One truly great thing with Sweden is its abundance of forest and hence the accessibility of handpicked high-end food. Of course everything depends on the right season. Now, in January, the newspapers report wolf sightings in this area and I don’t eat wolf. But a ten-minute walk in September can, with luck, produce enough chanterelles to keep me happy for the rest of the day cleaning them. Or porcini mushrooms…
Nobody seems to be able to tell in advance whether there will be a porcini year. Some years nothing grows at all; sometimes, all the caps are infested with tiny maggots. But every five years or so, one comes home from one’s afternoon walk with two bags full of fresh, crisp porcinis. Unfortunately they don’t keep very well. Usually I slice and dry some, freeze a few batches (after heating them up with a pinch of salt), and pickle some nice and young specimens (boil in salt, vinegar and spices and submerge in good olive oil).
Then, for the following two days, some porcini cooking is in order. Here’s the layer omelet: (more…)
Tilman's kitchen corner 