Cooking Class

It’s been a while.  Every now and then I will be inspired to sign up for a cooking class and learn something new.  I meant to do take a class when I was still living in Prague but for some reason, I never connected with a class.  This time around, I made up my mind that if you want to learn about a new culture and new city, learn it via food.

I contacted Mia of CPH Good Food and signed up for one of her cooking classes.  The topic: How to make a mix of New Nordic and Traditional Danish dishes.  Sold!

We made our way through four dishes, one breakfast porridge and three lunch dishes.

Here is a look at what we made:

Okay, I started with dessert- it was a traditional Danish apple trifle with lots of layers (including a crunchy butter cookie layer) and a cherry syrup.

Residence at the University of Copenhagen- why didn’t my university look like this?  Mia’s class took place in one of the dorm kitchens.

Again- my residence looked nothing like this in university.

The dorm kitchen/cooking/dining area.

Mia- starting out the class behind four, count them four, dorm refrigerators!

First, we learned how to cure cod- similar to Chilean ceviche.

Next up our breakfast porridge with a liquorice butter.  Liquorice is used a lot in Danish cooking. It’s very popular here.

We were allowed to take tea breaks during the class.  Mia got her tea from Tante-T in Copenhagen.

The velvety barley porridge with pears, hazelnuts and fluffy licorice butter

While we ate our breakfast porridge, we browsed through some of Mia’s favourite Nordic/Danish cookbooks – ahem- Noma-

Next up- we made our own mayonnaise from scratch which was pretty cool and a first for me. Home made mayo tastes so much better and it was really easy. You wonder what is in that “other” store bought stuff…..

And we made our own rye bread with nuts and beer

Here is what our loaf looked like, served on a nice bread board.

Tables are not complete with out multiple candles and flowers.

(picture above-) Mia bought us a nice treat to go with our bread.  True to the open face sandwich tradition, you slice a piece of rye bread, spread some butter on your slice and top it with meat or cheese and some mustard.  We got to taste test lamb sausage, a goat brie cheese and another Danish cheese.  The lamb and goat brie are from 360 Nord, a business who sources ingredients from farmers around Denmark- it is located in Torvehallerne market.  I paid 360 Nord a visit, shortly after the class ended so I could eat the lamb sausage and goat brie in my house!  Incredible!

This was an interesting salad we made:  Pearl rye salad with baked beetroot, pickled onions and dried black currants.  The flavour went really well with our rye bread, cured fish, meat and cheese.

The way to assemble an open faced sandwich with our cured cod and homemade mayonnaise.

I can’t wait to sign up to another class with Mia.  I learned so much over the five hours we spent cooking together.  Particularly as someone living in Copenhagen, the ability to talk about ingredients, brands and producers was super helpful in terms of receiving guidance/pointers in the grocery store when you can’t always read labels.

This was a very filling lunch that I look forward to making on my own.  I have already replicated the salad.  I think I am going to try the bread this week.

Cool hotel in Stockholm

Life has been hectic this past week.  I started lecturing an online strategy course using Google+ as the platform.  I decided to make my distance learning class a bit more engaging from what I remembered when I was in undergrad.  So instead of creating the class, handing over the course pack and assignments and say “see you 15 weeks,” I am hosting weekly one hour Google+ Hangout sessions with my students (actually 3x/week) so we mutually get some face time together, and I get some lecture time/discussion time/Q+A time to interact and explain why on earth strategy is an interesting subject to study.  So far so good. We are on to week two and I think this platform will work.  It’s kind of fun having 10 people on a Google+ Hangout.  You still have to prepare a lecture but the delivery is different.  The other fun thing are the effects you can use in a Hangout.  Has anyone tried Hangouts before?

Back to more interesting blog topics: TRAVEL + DESIGN!!

When I visited Stockholm to attend the Meet The Blogger conference earlier this month, I stayed in a really cool hotel in the centre of the city called the Scandic Hotel Grand Central.  There was a very interesting Cordon Bleu shop directly across the street from this hotel.  I stopped in on Sunday and nearly died looking at all the beautiful kitchenware- none of which I bought- I restrained!!  I don’t need another whisk or spatula or baking pan, or gadget. I also saw a stove for 15,000 euro- a stunning piece of work, but slightly (extremely) out of my price range.

The hotel building itself is older but Scandic went through a reno in 2011 and did a wonderful job.  I think my favourite part of the property was the kitchen/dining room/restaurant which is all open concept with interesting industrial design pieces and a bold floral floor tile that pops out at you.  The room I stayed in was a comfortable size. I did not feel like I was in a shoe-box what so ever and I liked the balcony looking into the interior courtyard and all the funky wall “sayings” on each floor.

