At Långedrag Värdshus for a Christmas table sitting, 2021, Swedish west coast.
Text & Photo © CM Cordeiro & JE Nilsson 2021
It was special to come back to Långedrag Värdshus for a Christmas table sitting. My absolute favourite dish from the 2020 julbord, of which I devoured a generous amount, was their honey roasted duck. Already then by New Year’s 2021, I was looking forward to my next julbord with them. I knew too, that duck would be my first dish at the 2021 julbord, breaking all Swedish julbord serving traditions that begins with the cold dishes, particularly, the preserved herrings.
After waiting the entire 12 months to get to their Christmas honey roasted duck, to my chagrin, the julbord for 2021 had no such honeyed duck in sight. Why do I always have my eye on that one distant duck in sight, who has quack issues and would never speak with me because I come from a different field of quackery? I held back on a full blown existential crisis and focused my sight instead, on the spread of selection of preserved herrings.
Långedrag Värdshus did present a more than lovely array of preserved herring of various flavours, the most exciting of which was wasabe herring. Attending to the sill / herring spread felt a little bit like Charlie at the Chocolate Factory, with the exception that it was fish.
Duck distress aside, the Christmas table spread at Långedrag Värdshus was fantastic. More than forty different dishes were presented that began with a serving of glögg and gingerbread cookies. You could then head for seafood appetizers, that included a shrimp salad and some seafood pâté. A favourite cold dish this year was the lightly smoked cod served with chopped chives and dill. There were some children present at other tables, and the warm dishes of Swedish meatballs and sausages seemed a favourite choice. For dessert, you could choose to fill your plate with a selection of cheeses or go ahead and combine that with the tiny portions of crème brûlée, chocolate mousse, or fruit crumble.
Presented with a book on Otto Nordenskjöld
A signed copy for Christmas gift from Claes G. Alvstam, his latest book titled “Otto Nordenskjöld through the camera”.
The highlight of this year, and one for which I am grateful for, is the opportunity to have a julbord with Claes G. Alvstam, who is Professor Emeritus of Economic Geography and formerly Vice Dean of the School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg. As Christmas present, I received a signed copy of his latest book, Otto Nordenskjöld through the camera [1]. Otto Nordenskjöld (1869 – 1928), was a Finnish and Swedish geologist, geographer, and polar explorer. Nordenskjöld was was appointed professor of geography and ethnography at University of Gothenburg in 1905 where he studied the effects of winter on alpine climate and developed a formula for identifying the boundaries of the Arctic region based on regional temperatures throughout the year.
Seafood hors d’œuvre.
The cold meat dishes included smoked reindeer and moose.
The cold fish and seafood dishes included this beautiful smoked salmon, and lightly smoked cod (pictured beow).
A variety of flavours at the preserved herring table.
Favourite warm dish of this year’s julbord 2021 is Lutfisk served with béchamel, green peas, crsip bacon bits and a rustic honeyed mustard.
Reference
[1] Alvstam, C., Holmer, B., Olvmo, M., Thorsson, S., & Larsson, A. (2021). Otto Nordenskjöld genom kameran : Forskningsresorna i bilder. Votum Förlag, Karlstad, Sweden.
https://votumforlag.se/produkt/otto-nordenskjold/