Spanish lentil soup, a keepsake from Barcelona.
Text and Photo © JE Nilsson and CM Cordeiro 2012
My favorite souvenir to bring back from places I have visited is actually the food.
Not only all the local specialties I can fit into my luggage and hope will survive the trip back, but the smell, the flavours and that particular piece of memory and history they contain, that could so easily be revived over and over again at the stove back home.
This weekend I was thinking about Barcelona, that will always have a special place in my heart.
If you walk down La Rambla from the Placa de Catalunya and resist the temptation to turn left into the Barri Gótic just for once, to get lost in the myriads of picturesque back alleys and squares that endlessly lead you round and around in the search for the perfect xocolata you had yesterday, just somewhere around here … and instead carry on, down past the familiar facade of La Boqueria wet market, and turn right, about there, you will soon find yourself inside the bohemian turned pretty posh quarters of El Raval.
There, immediately before you hit the open area of Rambla del Raval, you will find Casa Leopoldo.
Continue reading ‘Barcelona revisited – Sunday sopa de llenties’
A traditional Italian dish also known as Pizza Ripiena, usually eaten on Ash Wednesday and then again on Easter.
Photo: J E Nilsson and C M Cordeiro-Nilsson © 2011
It was an article in the New York Times that I came across Pizza Rustica. I’ve always been a fan of quiche, so I could not stop myself from trying my hands at creating a version of this typical Italian Easter dish. There are so many things that seem more fun when the sun finally arrives back after a long cold winter up here in the North of Europe. Cooking is one of them.
Continue reading ‘Pizza Rustica’
Published by admin at December 16, 2010
in FOOD.
Tagliatelle with pork fillet medallions and bacon crisps
with rosemary and whisky flavoured parmaggiano sause.
J E Nilsson and C M Cordeiro-Nilsson © 2010
This is long time favourite of mine. It is quick and easy to make, not that expensive, and can make up a the main course of a really nice home cooked dinner for quite a number of guests with no big effort.
Water for the pasta
All in all it takes about half an hour to make, provided that you have the ingredients prepared and at home of course. If so, the first thing to do is to get the water for the pasta started.
Getting the sauce going
Next is actually the sauce since it will need a little while to mature. This will take about thirty minutes, so we estimate the time on this. Basically you just make a white sauce with butter, wheat flour, milk and a few tbs of full cream for flavour. Add freshly ground white pepper and stir in a teaspoon (tsp) of sea salt flakes. Now stir and slow cook this for at least a quarter of an hour while adding milk and cream as needed so that you arrive at the thickness you want. Then add about a cup of loosely ground parmaggiano cheese and melt in while stirring.
Continue reading ‘Tagliatelle with pork fillet medallions and Parmaggiano sause’
The Geely Holding Group headquarters in Hangzhou, November 2010
Photo: J E Nilsson and C M Cordeiro-Nilsson for CMC © 2010
It was with great expectations that I went to visit the Geely headquarters in Hangzhou, the Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. Ltd, as part of a Swedish delegation from the University of Gothenburg. Geely’s acquisition of the Swedish car manufacturer Volvo with their headquarters in Gothenburg was announced on Monday the 2 August 2010 and with that, the Zhejiang Geely corporation had concluded the largest ever acquisition of a foreign car company in the history of China.
A warm sign at the Zhejiang Geely Holding Group headquarters that welcomed the visit by the Swedish delegation.
Just inside the Geely headquarters entrance.
Having followed the Ford and Geely negotiations as well as could be done in the press, I expected this acquisition to be an important opportunity to study the process of top management knowledge transfer between modern China and the West.
Continue reading ‘Visiting the Geely Holding Group in Hangzhou, November 2010′
Published by admin at September 25, 2010
in FOOD.
Gothenburg Culinary Team Leader, Johan, pointing out the finer details of the chocolate sculpture and desserts.
Photo © J E Nilsson and C M Cordeiro-Nilsson for CMC 2010
In preparation of the upcoming Culinary World Cup held in Luxembourg in November 2010, the Gothenburg Culinary Team was doing a ‘dry run’ of the competition dishes. As luck would have it I was invited to take a sneak preview of their efforts if I could make it to Uddevalla, just north of Gothenburg, Sweden and of course I’d love to.
Meeting with the whole team.