Photo Source: Scandic Grand Central Hotel

I’ve been meaning to share these hotel photos with you in case you were planning on a trip….

It was on this trip that I discovered Swedish, semla– I am not sure if you happened to catch my post on the Countlan magazine blog about my new semla obsession. Can’t wait for next year!!

Date Night #8 Bistro Boheme (a bust!)

It had to happen sooner or later.  Our seven week, “near perfect” dining streak has come to an end.  Not a bad track record if you think about it.  I had high hopes for this French restaurant, but neither my husband nor I thought it was worthy of a repeat visit, except if you want to grab a drink at their bar and feel part of a lively, energetic environment surrounded by a good looking, well dressed crowd.

Date Night #8 Bistro Boheme, was a bust.  Keeping things local (it’s still cold here!), we walked over to Bistro Boheme, a French brasserie on Esplanaden.

Photo Sources:  2, 3

The restaurant itself is a sight to see and a cool, vibe-y place for a drink.  We arrived at 8pm to a packed, double “decker” restaurant.  Two floors,warm wood, white table clothes, high ceilings, candles with drippy wax, roses in vases, French music, beautifully dressed people, wine chilling in a big silver bucket, hustle, bustle, and buzz.  We were escorted up the stairs to the top floor and sat at a table looking out over the space.  I called it our “balcony seats.”

Issue #1: Throughout the entire meal the service was SLOOOOWWWWW- downfall number one.  We could barely catch the attention of our waiter.  It was busy in Bistro Boheme this particular Friday night, so I understand potentially slower service.  However, when we asked if this level of patronage was an anomaly or normal, he responded -every Thursday, Friday and Saturday, this place is double booked.  So if it is not a once off, don’t you think you would increase the number of staff on the floor?

The second issue was the mediocre tasting food. I’ve dined in various parts of France and while I do not hold a Copenhagen French Brasserie to the same standards of what I’ve tasted, I expect to eat something with a bit more flavour than what I received.  I will praise them on food presentation. I thought the heaping pile of moules (mussels) in a copper pot and frites in a ceramic bowl was neat.  My market catch, fish (the first picture) was described to me by the waiter as a whole sole fish with a root vegetable puree.  Great! What I got was a whole sole, wrapped in philo dough and fried almost like fish and chips.  Below the fish was a leek that was so tough, I needed a steak knife to cut through it.

Our balcony view-

– The moules served in a copper pot.

– The frites. They look better than they taste.

The third aspect which killed the experience for me was the level of music to general talking noise ratio.  I think there was a competition between which could be louder.  I think the music won.  It was near impossible to have a conversation in this space.  I like to feel energy in a restaurant, but I still like to be able to carry on a conversation with someone sitting across the table from me.

You win some, you loose some.  I am happy I tried it. There are a couple more French restaurants that I am going to try.  Maybe Copenhagen is not the place for French food, or maybe Bistro Boheme is not the place for French food.  Check back and I will share my date night, dining experiences with you.

On a separate note, this weekend I am attending a Danish cooking class with Mia of CPHGoodFood.  I thought it would be useful and interesting to learn how to cook some Danish dishes. I am most excited to learn how to bake the addictive and delicious Danish rye bread.  I will post my photos next week.

Wishing you a great weekend.

Bistro Boheme, Esplanaden 8

Date Night #7 (with friends) Restaurant Cofoco

Date Night #7- lucky number seven!

Last Saturday, my husband and I turned date night into double date night with friends at Restaurant Cofoco (part of the Cofoco group).

Before I delve into the meal, I want to mention that I think I am starting to get the hang of New Nordic dining and I haven’t even scratched the surface of options or even attempted to make a reservation (three months out) at Noma!

When I read a menu in this city, I typically choose two or three dishes not really knowing what the dish will look like (dining is always a form of entertainment and an experience), nor what it will taste like (I am often not familiar with all the ingredients in a dish).

All I know, is I have yet to have a bad meal in Copenhagen, the chefs are creative and playful with food, the quality of ingredients is excellent and I am open to trying anything once- minus bugs- I am not ready for bugs yet.

At Restaurant Cofoco, between the four of us, I think we had the entire menu, or just about the entire menu.  The menu contains a mix of smaller dishes and it is recommend you select three or four courses for dinner.

Items tasted:

Appetizers: Salted nuts tossed with dried pimento, beef tartar with cream, sour malt and beetroot and a creamy mussel soup with scallops, drained cottage cheese and chamomile.

