If Starwars was Swedish (Swedish only, sorry)

Really, really random clip.  We blame the internet for keeping all this rubbish online.

Things to do in the snow if you're bored (idea 159)

Artist Simon Beck walked all day in Savoie, France.

He is both a great artist and maybe he was also a bit bored.  Imagine what would have happened if someone had just skied across and ruined it?  We hate to think (note to self, idea to try for next time).

Impressive.

 

Scandinavian food rising in popularity in Britian

We kinda  had a feeling, you know.  That Scandinavian food is the next big thing.  Which is why, in 2006, Jonas and Bronte began making plans to take over the world.  Or, at least, open a Scandinavian shop and cafe.  We opened in 2007.   Now, five years later, our shop and cafe is nicely busy and we have a massive warehouse where we import to wholesale and we are also now an online shop serving the whole of the UK with Scandinavian foods.  We have 12 amazing people working with us and we're growing.  And loving it.

And so, for the past five years, Scandinavian food has become more and more popular in the UK.  Along with flat packed furniture, bubble gum pop songs and some quite fantastic crime dramas, Scandinavian food has entered the everyday British life.  From the cheese to the meatballs and the delightful breads, it is a growing segment of the food market – only set to grow bigger.

This article was published by the BBC this week.  It talks about many interesting Scandi dishes – and it ends with claiming that “Scandinavian food probably won’t have a lasting shelf life in the UK” – but it entirely fails to discuss open sandwiches in detail – the perfect alternative to the boring triangular sandwiches on offer so many places here.  Or how about a door stopper lump of bread with a bit of ham inside?  No thanks.  Give us a slice of rye bread, any day, with some toppings we can see.     Stuff that tastes good and does you good all at the same time.  Now, THAT is what Scandinavian food is all about, and we do believe that has a shelflife. 

We believe that Scandinavian food hasn’t stopped growing and reaching across the North Sea, that it will continue to expand its reach across.  Why?  Because it makes sense:  our traditional ways of preparing food is naturally low in fat, high in protein and high in the good carbs, not the bad ones.  We stuff you full of oats, rye and seeds.  Eat some berries, little Johnny, and don’t forget to finish your meatballs.

What the future holds remains to be seen – but for now, thanks to all of you guys who obviously believe that Scandi food is going to take over.  Thanks for stopping by the cafe, thanks for using our online shop to satisfy your herring cravings:  long may it last.  Because we haven't finished yet - we have buckets of plans and ideas and we can't wait for the next chapter.

Here are some links to some of the articles in the press this week.  Thanks to the many of you who sent in links:

The BBC article in question

Swedish Aftonbladet talks to our Jonas Aurell

English article from The Local 

A general bit about Scandinavian food (because we just love Delicious Magazine)

Feel free to comment - we'd love to know what you think about Scandinavian food in the UK.

Swedish Snow man in Snow Flick

Remember last week we told you about the Swedish man who survived for two months in his broken down car in the icy Swedish countryside, eating nothing but snow?

Now they are going to make a documentary film about him.

We suggest Tom Hanks in the lead.  Not that Tom is typecast-away or anything.

Read more here 

Imagine this, but with snow.  In Sweden.  

Pippa to Sweden (Yar, I did that race in my gap yarh, you know....)

Pippa Middleton, the sister of Catherine (formerly Middleton, now Queen-in-Waiting-married-to-Will-i-am) - is heading to Sweden this weekend.  

She and her brother are going to be taking part in the annual Vasaloppet, a gruelling 90 km cross country ski. Pippa and her brother are raising money for Magic Breakfast, which is a super charity providing free breakfast for thousands of inner city schools in the UK.

Vasaloppet takes place Sunday 4th March and Pippa will be taking part in the ski with about 15,000 other people.

For those of you who have never tried to ski 90km before, it is really really tough (yours truly did 15k and nearly broke in half).  We say go for it and hope you raise lots of cash for Magic Breakfast.

You can read more about Vasaloppet here

You can donate to Ms Middleton's Charity via her Just giving Page (it's worth a peek just to see the others who have donated so far... There are quite some names in there, you know.  Yah).

 

Princess Estelle of Sweden - pictures

The new Swedish princess is names Estelle.  So, one day, she will grow up to be Queen Estelle of Sweden. Awwww...

