Lucia day in Scandinavia is on December 13th - a very special day in the Nordic calendar. Origianally, St Lucia celebrated "the bearer of light" and the tradition today is still that a train of people dressed in white will walk in the dark bearing candles, singing Christmas carols.
Our Lucia evening is on 10th December where we also have late night shopping. We'd love for you to pop by and have a glass of glogg (mulled wine), some saffran buns or Aebleskiver.
We think our little open sandwiches look lovely. But man, how tricky is it to take good photos of food? Very. It takes skills, precision and patience.
If you have ever wanted to improve your food photography skills, now is your chance: the excellent Chris Windsor is hosting some mini sessions in October for both DSLR and "Point and shoot" digital camera users.
Places are strictly limited. Sessions are a few hours long and the first session that happened a few weeks back proved extremely popular - you can read one of the attendees review here (and see some of her great photos too, the gal's got talent!) http://kaveyeats.blogspot.com/2009/09/vacuum-cleaners-cameras-blod-pudding.html
If interested in maybe attending, pop your name down by mailing iloveherring@scandikitchen.co.uk - whether you are a blogger or enthusiast is not important, just a good interest in food photography.
You can read more about Chris here www.chriswindsor.com and http://www.chriswindsorgallery.co.uk
Heikki Silvennoinen is playing at 93 feet East on 15th September and we have a pair of tickets to give away. Yahoo. Tickets are only £10.
You can read more here about the event: http://www.finnsworldwide.com/blues.html
To be in with a chance to win a pair of tickets, just answer the following question:
In 2002 Silvennoinen formed the band with well known Finnish musicians Pepe Ahlqvist and Dave Lindholm. Silvennoinen has been touring with the group whole summer 2009.
What’s the name of the band
a. SF Ska
b. SF Blues
c. SF Disco
Send your answer to iloveherring@scandikitchen.co.uk before Friday 12th at 18:00. Usual terms and conditions apply.
Jonas, looking slightly manic and hoping he and Bronte's baby will not arrive before after the festival...
...and we're there too, at the Lamer Tree Gardens (11-13 Sep 2009). All this weekend we'll be posting pics from our fab team who've gone to Dorset to camp out and serve meatballs and hotdogs to the masses.
Last night we were all very tired, trying to pack the van - and this morning five of us are off to the countryside to set up the tents and do a little anti-rain dance. You see, we have not learnt from our mistakes: last year we forgot to bring wellies. And this year, we've forgotten them too. So, no rain, please.
All tickets to End of the Road are sold out but the organisers do operate a ticket exchange programme, so if someone else has decided not to go, you can get their tickets - check our the website for details http://www.endoftheroadfestival.co.uk/
Sam and Henrik, tired but happy and ready to go
We're bringing everything but the kitchen sink, it seems. Do we really need the big lamp?
Yahoo - we love competitions. We have two pairs of tickets to give away for some Swedish events taking place in London in September and October.
"Insane in the Brain" is at the Peacock Thatre from 15th September till 3rd October
Performances: Tue - Sat at 8pm, Sat matinee at 2.30pm, Sun at 4pm - Tickets: £10 - £36 Ticket office: 0844 412 4322 www.sadlerswells.com
A street-dance version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Dale Wasserman, based on the novel by Ken Kesey
Bounce’s explosive Insane in the Brain, a hip hop version of Ken Kesey’s classic novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, was a smash hit at its UK debut in 2008 and returns to the Peacock Theatre for a second year from Tuesday 15 September until Saturday 3 October 2009.
In the confines of a psychiatric hospital, breakdance becomes a way of expressing freedom and rebelling against the iron rule of Nurse Ratched, who prefers to give her patients a daily dose of ballet.
Bounce was formed in 1997 by a group of Sweden’s leading street dancers keen to explore the different dance styles of breaking, locking, popping, boogaloo and new school. Not afraid to use any style of dance to create fresh and exciting work, Bounce also utilises lindy hop and tap, which have influenced the street dance of today.
