A Swedish Kitchen: Recipes and Reminiscences (Hippocrene Cookbook Library) (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: waffle day, stuvad potatis, pearl sugar, Martin's Day, Yukon Gold, Christmas Eve (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

To many Americans, Swedish cuisine remains a mystery. From the Baltic Sea, the 100,000 lakes, and numerous rivers comes a wealth of fish and shellfish. Abundant forests provide game, mushrooms, and berries. These mild delicacies, combined with staples like potatoes and other root vegetables; grains such as rye; and herbs and spices, including dill and cardamom, make up husmanskost, or classic Swedish home cooking. The stories and recipes in A Swedish Kitchen celebrate this cuisine.

A Swedish Kitchen: Recipes and Reminiscences is the story of an American woman's 25-year love affair with the land, people, and cuisine of this Nordic nation. Sharing her love of food and cooking, Judith Pierce Rosenberg leads readers to markets in search of wild strawberries and smoked reindeer, and to cafés for a cup of strong Swedish coffee and a kanelbulle (cinnamon bun) or mazarin (almond tart). Among her culinary adventures are dinner at a wilderness lodge, a medieval banquet, and a Christmas smorgasbord with all the trimmings.

Throughout this culinary memoir, Rosenberg interweaves the historical and cultural context of Swedish cooking, explaining the history of waffles and the traditions behind Saint Lucia Day. A Swedish Kitchen includes 80 recipes that highlight traditional Swedish flavors and ingredients, such as red currants, cloudberries, and cardamom, Recipes are designed for use in the American kitchen, enabling readers and cooks to easily prepare such Swedish favorites as rabarbersoppa (rhubarb soup), prinsesstårta (princess cake), and Janssons frestele (Jansson's temptation).

About the Author

Born in Kichita, Kansas, Judith Pierce Rosenberg is a freelance writer, ESL teacher, and the author of A Question of Balance: Artists and Writers on Motherhood (Papier-Mache Press, 1995). The mother of two grown children, she lives in California's Silicon Valley and in Stockholm, Sweden.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 234 pages
• Publisher: Hippocrene Books; illustrated edition edition (October 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0781810590
• ISBN-13: 978-0781810593
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #309,732 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars more memoirs than recipes, March 23, 2006

By	Danielle Forrest (Spokane, WA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This cookbook was more memoirs than recipes. There were very few recipes for very common swedish items such as swedish crisp bread ( a staple). This is NOT a reference book. It is merely following a wealthy woman's travels while enjoying Swedish food. Her memoirs were somewhat interesting, but it became repetitive towards the middle of her book. Some of the recipes were accurate.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Swedes explained!, March 8, 2007

By	Christina "jazz otter" (Nashville, TN) - See all my reviews

I am the recent bride of a Swede (that makes it sound like some Viking conquest!), and I was so happy to find this book with stories and recepies that the author, also an American married to a Swede, enjoys. Learning not only the way to prepare my husband's favorite dishes that we can't find ready-made in the US, but also learning the background of each special occasion or holiday that these dishes are tied to really expanded my knowledge and understanding of this other country that I visit every year as well as of the man I married. My husband was very happy with our Christmas feast this year. This book made a big difference. Tack ska du ha, Judith!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stories of Swedish culinary and cultural heritage, March 9, 2005

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

Judith Pierce Rosenberg's A Swedish Kitchen: Recipes And Reminiscences is no ordinary recipe collection, but a collection of stories of Swedish culinary and cultural heritage, supplemented with recipes from Rosenberg's Swedish roots. What's the difference between this and a cookbook? Reminiscences of life in Sweden revolve around food, with such succulent descriptions as have not been seen since the late food writer James Beard's works. The first hundred pages are devoted to these descriptions...but if you wish recipes alone, it's easy to go to the second part of the book, with its lightly color-coded page edges. Don't skip the first part, though - you'd be skipping the heart of a wonderful collection in A Swedish Kitchen.