The Scandinavian Cookbook

Danish chef and food writer Trina Hahnemann’s new cookbook is filled with beautiful photographs of food and snowy Scandinavian locales, mouth-watering recipes and interesting commentary. Sections are organized by month of the year. A recipe for homemade Danish pastries opens the January section, in which Hahnemann notes, “Daylight disappears so quickly that on some days you do not even notice whether it was there. Breakfast seems to take on a new significance at this time of the year.” Lovers of seafood will be happy with recipes for smørrebrød (open-faced sandwiches—rye bread recipe included) piled high with fried flounder, shrimp, and basil dressing; and for marinated salmon; gravlax with sweet mustard sauce; Skagen fish soup; and homemade pickled white herring. Desserts are equally tempting, and include vanilla custard with red currants, crêpes with gooseberry compote, cream-filled and chocolate-topped “Medaljer” (“very popular cakes for afternoon coffee”) and rice pudding with warm cherry sauce. Meat dishes include meatballs in curry sauce and Biff Lindström, “a slightly spicy meat patty sweetened with beets,” served with fried potatoes and “balsamico” green beans. Glögg, a “warm red wine with aquavit and spices,” appears in December, along with caramel potatoes.