Watch a clip at: www.sadlerswells.com/show/Bounce-08
Cirkus Cirkor (Inside Out)
Wednesday 14 - Saturday 31 October - Tickets: £10 - £36
Performances: Tues – Sat at 7.30pm, Sat Mat at 2.30pm, Sun at 4pm
Ticket office: 0844 412 4322 www.sadlerswells.com
A huge hit in its native Sweden, and around the world on tour, Cirkus Cirkör comes to London for the very first time with its spellbinding show Inside Out.
Following the adventures of two characters who meet a circus company of bizarre and magical oddballs, Inside Out features a cast of eight multi-skilled performers who balance on knife edges and challenge gravity in a spectacular blend of acrobatics and storytelling, laced with style and humour.
We have a pair of tickets for the 15th September for Bounce and a pair of tickets for Cirkus Cirkor for the performance on 14th October
To enter the competition, answer this question:
"Insane in the brain" is based on which famous novel?
1) One flew over the hen house
2) One flew over the cuckoo's nest
3) A pig flew. The end.
Please mail your answer to iloveherring@scandikitchen.co.uk - and let us know what show you prefer (if no show is specified, you'll be entered for both). Please have your entry in by Sunday 23rd August by 5 pm.
Rules and regulations: only one entry per person, no cash alternative or alternative dates available. All responsibility with this competition lies with the organisers and not Scandi Kitchen. All correct entries will be entered into a draw - most likely a lot of names printed on paper and then popped into a big hat/sock/box or whatever we can find on the day. The judges decision is final, because judges rule.
Midsummer in Scandinavia is a huge event. From the people of Sweden jumping around a big maypole pretending to be little frogs, to the Danes burning pretend witches on huge bonfires... Everyone has their own way of celebrating.
Here in London, several events will be taking place and we'll add to this list as we hear of new ones - so keep checking back.
Danish Midsummer Party and bonfire: At the Danish YMCA in Hampstead. 23rd June from 19:00 - click here for detials www.kfuk.co.uk
Swedish Midsummer Party by JCC (SWedish Chamber of Commerce) - on 20th June in Hyde Park (12-4). Bring your own picnic and stuff, free event. There'll be a pole there for your to dance around once the aquvit kicks in.
Scandinavian Midsummer Party - by www.Scandinavianparty.com - tickets need to be bought in advance. 20th June 2009 at the Zoo Bar.
13th December every year is the celebration of St Lucia (or St Lucy) – a festival widely celebrated across Scandinavia. Girls dress in white robes and carry candles in a long procession and sing the hymn about Lucia. The candles symbolise the fire that refused to take St. Lucia's life when she was sentenced to be burned. Traditionally a Catholic festival, it is thought that this tradition survived in Scandinavia because it is celebrated during the very dark days of winter. Some people believe that back in the day when us Scandies celebrated Yule (or Jol) at Winter Solstice, it was both a season of giving, kindness and celebration - but also a season of fear of dark forces – the scariest night of all at that time was called the Night of Lussi – Lussinatta. Some believe that the festival of light is from this time to fend off the evil forces. Whatever you choose to believe, for us it is really all about saffron buns and trying to persuade Henrik and Seb to wear Lucia costumes and crowns of candles. So far no luck. In Sweden, a traditional kind of bun, Lussekatt ("St. Lucia Bun"), made with saffron, is normally eaten on this day. It’s rather yummy – and we’re serving these all week in our little store so do pop by for your fix.
Ray is back. He's our good friend who pops along once a month to do a wine tasting class/session. Ray was voted the Young Wine Writer of the Year and has been Head Sommilier at prestigies places such as Gordon Ramsay's Maze. Currently, he works for the International Wine Challenge.
This year we've leart about everything from Chablis to Pinot Noirs - and last month we did a tour of Australia (well, no, not physically, just the wines, you know).