At this point in time, the team is already in the later stages in their preparation for the international competition and had set up a complete display table that resembled the one to be judged in Luxembourg. This entire exhibition was a team exercise that acted as a show-case plus brainstorm session for the team members, showing in detail how things right now would look like when put together.
Even if their food display already looked thoroughly breathtaking and appetizing, the fact was that all dishes would still be improved upon before the final design that would go into the competition was set.
This event was rather nondescript for their efforts, a showing mainly for themselves, friends and colleagues. It was hysterical to observe that all visitors to the display table were frustrated that entire set meals, plus breads and desserts were strictly for display only. There would be no touching, no tasting, no licking, no eating of any crumb on the table as the crumbs would most likely be part of the dish display and most carefully placed where they should be.
Continue reading ‘Sneak preview of the Gothenburg table, before the Luxembourg Culinary World Cup 2010′
My take on a Swedish meat classic, in Nordic summer’s evening light.
Photo © Jan-Erik Nilsson for CMC 2010
Strangely enough the most common meat dinner in Sweden – at least in the mind of the Swedes themselves – would be a French slice of beef or an entrecôte, with fries on the side. But how did it come to be like this in the land of elks and the Midnight Sun?
Well contrary to Singapore, Sweden does not really have a tradition of eating out on a daily basis. In Singapore one would eat out three times in a day (and then some inbetween) without thinking about it, but in Sweden eating out has always been a little bit of an event where people are more likely than not to dress up a bit and expect something out of the ordinary. The up side of this is that this attitude from bygone days until now had helped create a ready market for gourmet cooking and fine dining, which in turn, had helped skyrocket Swedish culinary art to world fame.
However in 1954 the ‘French Bistro’ was introduced into the Swedish food scene by Chef Yves Fitoussy at the newly opened restaurant Cassi in Stockholm. Here the open bar kitchen was introduced where steaks could be fried very quickly in front of the guests and served instantly over the counter, and with French Fries – also a novelty at the time – on the side. The impact was tremendous.
Continue reading ‘Entrecôte a la Suede’
Maria in a traditional Swedish folkdress, hand-stitched and sewn. Photo by Robbie Nordin, Robbiesphoto.com.
For some years now, I have observed that Swedes have several forms of folk dresses and a National Costume, that they use on special, festive ocassions such as Midsummer’s. Sverigedrakten lends a good history of the folk dress, where the dresses displayed the wearer’s province of origin, their distinct style of clothing, their culture and history. Folkdresses went out of fashion around the mid-1800s, where these days, they can fetch enormous prices at auction houses due to that the textile to the dress was usually hand-loomed and then the dress hand-sewn. An approximate cost to a folkdress today would be around 15,000 kr to 20,000 kr, which is about USD $2,500 – $3,000 or SGD $4,000 – $4,500. Continue reading ‘Maria Gibson, at Midsummer’s in traditional folkdress’
Cufflinks in gold and white gold, set with mother of pearl and 2 brilliant cut diamonds, c. 0.10 cts. Stamped GD & Co (G Dahlgren & Co.), Malmö 1940, Sweden. These are to be auctioned this coming weekend, at W.A. Bolin.
In a crowded room to any formal event, one could well sweep over the hall and indulge in the general sight of people well dressed. But as the evening draws on and conversations are engaged, it is most often that one cannot help but notice details in a person’s dress. Women for example, might notice details in men’s dressing such as the colour of his tie as in contrast to his shirt, the cut of his jacket or the pockets on his coat, his tie pin if he’s wearing one and then most interestingly, his cufflinks. Every bit of clothing on a person contains information about personality, and a pair of cufflinks might just well tell if he has a sense of humour. Continue reading ‘Cufflinks – a perfectly smart finish’
Table decoration replete with teddy bear and gorgeously bound menu in red, at The Peninsula for Valentine’s Day
Thank you all who sent me Valentines and Birthday wishes. A few days ago when we arrived to Bangkok most street names were a mystery and the city had grown immensely since I was here at a conference, presenting a linguistics thesis, a couple of years ago. At that time I didn’t have the time to travel and sightsee Bangkok either.
By now we are finding our way much better even if the traffic is a nightmare swept in pollution so thick you can cut it with a spoon. I think the main observation I can share with those who’ve possibly not been here before is that I would choose the roadside food stalls for the food and the up market Hotels, for the view.
