Customer Reviews

The Swedish Table

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Swedish Table demonstrates that not only are the French good cooks, but so are the Swedes!

Helene Henderson was born and raised in Sweden. She learned cooking from her grandmother and worked in the family business. She owns a catering business in Los Angeles where she is known for utilizing organic food. She lives there with her husband and three children.

This book has some lovely color photos. Henderson takes us on a journey with each recipe and makes me feel her enthusiasm and love of her heritage. Her recipes are easy-to-read and being she has been living in the United States, she understands what we don't know of her culture and does an excellent job at explaining the food and culture. Her recipes are so well written that this book is perfect for the novice or for the person curious of Swedich cuisine.

The chapters included in this book are: Hot and Chilled Soups; Potatoes; Meat, Game and Chicken; Fish and Shellfish; Vegetables and Salads; Sandwiches; Eggs, Waffles and Pancakes; Desserts, Pastries and Bread; Beverages; and Wild Berry Preserves.

Some wonderful recipes you will find in this book are: Gravlax and Nasturtium Sandwiches with Mustard-Dill sauce, Lentil Soup with Roasted Garlic and Baby New Potatoes, Roasted Baby Beet Salad, Sweet Rolls with Almond Paste.

I would have never thought that I would be a fan of Swedish food, but now I am. This book has inspired me to research more about the country and desires to visit the country.

I got to Swedish cooking in a bit of an unorthodox way: I was reading the books of Stieg Larsson, and he spends a lot of time describing what his characters are eating. The food sounded wonderful, and of all the books I got to explore Swedish cooking, this one is the most user-friendly, realistic, and covers the most ground. There are a number of fine books on Swedish cooking, mostly from Britain, but they seem to be written more from a "fine cuisine" standpoint, whatever the jacket says (lovely pictures, though). This is food you can make every day without loads of fuss. The author also discusses what is and is not available in the US, and what local substitutes to make. Through her anecdotes, she communicates the ethos behind Swedish food, the emphasis on fresh and local when possible, but also the role that preserved food, berries, pickles, cheese, smoked fish and game, plays in a country where a large part of it is above the Arctic Circle, and farming is a short and sweet rush. I highly recommend this for anyone wanting to learn about and cook a very underappreciated cuisine (in the US anyway) without spending half the day in the kitchen, or buying a ton of odd ingredients you'll only use for one dish.

An amazing buy, simple easy to use recipies! i never realized how much I would love swedish cooking. I have been using it for almost every meal!

My mother was born in Sweden and has lived in the United States for 30+ years. Swedish specialties have always been important to us. As I have tried to master key Swedish recipes and delicacies myself over the years, I have struggled find cookbooks that were practical and meaningful to my life today. Many of the old Swedish cookbooks that I grew up with and have come across over the years seem to be from the 1950's or earlier and call for ingredients that are impossible to find in the United States and/or aren't palatable to most non-Swedes. Helene Henderson's Swedish Table is the first cookbook I have found that covers all of the Swedish classics like Gravlax, potato pancakes, pyttipanna, pea soup, swedish meatballs, kräftor, and Swedish potato salad, while using ingredients that are readily available today in the United States. The dishes themselves aren't modern, however, and she is careful to provide information about how the dish is classically created in Sweden, as well as the Swedish translation of the name of the dish, all of which I value greatly. She spends several pages in the book discussing Swedish traditions and holidays and provides guidance for preparing a Swedish Christmas feast, the traditional Smörgåsbord, a Midsommar celebration, and a kräftor (crayfish) party! She's spot on in her descriptions of classic Swedish traditions. Also, Helene's background is fascinating (as she describes in the book) and she is now a successful caterer/chef in L.A. (after having grown up in Northern Sweden), so she's a fantastic cook! These recipes are delicious.

I can't say enough about this cookbook. If I could give it more stars I would. I wish Helene would give us some more books! I refer to this cookbook frequently and it is my go-to guide for authentic Swedish cooking. My mother even recommends it!

In The Swedish Table Helene Henderson has presented recipes that are clear and easy to understand and follow. She often includes an interesting story about the origin of the recipe. I'm not sure how typically Swedish some of these recipes are. Some, like the yellow split pea soup with bacon, are improvements on the old classics in that she has added ingredients that give them more flavor. Recipes in my older Swedish cookbooks produced fairly bland, uninteresting food. The recipes in Ms. Henderson's cookbook are an improvement on those older cookbooks in that she has has spiced up her recipes to appeal to modern, more sophisticated palates.

I like books like this one - with memories, family stories and home recipes. The sweet rolls I baked were perfect. I miss pictures - there are only a few. The book is worth to buy because it presents regional Swedish kitchen which is not very popular. We think about French or Italian kitchen, but the Swedish may be good as well and not boring. Healthy, light and colourfull.

Author/cook Helene Henderson is an Afro-American, Swedish-born chef raised in Sweden, where she learned to cook: her childhood memories spice The Swedish Table, an inviting and unusual blend of dishes which blend traditional Swedish flavors with modern updates. Discussions of Swedish traditions and celebrations and many color photos spice a fine set of dishes, from a Lox and Cream Cheese Quiche to an unusual Juniper/Lavender Marinated Leg of Lamb. Where the usual Swedish cookbook emphases fish main dishes, The Swedish Table ably demonstrates the diversity of Swedish dishes available to cooks.

I got this book from the library, and I'm going to have to buy my own copy. My children love the Swedish Pancakes (and I love how easy they are), and my husband and I enjoyed the Lime Marinated Chicken Sandwiches. The Yellow Split Pea soup was fabulous (adding a few chopped tomatoes on top was interesting and yummy). I highly recommend this book; the explanatory notes taught me a lot about Sweden.

I purchased this book for my boyfriend, who is Swedish, and I thought we could make some of the recipes together. However, we found that the recipes were either very unhealthy (contained ridiculous amounts of butter and cream) or were very complicated to prepare, so we haven't used it much. The recipes in the cookbook are not so much classic Swedish dishes, but more interpretations of Swedish dishes for a fancy restaurant. So if your goal is making some fancy Swedish-style food this might be for you.