Two of those that I've heartily fell in love with are Bo & Lisbeth Runesson. Bo is Roy's cousin--Roy's grandmother and his mother were sisters if I remember correctly. Separated by the Atlantic Ocean when Grampa Karlssen moved the family to the U.S., and forbidden by him to communicate with anyone from the old country, both Annies thumbed their nose at the patriarchal mandate, and continued to sneak letters to each other across the years and miles, thus keeping the families linked through the oldest son, Roy's Uncle Harry.
Bo & Lisbeth live in a bucolic area of southwest Sweden--the Swedish Riviera--in the tiny town of Lur. It's a picture postcard; a close knit, farming community by history, and a slice of rural Swedish life. Small country roads, lined with well kept homes painted yearly to maintain thier viability through the cold harsh Swedish winters. The Runesson's home is no different--a beautiful home with light wood floors, beautiful staircase with wooden bannisters sleek and shiny, a sun porch (known in the winter as "the big refrigerator"), and with gardens, a large barn, fields of corn, and woods used ecologically as wood lots for heating their home and water. After just a few visits together, Bo & Lisbeth are deeply embedded in my heart. More than just inherited relatives, I feel kinship beyond the ordinary, perhaps from a previous lifetime. After all, Thompson (my maiden name) is a Scandinavian name, so Viking blood is in us all.
As of April 15, we will again be enjoying their company. Fourteen years ago they came to visit us in Aptos, CA and what a time we had. Parties and breakfast on the beach; trips to Big Sur; surprise birthday parties for Roy; whirlwind tours of San Francisco; Lisa and Anders playing in the ocean and Lisa swimming with dolphins--it was such a fantastic time and that's when they welded themselves to my heart and soul.
Since then we have twice been to Sweden and have considered moving there. However, as I have found out this year, I am suddenly much colder than I used to be, so if we leave the country, it will probably be for a warmer clime, not colder. But there could be no place where we felt more at home, and more warmed in our hearts than in Siverbo.
And I know deep in my DNA, there is this Scandinavian background that makes my entire system sing when it encounters sweet succulent Bohuslan Shrimp, flakey white cold water cod, Oust (any number of smooth delectable cheeses in a tube), and the blue bright beautiful waters of the North Atlantic.
While in Sweden I of course picked up some recipes. It was amazing to watch Lisbeth pull out her huge mixer and cooling rack, and within what seemed like minutes, have a dozen loaves of bread ready to go into the oven. At another point she went out into the surrounding woods, and came back with nettles and chantrelle mushrooms, and made Cream of Nettle Soup and used the chantrelles as a side dish for the Roast Moose w/Juniper Berries. I brought home frozen nettles with me and tried to duplicate the delicate fresh and lovely flavor of that soup, but to no avail. Johnsson's Temptation is a shredded potato & Swedish sardine casserole (Swedish sardines are not strong as we are used to in this country, but delicate and slightly sweet) which I thorougly enjoy and have made many times since returning after that first visit. I can get it very right, I'm happy to say. And during our last visit, we had dinner at Lisbeth's mother's home.
Annie is a funny and delightful woman, and although she doesn't speak English and I am a cretan when it comes to speaking Swedish, we understood each other quite well through our hearts and cooking. Annie made Fish Pudding. No, not Jello Instant with sardines, but a delicate casserole of eggs, milk, nutmeg, butter, cod and rice that is so delicious and delectible it's hard to describe. When baked to a golden brown and served with boiled potatoes with dill and butter, I don't believe there is a more satisfying and comforting meal in the world. Not heavy, but light--some rice and white flaky cod in a cloud of egg custard that's easy on the palate and sits filling but light in the stomach.
Last year we visited during the Christmas and New Year holidays. Traditions abound, and although schnapps is not one I brought home, Agg Oust certainly is a favorite. Agg Oust, translated to be Egg Cheese, is a delicate lovely concoction of milk which has eggs beat into it, then heated slowly over light heat until delicate curds form. At this point, it is set to cool a bit, and then the curds are scooped out and put into an artistic and adoreable mold with tiny holes, that allows the milk whey to drain off, and leaves the soft curds. You fill the mold half full, but a light layer of vanilla sugar (you can buy this in Sweden, but can make it by infusing a cup or two of sugar with the miniscule but aromatic seeds from a vanilla pod), finish filling, and then sit over a bowl to drain in the refrigerator. When drained, you remove from the mold to a plate, and decorate with a light sprinkling of the vanilla sugar and if desired whole berries--lingonberries are traditional, but raspberries are superb. It is served with a side of berries cooked a bit with a little sugar as desired and a touch of cinnamon. Heaven, pure heaven.
In respect and contemplation of their upcoming visit, I am sharing this delicious recipe with you. You will need to find an Agg Oust mold--a high end cooking shop, or on the internet will carry this product. Enjoy and let me know how it goes. If you have trouble with developing the curds, a drop or two of liquid rennet will help. But don't be heavy handed here or you will lose the delicacy of this dish. You DO NOT want a hard commercial cream cheese texture--not even cheesecake texture. Much lighter, much more delicate, and so much more satisfying.
Now, if I can just get Lisa to send me the recipe for the Fish Soup she made for us in Gotteburg in her adoreable little flat, my life would be complete!
EGG CHEESE (Agg Oust from
Use Egg Cheese mold. Serve with berries or berry jams.
5 eggs
2 dl sour cream
Vanilla sugar