On Wednesday 3rd December sees the last class of the year and Ray the Wine Expert's decided we're in for a huge treat: we're doing fizzy stuff - so if you want to know your Prosecco from your Champagne, this is the event for you.
You can read more about Ray and previous events here http://scandikitchen.typepad.com/scandikitchen/2008/06/super-plonk-win.html
There are strictly 15 spaces only - as with all the other classes, we keep the numbers small. Spots cost £30 a head for this event - to reserve a spot mail ilovehering@scandikitchen.co.uk
Ray the Wine Expert in the field
Did you know that there is a Danish Club in London? Indeed - and it's been there since 1863 and is the oldest Danish club outside Denmark.
Located in the prestigious Arts Club in Dover Street, the club organises events for Danes and Friends of Denmark throughout the year and provides a great meeting place in the centre of London for both grabbing a bite to eat (they have monthly Danish Buffets and serve daily smoerrebrod's platter too).
This autumn they have their annual Danish Club Fair - it's this Tuesday 18th November and it is open to both members and non members. You can buy stuff from Denmark including Danish food and hampers - in fact, we have a little stand there so if you fancy stocking up on kjejner and curry herring before Christmas, then it is a great opportunity to come along and see what the club can offer you - and maybe even end up becoming a member yourself.
When: Tuesday 18th November from 14:00-16:00 and from 18:00-20:00 in the Garden Room.
See you there.
More about the club here http://www.danishclub.co.uk/
We like those lovely people at BoConcept and once again, after the success of the event back in the summer, we're teaming up again to help celebrate the launch of their new catalogue.
Pop by on Saturday at the Notting Hill store for some nice Scandinavian Kitchen canapes and sweets / snacks and to get £100 off if you spend over £1000 - you'll need a voucher for that one, though (you can pick one up at Scandi Kitchen all week).
Stockholm Culture Festival "Carnival"
All good things come to an end and so it was time for us to leave. Following the grand finale of the Culture Festival on Saturday night, we awoke to the pouring rain (being British I believe it is my duty to always talk about the weather) and the knowledge that team GB were third in the Olympic medals table. Go team GB!
On reflection, we think Sweden has the answer to London's knife crime problem - Swedish female police officers; that is if the two we saw are a good representation. Gone would be the thoughts of knifes, in the hope of being searched thoroughly by a female police officer!
Our final day took us to Stockholm's City Museum where we learnt about the city's "filth" and "prohibition" - even chocolate was banned and servants could be jailed for wearing silk! The horror!
As we stocked up on choolate with Daim (no longer prohibited), Stimorol chewing gum and Swedish literature, the call came for us to reluctantly catch our flight. I did try to take SK to new heights of the mile high club (not that one!) and serve tea in my SK t-shirt, but was not successful. I think I lacked the lucky SK mug, so will try again next time. In retaliation I ripped a page out of SAS's 'Scanorama' magazine, to help plan my next holiday to Sweden. If I were to only travel to Sweden for my annual holiday every year, I would be very happy.
Until next time....
Enjoying my Polkadrom ice cream
As we discovered on our final morning in Göteborg, where we thought we were getting away without paying for things, everything during the culture festival is in fact put on for free! An excellent idea we thought, especially for all the travelling families we saw. We opted to explore the city museum in our final hours and what a fantastic place this is! Most reccommended thing to do in Göteborg after the "Hagabulle". The viking exhibition with the only viking boat on display in Sweden was excellent, as was the history of family life in the city.
As the rain comes down on our last day in Stockholm, we are greatful for the better weather that this wonderful city has given us over the last two days - warmth and sunshine.
Our train journey from Göteborg was swift and we arrived at our hostel to find ourselves in a strange room with no windows or ventilation, however, it did have a proper matress and not a slice of foam to sleep on! That said I at least, have slept better here despite these factors. Although it's very disconcerting every morning waking up in pitch black!
