Kitchen of Light: The New Scandinavian Cooking (Hardcover)

by Andreas Viestad (Author), Mette Randem (Photographer)
Key Phrases: brown goat cheese, fine sea salt, squab breasts, New Scandinavian Cooking, Christmas Eve, Baked Fennel (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
In Scandinavia, where the land stretches far enough north that half the year can be bathed in constant light or constant darkness, the notion of a "kitchen of light" has special meaning. In the case of Kitchen of Light, the cookbook by Norway's best known food writer, Andreas Viestad, and companion book to the TV cooking show of the same name, it means the shedding of light on a long-overlooked cuisine and culinary tradition. There is more going on in the Land of the Midnight Sun than smorgasbord.

Fresh, local, and seasonal ingredients need not always be a notion married to temperate agriculture and culinary zones. The seasons of fecundity can be compressed; the nature of local can truly be wild. Such are the lessons in Kitchen of Light. There is an underlying joy throughout this book: the long winter has been beaten back and great food once again weighs down the table. Viestad takes the reader into the country and into the lives of the people who have made something of a celebration of food and cooking.

Duck Soup with Madeira ought to wake up the sleepiest palate. In centuries past, Maderia was bartered in Norway for dried salt cod. Porcini Consommé gives honor to the brief but glorious wild mushroom season. An entire chapter is given over to gravlaks, cured salmon you can do at home with spice and Aquavit. In a land where cod and potatoes are no joke, Viestad proves that a contemporary touch can be both relevant and exciting. Yellow and Red Cod with Pomegranate-Mango Salad, anyone? Feasting is well-represented, and seafood lies at its heart--salmon, halibut, mackerel, pollock, shellfish. And just when you are falling into step, Viestad turn the corner and presents the likes of Glazed Leg of Lamb with Roasted Root Vegetables.

In the end, after reading and admiring this beautifully photographed and designed book where travel meets food meets joy, you'll have a much better insight into the people of Scandinavia, and probably a deep and unresolved desire to travel and dine there. Kitchen of Light is not only enlightening, you can bring it home. --Schuyler Ingle

From Publishers Weekly
This compendium of modern Scandinavian recipes is a perfect marriage of fresh recipes, most of which aren't too difficult, and clean layout and design. Author Viestad finds a nice balance between seriousness and fun in his brief texts about everything from Hulda Garborg (a feminist and the author of one of the first-ever Norwegian cookbooks in 1898) to an ode to crayfish under the subtitle There Is Something Crawling in My Bathtub. Modern Scandinavian cooking, at least as represented here, is ideally suited to the way we eat now, with a healthy dose of fish and respect for ingredients that lets their flavors shine. In fact, about half of the book is dedicated to fish dishes. There are two recipes for transforming salmon into the Scandinavian classic Gravlaks and more innovative treatment of seafood in the form of Grilled Mackerel with Sweet Chili Glaze and Charred Sage, and Thyme-and-Garlic Steamed Mussels with a Hint of Cinnamon. An entire chapter on the staples cod and potatoes includes Truffled Cod with Garlic-Veal Glace and rustic Potatoes with Goose Fat and Lemon. Vegetable, meat and poultry dishes are less central than the trove of seafood recipes, but they hardly seem like afterthoughts in recipes such as Lamb Chops with Mushrooms, Zucchini, and Yogurt-Mint Sauce, and Onion Pie with Jarlsberg and Thyme. Desserts are often stunningly simple and fruit-based: Strawberry Snow is a simple berry mousse, while The Devil's Rhubarb consists of raw stalks dipped in sugar and nibbled between sips of vodka.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Artisan (May 6, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1579652166
• ISBN-13: 978-1579652166
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #288,497 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars CLIMATE IS COLD BUT COOKING IS HOT!, July 3, 2003

By	Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

Temperatures may plummet but the cooking is hot and delicious in this intriguing cookbook, a companion to Viestad's upcoming PBS series. He's young, adventurous, and has an appealing approach to food.

In his own words "Kitchen Of Light" "is a book that features food and recipes from Scandinavia, the northernmost part of Europe. Our culinary traditions are all about proximity to nature - an important part of our lives."

Those words take luscious life as we find Viestad on a beach in a mobile kitchen presiding over cod carpaccio, baked halibut, and arctic cloudberry cream. Honey coated leg of lamb with winter vegetables is served in an ancient Viking city, and the dauntless young chef even takes to the water on a fisherman's boat to prepare cod roe and cod with truffles.

Good food brings the holidays to mind and we find a fitting yuletide celebration with Christmas pork rib and rice pudding.

There is more, much, more, and all of it mouth watering. Where else will you find the best cheeseburger in the world made of grouse, venison, pork and fois gras topped with Norwegian cheese?

- Gail Cooke

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book. Norwegian Heritage not required., January 2, 2004

By	A "Review" (The Atlantic's most Northern barrier beach) - See all my reviews

This is a wonderful book. The author has cooked up a book of food and recipes from Norway that is very personal and beautiful. The recipes are a superb selection that vary from traditional fish recipes that are as old as Odin and the Norwegian Sea to recent introductions of culinary delights and the twists that trade has conjured in modern Norwegian kitchens. The book is not just a list of recipes, and this is what sets this book apart. The author has given background information about the recipes and includes quite a bit of history and personal stories that bring the reader right into Andreas Viestad's kitchen. The photography by Mette Randem is amazingly beautiful, giving the book an added experience to the reader/cook. To be short, this is the book you are looking for if you are reading this sentence.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Especially commended and recommended for aspiring chefs, June 17, 2003

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

Kitchen Of Light is the official companion book to the public television series "New Scandinavian Cooking with Andreas Viestad". Excellent color photographs, mouth-watering recipes, and vignettes of the lives and culture that embrace these taste-tested dishes abound. From Salt-Baked Salmon; to Mussels with Aquavit; Wild Blueberry Parfait; and Juniper-Spiced Venison, each individual, mouth-watering dish is wonderfully presented with painstaking attention to detail combined with easy-to-follow instructions. Especially commended and recommended for aspiring chefs and kitchen cooks interested in delving into Scandinavian cuisine (particularly the seafood dishes), Kitchen Of Light is an invaluable addition to any personal or professional cookbook collection!