Here are the first pictures of Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel's little girl, posted on the official website a few minutes ago.  She's 4 days old.  The pictures were taking by the little girl's grandmother.

 

Weekly News 23rd Feb 2012: Stuffed reindeer, Princess Mary's bits and win some stuff

 

The weekly news is out - read all about Princess Mary's boobs and bad Danish skiers 

Love

The Kitchen People x

 

It's nice when friends do really, really well...

Our good friends at KIDSEN in Kensal Rise London just won the super title of the UK's Best Children's Store in the annual Telegraph Awards.  

The owners, Corina and Franco, even had to go meet Mary Portas, which in itself can be rather scary because she knows a lot of stuff about a lot of things.

If you have not been to Kidsen yet, you are overdue a click onto their amazing website www.kidsen.co.uk, full of goodies for Children: toys, clothes and other useful stuff in abundance.

We first met the team behind KIDSEN when they walked into Scandi Kitchen on a lazy sunny Sunday a few years ago and asked Bronte questions about what it is like to own and run a small independent shop.  Since then, we've been firm buddies and we are so super-duper proud of KIDSEN and their achivement at tonight's awards.  

It just goes to prove that things do come to those who really deserve it - and we know of nobody else who deserves this more than KIDSEN

Well done from all of us at Scandi Kidsen.  Eh, Scandi Kitchen x

Now, go click and support a great independent shop 

World Championships in Naked Luge

Last week, we reported on the Norwegian World championship in Topless Tobogganing.  It seems we were not aware of this slightly more popular event in Germany:  World Championship in Naked Luge.

This year, swedish male supermodel Marcus Schenkenberg took part and finished fifth.

Read more here

Go Marcus.

Marcus is the one to the right.  No, not him, the other one - the one with the non wobbly bits.

Finnish president's husband in cleavage trouble

What do you do when you have to attend your wife's boring state funtions?  Sit next to Crown Princess Mary of Denmark and have a peek at her boobies.  As the husband of the Finnish president did last week.

Naughty.

Stuff that is nice about Iceland

Many things are nice about Iceland (except when they bring out the fermented shark).

The photographer James Appleton spent time photographing an Icelandic volcano erupting - set in the backdrop of the Northern Lights.

Spectacular.  

You can view the whole slide show right here 

Eat the bunnies

you eat me, you'll be damned for all eternity

Scientists in Sweden are suggesting that we start eating more rabbit.  

Swedes consume on average 93 kg of meat a year - mostly chicken and beef.  This puts a big strain on the way things work and it is suggested we start adding different protein rich meats.  Like bunnies.

Because we have lots of them.  They are cheap to breed.  They taste nice.

Whether you like eating rabbits or not, we just like the picture of the angry bunny.

Me? I dont give a shit.  I'm a guinea pig.  I think...

How many reindeer can you fit into a car?

Last week, a car was stopped in Norway.  No, this time it was not a case of illegal butter smuggling but rather a case of "How many reindeer can you fit into a car"?

Police stopped the driver of the Subaru Forester car the other day, only to find no fewer than three reindeer in the back seat.  Wait for it:  and two more in the luggage compartment.

Yes, reindeer.  Alive.  Not wearing seat belts.  None of them.

The driver was surprised by the fuss the police made of the discovery, saying he had been granted authority to transport five of his animals from Karasjok to Børselv, a journey of some 100 kilometres.

Poor Rudolf,  Dasher, Dancer, Prancer and Vixen...  Maybe the sleigh broke down and Santa had to take the car?

Still, things like this are not that uncommon in Norway it seems - it was reported a while back that a Toyota had been stopped after they saw a cow peering out from the back window.

Read more here

Weekly news 16th Feb 2012: Drunk Swedes. topless Norwegians and cream buns.

Read the news HERE.  There's stuff about topless Norwegians in it.

Cool new Scandi inventions

Think we're all about minimalist housing and flat pack book shelves?  Think again.  We can do more than that.

How about this fantastic solar powered water purifier?  Makes water safe to drink in a matter of hours by heating it via solar power and filtering it

 

Or how about these chairs operated by coins?  What a great idea for the deck chairs in Regents Park...

 

Hans Rosling on Population Growth in the world (worth watching)

Here's a Swede worth listening to, even if he uses Ikea boxes to illustrate a point.  The point is about how to tackle global poverty and population growth.