Since arriving in Stockholm, we have spent our hard earned money in Gamla Stan, on Drottingholm and in it's vicinity. We have solved the mystery of the cover of the new Stig Larsson books (why does the first English translation have the cover of the second Swedish book in the trilogy - the clue is in the direct translation of the Swedish title!) and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Although sadly the chance to eat some crayfish has not presented itself, I'll have to tuck in back at SK. Any chance you can put some aside for me?!
Like Göteborg, Stockholm has it's Culture Festival this week, which we have been able to enjoy in Gustav Adolfs Torg seeing a concert by Che Sud Aka, that had us dancing on the streets and last nights finale of Opera selections, which was to be followed by a carnival featuring three different themes; Brazilian, Latino and Caribbean. Whilst the opera was great, sadly the carnival was billed to be more than it turned out to be, no carnival costumes except on the three lorries and just a mass of Stockholmers, mostly the young following each lorry in normal clothes, as the Ung08 festival had just finished. Most disappointing of all, no fireworks! Ah well, we can't have everything.
A trip to Sweden is never complete without an escape to the archipelago and we took the boat to Fjäderholmen, with it's craft shops, Swedish whisky and restaurants. What has, after 2 pieces of Princess Torta, 2 vanilla buns and half a hagabulle each, become a "cake tour" of Sweden, was in Fjäderholmen, supplemented with a "Polkadröm" ice cream (picture to be added tomorrow). Whilst expensive, it was a sight to be seen and very delicious. Perhaps it could be used as a template for SK ice cream? - Flavours to include blueberry and elderflower, we suggest.
We have been looking out for words that read funny in English, but have failed to come up with anything new. What does make us smile is the sight of young Swedes in groups looking "hard and cool" (gosh I sound like my mother!) which they do well, until they start speaking Swedish! It's too nice a language to listen to and just doesn't have the right effect!
Time to enjoy our final hours in Stockholm. Last postcard tomorrow.
Heather, SK t-shirt and the elusive "Hagabulle" - Can I have a semla this big please?!
We awoke to sunshine and a new day, although by the end of breakfast it had already clouded over again. Nevertheless, off we headed Jo, SK t-shirt and I in search of the elusive 'Hagabulle'. So much had been promised by the information book in the hostel and thankfully we were not disappointed. It was huge (see photo above) and we had to share it (although we were not prepared to share it with the wasps, who were stalking us yet again!), too much for one person after breakfast! I challenge Tobias to make a giant semla for my birthday in February!
Our stomachs very full we headed off to the guided city walk, which was part of the Göteborg Culture Festival (previously the Göteborg Festival, but too many Swede's used it as an excuse for getting very drunk and so the word 'Culture' was added!). Our guide from the Stadsmuseet was very funny and in summary, we learned that all you need to know about the history of Göteborg is that there was a fat man, a man who brought potatoes, it burnt down several times (although they were told to re-build in brick the Swedes did not, hence multiple burnings!) and that it was built around the same time as Cape Town, New York and Jacarta, by the Dutch and so the streets are on a grid pattern in the centre at least!
Our swift history of Göteborg complete and having escaped with only a spitting of rain so far, we went in search of willow weaving only to find not only was it not on, but that it cost SEK100 entry fee.....we think not, cheap skates that we are we are saving our hard earned pennies to spend in SK! Mildly disappointed we headed off to the Konstmuseet to look at Scandinavian art and were mightily impressed, especially when we got away without paying the SEK60 entry fee to the special exhibition that was on! We do not endorse such activity of course, but hey, no one asked for tickets, who could blame us and that's 3 pieces and a drink in SK! We left into the glorious sunshine we had not seen since Copenhagen, but this soon set and we were left cold again and still being hassled by the damn wasps and we didn't have any food or drink this time. Time for dinner. As the rain pours down outside, I don't think we will be heading out again!
