Cheryl Marie Cordeiro

Honey mustard baked Christmas ham, fresh out of the oven. Nowadays this is the centerpiece of most Swedish Christmas tables. I olden times, this place was taken by a complete, baked pig’s head with a red apple in the mouth.
J E Nilsson and C M Cordeiro-Nilsson © 2010

While living mostly in Sweden when the opportunity presents itself I occasionally find myself back in Singapore to celebrate the festive season with parents and relatives. On these occasions even solid institutions such as Christmas celebrations and the types of food put out on the Christmas table, becomes a mixture of what we all love the most of the Nordic and the Singaporean Eurasian traditions.

The Swedish “Christmas” table has its roots in old Viking mid-winter sacrifice rituals or even older than that. Then a few centuries ago the East India trade brought the Swedes to South East Asia over the Christmas where they had to wait for the monsoon winds to change before it would bring them back to the North, and today I found the traditional Nordic Christmas ham dressed up to look like a tropical pineapple fruit. Coincidence or not, traditions are built up over time to somehow keep long lost memories alive and who knows what people long after us, will have on their Christmas Mid winter tables. Chicken Mc Nugget?

Here are anyway a few pictures from my Christmas in my two homes, in Sweden, and in Singapore.
Continue reading “Christmas food in Sweden and Singapore” →

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 ultimate chocolate milk.
J E Nilsson and C M Cordeiro-Nilsson © 2010

My pursuit of the perfect chocolate milk has a long history. Over the years in Singapore, I visited coffeeshops, kopitiams and cafés and ranked what I found as best, second and runners-up like best National, Most Photogenic, and one, well, for Congeniality.

Then a few years ago we visited the Tate Gallery of Modern Art in London. I don’t know how you feel about modern art. Personally I have a difficult relation to it since I seem to be a bit overly sensitive to strong visual communication, or maybe I get distressed about people getting paid for pouring garbage on the floor, or spilling paint on a canvas.  Eitherway, my unfortunate disposition has also made me spend quite some time in various museum cafés when I need, hot chocolate.

Among these the Tate Gallery of Modern Art in London has a special place in my heart. Their exhibitions are filled with visually strong pieces of art that could well emotionally pass as an alternative to one of those really insane roller coaster rides that tosses you upside down in mid-air and then eventually leave you hanging there head down due to some malfunction of the machinery. They are all there, Francis Bacon, Joseph Beuys, Andy Warhole, you name it. A virtual crash course in mass communication and visualizations of strong and complicated ideas.

So, after a quick look around I made it to the café and in an attempt to make my stomach calm down I ordered a Hot Cup of Chocolate.

The place is called Café 2 and is actually a recent winner of the Time Out Eating & Drinking Award as the Best Family Restaurant. It is at Level 2, overlooking the Thames riverside.
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Lamb cutlets
with garlic and rosemary fried potatoes and wine poached pears.
J E Nilsson and C M Cordeiro-Nilsson © 2010

Just recently I was looking for inspiration in the local food store, when suddenly some of the best cuts of lamb cutlets I have seen in a long while stared me in the face. So that was easy. Nice, thick and juicy cuts from the lower back and with the filé left in place. Perfect.

I always find cooking lamb a bit of a challenge. However we look at it, lamb is far from an everyday dish where we live. In Sweden it’s a traditional meal that belongs to the autumn and winter season and to have lamb is a little event in itself. Because of this, there are a lot of unspoken expectations surrounding these meals. One of which is the hope that it will turns out good, another the fear that it will not.

However, since this dish worked out fine, I will share what we did, not the least so I will remember it myself.

First of all, there are many traditions in which to cook lamb and ours was inspired by Italy and Greece, as in lots of garlic and olive oil, and only a vague idea about keeping tabs.
Continue reading “Rosemary Lamb Cutlets with wine, lemon and honey pears” →