It's worth the ten minutes break to watch it. 

http://www.ted.com The world's population will grow to 9 billion over the next 50 years -- and only by raising the living standards of the poorest can we check population growth. This is the paradoxical answer that Hans Rosling unveils at TED@Cannes using colorful new data display technology (you'll see).

 

World Championship in Topless Tobogganing

Consider yourself pretty good at tobogganing?  Well, then, how about doing it topless?

That's how they do it in Northern Norway.  Those tough vikings.

In Laukvik, Lofoten (inhabitants 450), you can enter this prestigious competition and get yoru chance of glory as you slide down the hill with your boobies out.  There is a category for men, one for women and one for the best and winter body.

For more information, click here for the home page

The Championship takes place on 17th March 2012. Details on home page on how to enter and where to stay.  We promise, should you decide to enter and represent England, to spondor your, eh, underpants.

The photos here are from last year's competition. 

We're considering entering in Topless Smorgasboarding for next year's winter olympics.

Sweden's entry?

Laurvik's Mayor?

Take on Me - North Korea style

This is what Take on Me by A-ha sounds like, played on accordions by a group of North Koreans.  Impressive.

Nämen farfar! Har du sprungit över till den sidan sundet? Nu får du komma tillbake igen...

This is a clip from Danish Tv.  A bit like "docu ambulance show" type thing.  Sadly, only in Swedish/Danish.  Is it any wonder some Danes are slightly perturbed by some Swedes crossing the bridge for beer sometimes?

 

Weekly News 8th Feb 2012: How to annoy Danes, the future is liquorice flavoured and a Swedish sheep-bunny

The weekly newsletter is out.  Read it right here 

Bye for now

The Kitchen people x

The liquorice festival 2012 - horror or heaven?

This weekend coming (11th and 12th Feb),  the first ever liquorice festival takes place in Copenhagen.  Sadly, we only found out about it when it was sold out or else we would have been there like a shot: it really sounds like a great event.  Especially the 4 course gourmet dinner, all liquorice flavoured.  Heaven for us Scandies.

Most of our UK readers will feel slightly nauseous at the thought of a two day event where every single item of food is flavoured with liquorice in some way, but to most Scandinavians, licourice is a treat and we like it strong, salty and a bit like a liquorice flavoured smack-in-the-face.

So, why are we obsessed with salty liquorice?

It's not really salty, it is actually flavoured with ammonium chloride, which is similar, but it is not actual "salt" as we know it.   Ammonium chloride doesn't sound very good, so we use the Finnish word for it:  Salmiakki or Salmiak is a liqouirce variety, flavoured with AC.

Salmiak is an acquired taste and unless you, like most of us Scandies, have been fed liquorice since you were a kid, it is unlikely you will develop an addiction to it on the same scale that we have.  But if you really want to "get it", just persevere and it will happen.  Soon you too can join the herds of liquorice lovers, searching the streets for a harder hit next time.

Here's our quick guide to what to choose and at what level:

Beginner

Skolekridt - sweet (with a hint of salmiakki) liquorice, mild, covered in a sugared white coating.  Mild.  

Liquorice string - very mild, kids like this one.

Medium

ABD Lakrids - sweet with a hint of salt, semi-chewy

Firewood from Fazer - chewy - at times can be a bit strong, but very moorish

I'm tough, me.

Tykisk Peber from Fazer - boiled liquorice sweets with a pepper-like middle centre.  A pan-scandi favourite.

Djunglevraal - literally, meaning Jungle Screams.  Very salty coating, sweet liquorice inside.  Lovely.

Super piratos - a danish favourite.  Strong, salty, still chewy.  Fantastic.

If you are ever in the hood, pop in an have a taster.  We stock over 40 different kinds.  At least.  Probably more.  Actually, definitely more.

 

 

The Office: now in Swedish

It's only fair, seeing as Kenneth Brannagh got to be Wallander, that a Swedish actor get to be David Brent.

The office in Swedish premieres this week.   Eh, in Sweden.

How to annoy the Norwegians...

We couldn't think of anything.  Nada.

Zip.

Except eating the last melkesjokolade  from Freia, that really gets them annoyed.