Chelsea Flower Show Gold Medal Winning Garden 2007 - Linneas Garden at the Botanic Garden's in Göteborg
It seems that unlike Bronte and Jonas who enjoyed some of Sweden's best summer weather this year, we are enjoying some of it's worst! Plagued by rain, wind and wasps, we are making the mot of things and have been lucky. Now in Göteborg after a coach journey up the coast, we are staying in a very nice hostel. Although rain threatened, we ventured to the infamous Botanic Gardens yesterday, which we enjoyed apart from the damn wasps, again! There is a fantastic waterfall at the end of the gardens, but all illusions of the lovely natural wonder were destroyed when I climbed to the top and saw the big pipe fueling the waterfall. We were impressed with how realistic it was nonetheless. In the evening, although rain threatened yet again, we went to explore the delights of the Gö
teborg Cultural Festival and were justly rewarded in Götaplatsen, with a performance by Swedish group Money Brother www.myspace.com/moneybrother that had us all dancing to this energy filled 10 piece band, although with that many members, the money ain't gonna go far brother!
We followed this up with watching 'Abba the Movie' - with the bag full of sweets we had brought from what was adult heaven, let and child paradise - on a giant screen in the square until just before midnight, when we crawled back to the hostel, taking only one wrong turn!
Having had our fill of Swedish music and with slightly better weather for now, we are off to take a Scandi Kitchen t-shirt for a tour of Göteborg, find out next time what it got up to!
Many of us Scandinavians long for that time of year when Eurovision comes round and we get to vote for our neighbours. Sadly, it's only once a year - and some of us struggle to find stuff to do the rest of the time.
Enter EUROBEAT - the musical. The story goes that an Australian man was so dissapointed he was not allowed to enter, so he wrote this musical instead. Basically, Les Dennis and Mel Giedroyc (of Mel&Sue fame) present a mock Eurovision contest and you even get to vote afterward, meaning no two shows are ever the same. The show is on at the Novello theatre from 4th September till 15th November and has got great reviews all round.
You can read more about the whole thing right here
We've been lucky and have secured 10 pairs of tickets for the show over the next weeks to give away. Every week in our newsletter we'll publish a question for you to enter the competition - all you have to do is send your answer to iloveherring@scandikitchen.co.uk and we'll pop your name into the hat*
HOW MANY TIMES HAS DENMARK WON THE EUROVISON SONG CONTEST?
a) Five times
b) Twice
c) Every year. It's the taking part that counts and we're all winners, deep down.
*The terms and conditions of the Eurobeat competition are simple: You answer the question right, we’ll pop your name into a hat. If we cannot find a hat, we may well use a sock of maybe an empty box of some kind. We’ll ask one of our friends to pick a name out of the sock/hat/box and that person will win 2 tickets to go see the musical. We’ll then let the musical people know your name and put them in touch with you and they’ll arrange a good day for you to go see the show – this will be between 4th and 19th September only. There’s no cash alternative to the prize and if you forget to buy popcorn, don’t blame us. Employees of Scandi Kitchen are not allowed to enter this competition, so Sebastian, even if you enter in disguise, you will not win. Max one pair of tickets per person.
“AS CAMP AS GRAHAM NORTON LISTENING TO BUCKS FIZZ IN A CAMPER VAN…EAT YOUR HEART OUT, SCOOCH – THIS SHOW’S A WINNER” ««««« Metro
Henrik Rock Star
Our first birthday was celebrated in style at Scandi Kitchen. We served nice herring and even nicer lagkage (layer cake) all day to ayone who fancied it and we even had a little soiree in the evening for some close friends from the hood and around.
The best bits from our birthday were:
Photos are courtesy of Anu, Camilla and a few that we took - but mainly Anu and Camilla. Thanks for remembering your cameras, girls.
More photos here
About 700 canapes were eaten at our little party - these are the crayfish and coriander tunnbrod rolls - very popular indeed.
Seb was doorman, Josh popped by and Phil the Photographer didn't take many photos but did spend time trying to get away from Jonas wo was on a mission with a lagkage...
