aubergine tart along with a glass of Gerwurtztramminer. Gerwurtztramminer is a very aromatic grape and makes wines that are fruity, floral, low in acidity and rarely completely dry and are usually paired with spiced foods, so I found this match interesting. Interesting and very good; it was my favourite pairing of the evening. The tart contained the aubergine and also sweet fruitiness from tomatoes and pepper, along with some caramelised onion and a touch of black pepper spice. All of this combined to make the perfect match for the wine.
Last up was a smoked chicken breast with dried red pepper and this was served with a Pinot Gris. It can be strange to think that the rich, aromatic, sometimes biscuity Pinot Gris from Alsace is the same grape that makes rather bland Pinot Grigio from Italy and elsewhere. By this time my tasting notes were getting a little sparse, but I do remember that this was also a very good match, second only to the tart/gewurtz match that preceded it. Eating a slice of the chicken with a little of the pepper at the same time created a flavour combination that paired very well with the wine.
So all in all a lovely evening with some rather good food and wine and some interesting and very successful pairings of the two. And to have it with Alsace wine too was really enjoyable for me in particular, given how fond I am of it. I feel a little like it’s under appreciated and I should go around telling people to drink more of it. Hopefully people will try it some of it because of this three-month promotion and come back for more.
Food and wine matching is something that we sometimes try to do, but usually we’ll end up drinking wine before a meal, then just eating the meal and then drinking more wine afterwards. And all too often we’ll pick a particular wine to match the meal, then end up finishing it before we start eating and need to open another, less well matched bottle to drink with the meal. Bad planning. Or too much drinking. Or both.
As for the transport situation, luckily someone else had looked up a bus to get him home and it took us most of the way home too, after which we soon found another bus to get us the rest of the way, which was nice.
Aneke Spacie – Twisted Favourites
I was invited along to the launch of Aneke Spacie’s new book, ‘Twisted Favourites’ which was produced in association with blurb. blurb’s approach to publishing differs from the traditional route and allows individuals to produce high-quality books themselves, with the help of their technology. Aneke’s book was created in just three weeks!
After some Prosecco and canapes (cooked by Aneke) we settled down to watch her create some dishes from her book at the La Cucina Caldesi in Marylebone.
Aneke’s style is focused on reinventing classic dishes and she demonstrated a variety of interesting techniques that could easily be recreated outside of a restaurant kitchen.
The first dish was based on the classic tomato and mozarella salad, served with a wonderful balsamic vinegar jelly.  I’ve not had savoury jelly before (except in pork pie!) and really enjoyed the texture it added to the dish.
Next was a tuna carpaccio, served with a miso and wasabi dressing and deep-fried rocket (which I stupidly didn’t photograph). The rocket was another new experience for me and added both flavour and texture to what was already a delicious dish.
Both dishes were simple in terms of ingredients and preperation but it was a great reminder that treating one or more of the ingredients slightly differently can really lift the overall dish. I’m looking forward to experimenting with jelly and rocket, possibly not at the same time though!
Casa Brindisa
We had lunch at Casa Brindisa in South Kensington shortly after it first opened and enjoyed a small selection of tapas style dishes but we had to be careful in our ordering as we knew we had dinner plans that evening. Happily, on our most recent visit, we didn’t have to exercise such restraint because we visited as part of a large group on the Dine with Dos Hermanos event.
We were greeted with a glass of Manzanilla Pasada sherry, some gordal olives and some salted marcona almonds. After a short run-down of the wines we were going to be drinking, we sat down to begin the important business of eating.
First of all we enjoyed some typically Spanish toast with tomato. I’m not a fan of raw tomatoes but I enjoyed this, it was fresh and zingy with a great hit of garlic. Next up was one of the highlights of the evening, the jamon plate: Teruel DOP, Joselito paleta DOP Guijelo and DOP Dehesa de Extremadura. We shared this plate amongst six of us and it didn’t take long before it was empty.
Another one of my favourite dishes was the smoked and salted anchovies. I love anchovies but hadn’t tasted any as fresh as there before, I could have eaten a whole plate of the smoked ones in particular. They were noticeably anchovy like in taste but not quite as concentrated in flavour and much lighter on the palate.
To follow, we were presented with the best tortilla de patatas I’ve ever tasted. We cook this at home quite a lot but I’m never completely happy with the result, this was packed full of very well cooked potato that had an almost bubble and squeak like texture to it, it didn’t have the noticeable layers of potatoes and onion either which suggests a different cooking method.
The Iberico ham croquetas were a big hit around the table but they didn’t do much for me, I found them slightly soggy in texture with not a lot of flavour. I didn’t try the prawns but they looked big and juicy and well seasoned with garlic, if you can call garlic a seasoning.
I wasn’t blown away by the sea bass but the accompanying morcilla de Burgos was very good, we fought over the remaining crumbs before the plate was cleared away.
The grilled Iberico pork fillet seemed a little dried out to me but was flavoursome and plentiful with a dense, nutty note.
Another start was the grilled octopus which was crying out for some bread to soak up all those lovely juices.
There was also cheese, fruit salad served with olive oil and crema Catalana but, as inevitably happens towards the end of the evening, the picture quality was just too bad to display. I blame the lack of light 🙂
As well as a goody bag filled with all sorts of interesting food stuffs, Stephen and I also won platinum membership to the Hi-Life dining club. A pretty good way to round off a great night of good food and company.
Roast Chicken
After a busy weekend of travelling around the country for weddings and cricket matches, we needed something quick and easy. Our standby is always roast chicken so, after a desperate hunt for a chicken late on Sunday afternoon, that’s what we had. Nothing of particular interest to report other than, after several failed attempts, our King Edward potatoes were perfectly crunchy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.
Cheese
We had some friends around for a barbecue on Friday night which saw us cook both beef and pork burgers. Somehow, we seem to have forgotten to take pictures of anything but the lovely cheese our friends bought from Neal’s Yard. From left: Tymsboro goat cheese, Colston Bassett Stilton, Tunworth Brie and Keens cheddar.
L’Artisan du Chocolat
I was lucky enough to go along to the opening of the new L’Artisan du Chocolate chocolateria on Westbourne Grove. Having sampled some of their chocolate recently and hearing lots of good things about them, I was excited to see what else they had on offer; I wasn’t disappointed.
The shop itself is a lovely, bright space with a futuristic feel to it coming from the shiny orange surfaces and the cool, rounded, plastic fittings. The huge light fitting in the centre of the room is the main focus adding warmth and brightness to the area as well as being a big talking point.
As well as an impressive range of chocolate related goodies on the shelves, there is also a small seating area where you can enjoy delights such as an iced chocolate granita or a cacoa pulp bellini from the bar.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much chocolate in one place before, bowl after bowl of truffles and chocolate-coated orange peel as well as trays of chocolate fondants and delicously creamy, smooth ice-cream. There were also espresso martinis and hot chocolate to quench your thirst which was very welcome, tasting chocolate is indeed thirsty work.
Of the chocolates on offer, my favourite was the liquid salt caramel, their number one bestseller and originally created for Gordon Ramsey at Claridges. Crunchy chocolate shells dusted with dark cocoa powder that give way to sweet and salty liquid caramel insides. The white truffle made with Chapel Down sparkling wine was lovely too and a great use of local produce.
And the packaging! It was like being in a French perfumier, row upon row of beautiful boxes tied with ribbons that looked far too good to open. All of this leant a very upmarket feel to the shop which at first seemed at odds with the futuristic feel of the shop but in fact it worked well as a contrast: a modern and innovative approach to chocolate-making that’s rooted in luxury.