New Norwegian delivery just arrived this morning - the shelves will soon be full of Mills Kaviar, more Freia chocolate that you can shake a stick at, Smash, Nora jams, brunost brown cheese...  And much, much more.

To order online just click here

Otherwise, pop by the store on Great Titchfield Street - we'd love to see you

A very angry norwegian man.  Jonas stole his Melkesjokolade.

 

How to annoy a Dane

Actually, this article is really entitled "How to pi** off a Dane".  

It's brilliant.  

There are only six easy steps in which to do this.  These include:

Tactic #1: Ask “How are you?” (and not give ten minute to hear the answer)

Tactic #2: Speak their language. 

Tactic #3: Fail to signal in the bike lane.

Tactic #4: Wear your sweatpants in public.

Tactic #5: Smile at their children (or dogs).

Tactic # 6: Act like a human at the grocery store.

You can find out why these things annoy the Danes right here in the article 

We'd like to add that comparing the Danes to the Swedes, Norwegians, Finns or Germans produce the same instant dislike and should never be attempted, even in jest.

Seriosuly, don't.  Even.  Try.

if you don't annoy your Dane, he might love you liek this Great Dane...

 

 

 

How to annoy a Swede...

brilliant photo by jayspec

It's been a week in which we have learnt how to annoy people like us.  

Interesting.  But quite true.

The lovely Kate Reuterswärd has written a blog about 20 ways in which to annoy the Swedes and possibly ensure you never associate with any of those tall blondes again.

Kate's examples include:

1. Speak at an American volume (loudly) in public places, especially on public transportation. 

2. Walk inside with your shoes still on.

3. “I don’t like coffee.” 

4. Tell Swedes who are not from Skåne that Skåne is the real Sweden.

5. Criticize Midsummer.

6. Compare them to Danes.

7. Compare them to Norwegians.

8. Compare them to Finns.

9. Compare them to Germans.

10. Complain about environmentalists.

11. Try to arrange an office happy hour less than a week in advance.

12. Make fun of the Vasa Ship..

13. Install wall-to-wall carpeting.

14. Try to convince a Swede to come to church with you next Sunday.

15. Say you’ve never heard of Astrid Lindgren.

16. Say that Sweden’s government is Socialist. 

17. Corner someone at a party and insist they tell you the secret to why Swedish people are so so beautiful.

18. Lecture everyone on the dangers of candles.

19. Tell people that women should stay at home after their first child.

20. Start a conversation with a stranger.

You can read Kate's blog post right here 

 

Two Swedish girls went to Uganda...

We heard about these two Swedish girls the other month and have been following their progress.  

In short, two Swedish students went to Uganda.  There, they helped set up a home and secure six street kids a school place.  They went back to Sweden, confident that the orphanage was safe and secure and a good environment for the boys to grow up.

Not so.  Soon, Emma and Therese learnt that the boys were being abused.  Severely so.  Physically, mentally.  The environment, under the leadership of a not-at-all-nice man they call Director.  Beatings, punishments, being locked in rooms for days on end.  Not to mention going without food.  Horrific.

Most people would feel pretty powerless being back in Sweden.  What do you do?

Emma and Therese went back to Uganda.  Went to the orphanage.  Collected the boys - all 13 of them.  Then they rented their own house and now live in Uganda, with their 13 boys whom they call "their brats". 

Emma and Theresa work around the clock to provide a safe and secure environment for their kids.  They work, tirelessly, to be supportive, understanding and more grown up than they should be at this age - to have to deal with issues far beyond what most of us could handle.

They have a blog in which they write about their life there.  They talk about the kids, their successes (and sometimes when things go wrong).  The blog is in Swedish, but if you use Google Translate, just right-click and hit "translate to English" and you wil get a pretty good picture of what is happening.

Emma and Theresa fund raise, tirelessly, to cover the monthly running costs of the home for their boys. They are just trying to keep their promise;  to give the boys a home, food, love, schooling - and thus, a future.  They don't need much to keep it going.  But they need it, continuously, and it is getting harder and harder to keep asking.

We've been in touch with Emma lately and asked her to set up a "donate" button for non-Swedish donations.  You will find this on the right hand side of the page.

Even if you don't fancy donating, we are certain you will find their blog an inspiring and worthwhile read.

DNB ad wins award for best Norwegian advert 2011

We featured this advert a few months back.  It's too good not to show again.  The advert, for Norwegian bank DNb has just picked up the prestigious Goldfish award for best advert 2011.