We can hardly believe it ourselves: it's been a year already. A year of lots of excellent Monmouth coffee, a serious amount of herring and quite a few open sandwiches.
Stuff we've achieved since opening on 10th July 2007:
Much more has happened, we're sure - it's been a very eventful year. Thanks to all of you guys for your support, we've had such a blast and we can't wait to get stuck into year two.
If you are in the area today (61 Gt Titchfield Street, London W1W 7PP) - Thursday 10th July - pop by the store for a chit-chat, maybe some herring or some cake and a nice hug. We do so like hugging.
Our Henrik Rockstar and our Jess.
Virgin 1 are doing a show about Sexy Europeans. Nice. They are looking for a whole load of Swedes (someone please tell them that Danes and Norwegians are sexy too?) to come along to the "Walker of St James" pub at Piccadilly on Saturday 12th July between 12-4 pm and be in the audience when survey results are read out about the different European romantic performances. You'll be flying the flag for your nation. Sounds like a bit of fun on a Saturday afternoon.
The producers are also looking for individuals to be interviewed for the programme - more details on this to follow on where/when/how/and no, you cannot be on the programme wearing an ABBA wig and sunglasses so your mum won't recognise you.
Bronte went to Fruit Towers (as innocent's head quarters are called) today - she's worked at innocent for many years but now she is finally full-time Scandi Kitchen.
To celebrate, the Cheese CLub at innocent had a Scandinavian day today - and we brought along several interesting cheeses that we also stock at our little shop:
Sweden: Vasterbotten, a 12-14 month ages hard cheese not unlike parmesan in texture but so seriously tasty on crispbread it is hard not to eat the whole packet.
Norway: Brunost - brown cheese, literally. Whey, cream and milk is boiled until the sugar in the milk turns almost into caramel and this gives the cheese it's distinct colour and sweet flavour.
Denmark: Gamle Ole - stinky, stinky cheese. Strong. Lovely. Great finish. Blaa Kornblomst: Blue cornflower, a lovely creamy blue cheese with a great finish. Not too strong, but still with a good bite (Organic from a small Danish dairy). Last but not least: Esrom cheese. Some claim it is the king of Danish cheeses; strong, and as our Tobias desribes it: "with a nice flavour of cow shed at the end". Yummy.
It's tradition at innocent drinks' Cheese Club to vote for the favourite at the end of a long tasting session and Gamle Ole was a clear winner.
Fruit towers, where Bronte used to work and where people love smoothies and cheese. A lot.
So, our wine evening ended up not being so much just for Scandi Mums but just a good bunch of people who got together to learn from our friend Ray the wine dude. And wowsa, did we learn stuff - from how and why to swivel the glass to how far to stick your tooter into the glass and what grapes are used for what. It was really interesting and we're planning another evening for beginning of September.
More about Ray here
..and tom cruise is this tall...
everyone thinks they're a great "I'll get that artistic shot" photographer by the 7th glass of vino.... sadly, it's not so true. Note the greasy fingerprints. Classy.
It's the Ice Hockey World Championship, don't you know? And guess what... All the Scandi countries qualified, which is unusual indeed - normally it's just Finland and Sweden bashing it out with the Canadians and Russians in the end).
So, seeing as Euro 2008 is going to be a largely Swedish event this time, we say let's all get into Ice Hockey instead, at least for now.
Lots of the Scandies in London are watching it - and the best place to go is The Sport's Cafe http://www.thesportscafe.n
You can find out more here http://www.iihf.com/
When watching Finnish Ice Hockey - drink Finnish beer and Salmiakki vodka shots. Yum.
Last Saturday, the annual Norwegian charity ball took place at the Landmark (fancy hotel in London), raising money for Cancer Research UK. The final amount raised is not yet known, although they raised £4500 on the raffle alone. Well done - what a fantastic effort. And the Norwegian Hamper we donated from Scandi Kitchen looked stunning right next to the lovely lady wearing the nice green dress.
You can keep giving here www.justgiving.com/norwegianspringball
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