- picture from www.quadrille.co.uk
I’ve been looking at this beautiful cookbook for the past few weeks. I’ll be the first to admit I’m not familiar with Scandinavian food whatsoever so came at this book with a completely open mind.
The author, Trine Hahnemann is a leading Danish TV chef and food writer and here she introduces modern versions of Scandinavian home cooking with everything from seafood, breads, roasts and stews and of course Danish pastries and butter cookies! There are 12 chapters and although unlike other cookbooks where the recipes aare divided in to sections like starters, mains etc, here the book is divided into months January through to December as the author tells us in her short introduction that she firmly believes in buying local produce so that your diet should evolve with the seasons.
Each chapter begins with a stunning photograph of different Scandinavian scenes such as February showing a beautiful snow scene in Norway or a street scene in Stockholm in September. The photographer Lars Ranek captures these scenes beautifully and I enjoyed looking at the book as much for the photographs as I did for the recipes.
Each recipe starts with a short introduction with serving suggestions. They are all very clearly laid out, step by step so they are easy to follow with a photograph on the opposite page to the recipe.
So far I have only made this hot chocolate recipe but fully intend to cook more in the coming days especially some of the winter recipes which will go down a treat with the weather we are currently experiencing in Ireland.
The Scandinavian Cookbook by Trine Hahnemann is available from Amazon
HOT CHOCOLATE
What you need
250g good quality dark chocolate
1 litre whole milk
1 tsp caster sugar
200ml double cream
Melt the chocolate very gently in a small, heavy based saucepan, then add a littile bit of the milk and stir until smooth. Repeat until half of the milk is used, then add the sugar. Stir in the rest of the milk.
Bring the hot chocolate to just under boiing point, stirring constantly so that it does not burn. Turn the heat off. Whip the cream until it forms soft peaks. (If you are not servind the hot chocolate immediately, keep the cream cold until you are ready to use it)
Serve the hot chocolate with spoonfuls of the cold whipped cream on top.
Mammy's Kitchen 
Oh this book looks interesting – a very different from the norm. Must keep an eye out.
I was really surprised by it, not what I’d usually choose myself!