We have no problem seeing why.  Brilliant.

The Lionel Richie Obsession...

...continues.

This week, Bronte wants this teapot:

Buy here

Swedish Sheep-herd Bunny

In Northern Sweden, a bunny has taken on a new role herding sheep.  His name is Champis.

Well, why not?  In these times of economic instabilities, one should most certainly diversify ones skills levels and try new jobs.

Looking for Swedish Football Fans in London for a TV advert

We got this mail today from a production company working for Euro 2012 Championships.

They are filming for a TV advertising campaign.  Yeps, it is paid work and Yeps, you need to be a Swedish football fan "who isn't afraid to express emotion". (we've got bets on Seb and Victor from here applying... )

Here's the note we got from the production company - but be QUICK, deadline is tomorrow to get in touch.

'We are looking to cast some passionate football fans for a major new ad campaign that we are working on.

The campaign will run during the Euro 2012 Championships and we are looking for fans from a number of countries to appear in the ad.

We are looking to find Swedish football fans who are based in London,who are passionate about football and who have no problems expressing that emotion.

We are looking to cast people by the 3rd February so it is important that we find these people as soon as possible. We would like to see potential fans in action watching a football match.

People who are interested can get in touch by emailing katie.daughen@work-club.com or calling the office on 020 7729 9845.

**Successful candidates will be paid for their contribution and need to be available on either 13th or 14th February for one day of filming. **'

Weekly News 1st Feb 2012: Recipe for Semlor buns, stuff about cold Norwegians and Lionel Ritchie amuses the Germans

Here's the weekly news.

Read it.

Thanks.

 

Recipe for Semlor (Scandinavian Cream Buns for Shrove Tuesday)

Ahh, go on:  it’s only Fat Tuesday once a year, eh? 

Every year on Shrove Tuesday, we gorge ourselves on cardamom buns stuffed with whipped cream and marzipan.  Some people eat them as they are, some like to put them in a bowl and pour warm milk on top and eat them with a spoon.

However, you eat yours, we recommend you allow yourself at least one of these before Lent.  They are worth the experience, even if you have no intention of denying yourself anything in the forty days thereafter.

Makes 20 buns

The buns

50 g fresh yeast (1 packet)

175 g butter

500 ml whole milk

140g caster sugar

3 tsp ground cardamom

1 tsp salt

900g-1000g of plain bread flour (ideally with high protein content)

Filling

200 g mandelmassa (50% almond, 50% sugar – less can also be used if you cannot get hold of this good quality stuff)

200 ml ‘marsan’ or a good quality crème patisserie (ready bought is fine)

300 ml whipping cream

1 egg, for brushing

Icing sugar, to dust

• Melt the butter and leave to cool.
• Warm the milk to between 37-42 degrees Celsius (optimal degrees when using fresh yeast).  Add the yeast and milk into a bowl and mix until yeast has dissolved.  Add the melted butter.
• Add sugar, salt, cardamom to the mixture, then start to work in the flour.  As with all yeast baking:  never add the flour all at once.  Add and mix until you have a firm, but sticky, dough.  If you add too much flour, the buns will be dry and they will not rise properly.  
• Once you reach a firm but still sticky consistency, keep kneading/mixing for about 10 minutes (ideally with a mixer, dough hook attached, for best result), then leave the dough to rest until doubled in size (30 minutes).
• Once the dough has risen, add enough flour to give you a workable smooth dough, then cut into 20 equal sized pieces and roll to smooth into buns.  Please on a baking tray, cover with a damp tea-towel and let rise for at least a further 30 minutes, ideally longer.  Again, they should double in size.
• Brush the buns with egg, then bake in a hot oven (210-220 degrees) for about 10 minutes.
• Remove from oven and onto a baking rack.  Cover the buns with a tea towel to prevent them from drying out while they cool down.

To assemble the Semla bun:

Cut the top off the bun, about 2 cm from the top.  Reserve the lids.  Hollow out about 1/3 of the bun and place the “inside bits” into a bowl.    To this bowl, add 200g gram of Mandelmassa and a good 200 ml a good ready-made high quality crème patisserie.  Mix really well into a paste then fill each of the semla holes with the mixture. 