Next up a variety of main dishes which included: Chicken nuggets with a coarse grain mustard mayo and asparagus potato fries tossed in onion powder. two people tried the Danish squid with cream cheese and leaks as well as a confit of pork cheeks with warm salad and red sorrel.

Finally dessert– Coconut ice cream with cookies and coconut flakes (amazing!) and a Danish cheese plate with a homemade muesli cracker.

This is quite ironic- for me the stand out dish in the entire meal was the chicken fingers.  How juvenile, right?  These chicken fingers were crispy beyond belief and finished with a beautiful flaked salt.  The flaked salt made the dish.  The chicken meat was tender, not dried out and the grainy mustard mayo dipping sauce and asparagus potato fries offered a tangy and salty complement- simply incredible.  I can’t remember the last time I ate a chicken finger- I must have been in junior high- but these put all previous chicken fingers to shame.  Plus, they were fun to eat.

I hope you can see from the photos that all the food served had a playful element to the presentation.  Tell me, can you identify what is in the pink looking dish above?  That’s the fun. You have a sense of what the ingredients are but have no idea how they will be presented to you.  Dining in Copenhagen is anything but literal

Looking forward to the next restaurant which will be Bistro Boheme (we’re going French).

Restaurant Cofoco – Abel Cathrines Gade 7 Copenhagen

Finally! A macaron worth blogging about

Finally! A macaron worth blogging about.  I used to blog about macarons all the time.  I think macarons, done well, are blog worthy.  A lot of my earlier material centered on where to eat macarons around the world (here, here, and here  as an example).  Then it sort of just petered out.  Maybe I haven’t found an inspiring macaron lately.

I am proud to say, macarons are back on Lamb411 and boy did I unearth the mother load today!  I had four superb macarons at Strangas Dessert boutique in Copenhagen.

Not only were the macarons superb, I think they might go down in my books as some of the best macarons that I’ve ever eaten.  These were better than Laduree, which has not been very impressive my past two visits to Paris.

I chose four flavours to taste: Basil + something, lemon and violet, salted caramel and mocha. The meringue possessed the right balance of crunchy and chewy and the flavour combinations were intense and bold (especially the basil).

The Strangas Dessert boutique is cosy (it’s Copenhagen after all ) with its white brick walls, three candle lit wooden tables and pots of sugar.  But you don’t just come here for the macarons- although for me, that was the main draw.  Nikolaos Strangas, the head pastry chef and owner of Strangas, is a master and artist when it comes to making delicate, French inspired desserts.  I had a chance to meet and briefly speak to Nikolaos this afternoon and not only was he very personable and charming, it sounds like there are a lot of exciting projects on his pastry table.  I added him to Instagram to keep track!

I have to return and sample what was in the adjacent display-I saw a nice looking cheese cake for starters…

Strangas Dessert Boutique · Åboulevard 7  Copenhagen

Date Night #6 Rakultur (Stockholm)

The good thing about date night is that it is portable. So when date night falls on a travel weekend, date night shifts from Copenhagen to a new city.

My husband and I dined at Rakultur, one of Stockholm’s best sushi restaurant (so said a friend of a friend (who is a chef in the city)).

This was my first and only sushi meal in Stockholm so I can’t comment on “bests” but it was serious sushi and up there in my all time sushi meals.

Rakultur does not take reservations (I called ahead), and when we showed up we were faced with a 40 minute wait.  Our luck, two large parties just arrived before us. Fortunately 40 minutes turned into 15 when the waitress cleared two seats at the bar.  Perfect for us.

The kitchen closes at 9:30 so we were informed if we wanted a chef’s table tasting menu, to hurry up and place the order.  I wasn’t starving so I ordered two rolls (a saute autumn mushroom roll and a Korean steak tartar and pear salad roll).  My husband decided on the small chef’s table tasting menu which included a roll that pays tribute to Momofuku in New York – the pork knuckle roll- in addition to several other artful rolls.

On the menu, I noticed Rakultur even had a selection of sushi made from Scandinavian fish, which I thought was neat.  This is not a “California roll or spicy tuna” type sushi restaurant.  Here you get creative ingredient combinations and simple, clean, delicately presented sushi.  I appreciated the little added touches sprinkled on top of some of the rolls or the bottle of soy sauce with a paint brush to lightly dab and brush soy to your fish.

For some reason, while I was sitting at the chef’s table, I thought of the documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi, if you’ve seen it.  The dining experience was not as formal as Jiro but there was some serious sushi design work and assemblage going on behind the glass separating us from the three chefs.

We left very full and very satisfied.  Highly recommended.

Restaurant Råkultur- Kungstensgatan 2 114 25 Stockholm

Telephone: 08-696 23 25