Whip the cream to a firm consistency then pipe it all around the top – and place the “lid” gently back on the cake.  Dust with icing sugar.  Serve.  Close your eyes, enjoy, and do not think about calories.   

TIP:  Some people prefer a more “airy” bun.  You can add a teaspoon of baking powder to the flour before you mix it in if you want the buns to feel less heavy.

You can get the recipe here in PDF format  Download 1201 Semlor

Need new cushions for your house?

Does it look like  a poo to you too?

Forget those new fancy smart cushions from IKEA.  Instead, decorate your house with cushions shaped like Swedish bun favourites.

We want to sit on Semlor buns.  And cinnamon buns.  It's a bit cool.  Maybe.  Not.  Okay, we admit it: We Scandies do still get it wrong sometimes, don't we?

Buy the whole range here

 

And the survey says....

How did we really do?

It always makes us nervous to ask “how do you think we’re doing”.  What if the answer is that you’d much prefer us to serve kebabs with extra chilli sauce?  Or that we should be less friendly?  Or that Seb needs to shave all his hair off again like he did in 2008? 

We love what we do and we hope it shows.  We get up in the morning, ready to make open sandwiches and ready to try and untangle the logistical puzzle that is importing from several countries at the same time.  We love it and we’ve been doing it for almost five years and we want to do it for many more to come.

Thanks for taking the time to those of you who did – literally hundreds and hundreds of people filled in our questionnaire.

We can’t print every single reply, but we can print a small snapshot of the comments that made us giggle, listen up and some of the ones that made us blush in the nicest way.  It’s only fair to share,  isn’t it?

What’s the best thing about Scandinavian Kitchen?

This bit made us blush.  A lot.  Thank you.  The fact that so many of you said “the hugs” and heaps of you told us that we make you feel less homesick means a lot.

What is the least good thing?

We learnt a lot here.  Some good points that we’re already working on.  Some comments such as “That there’s only one of you and you are not in Scotland” made us want to go open another cafe straight away.   We know we get too busy sometimes and we’re working on a solution for that which does not involved Sebastian becoming a bouncer and people having to wear proper trousers to gain access.

What would make you pop back and see us more often?

The majority of you answered this question with “if you opened a store in Edmonton/Glasgow/Tunbridge Wells/Surbiton etc”

Over 98% of you rated the quality of our food as “Very good” or “Exellent”. 

98,6% rated our Quality of Service as “very good” or “excellent”. 

86% of you said our Grocery Selection of products was either “Very Good” or Excellent”.  We got a great list of suggestions from you on new products as well, thank you.

From the “feel free to rant and rave here” section, these were our favourites:

• There's the total absence of beautiful Scandinavian women in Shipston-on-Stour 
• I eat too many smorbukk
• I'm going to the gymnastics olympics test event tomorrow and I am excited!
• I don't have my own Swede to play with :(
• Please don't ever change!  (we won’t, don’t worry)

So, for the winners…  Camilla put on a sequined outfit and smiled, Seb put on a game shot hat (what IS a game show hat, anyway?), we put lots of names into the hat and out popped a bunny as well as a list of people whose lives will be greatly improved in the way of free stuff:

Free lunch for two at Scandi Kitchen: 

• Gwen Larsen 
• Alan Cox  

Voucher for £50 to spend in our on-line store

• Mrs P Wells

A bottle of snaps

• Erik Bolvin

Thanks again, lovely people:  We look forward to the fun year ahead.

Bye for now

The Kitchen People

x

 

Bornholm: Everything happens here

We always make fun of Bornholm, the Danish island south of Sweden.  It's probably because Rebekka comes from Bornholm.  Or because nothing ever happens there.  Or maybe a bit of both.  

Today we have to swallow our words a bit, so to speak, because today stuff did happen on Bornholm.  Important stuff: 

They found a big turd.

Not just any poo, but a really old poo.  Really old.  As in 140 million years old poo.  And it is only 4 centimetres of poo.

That seems like an awful lot of fuss for a tiny bit of poo.  Still, the poo (which apparently is believed to be from a turtle) has been given the prestigious ‘national, natural treasure’ status (danekræ) and will be making its way to Copenhagen Natural History Museum.

So, make sure you pop in and say hello to the poo next time you are in town.

 

Here's a picture of some poo.  Sorry.