an open cupboard

It’s too damn hot! The weather around here has been ridiculously hot and humid, although I hear it’s been about 110° F in some parts of the south and east bay.
When it’s hot, many cultures tend to consume hot foods, which are somehow cooling to the body. But who wants to stand over a hot stove when you’ve got two fans running and no A/C? Just the thought of it makes me sweat. So when I bought my groceries for the week, I tried to find ingredients I could combine to make cool dinners requiring little or no cooking. Melons are good, as is just about any seasonal vegetable. Yogurt and cheese round out the meal. Barbecuing aside, heavy proteins such as chicken, beef, and pork are out (although a beef carpaccio can be refreshing).

A cool melon soup is an obvious choice. The cucumber tempers the sweetness of the melon, to which a bit of salty cheese is a fine counterpoint. Yogurt or kefir adds body and depth, while almonds add crunchy texture. Freshly ground pepper and basil olive oil provide spicy, grassy, anisey notes that pull it all together. Serve the soup with some bread and cheese, and perhaps a garden salad. Just be sure to buy green-fleshed melon so that your dinner doesn’t end up resembling primordial soup.

Seriously, it tastes better than it looks!

melon cucumber soup with yogurt and basil olive oil

1 medium melon, halved and seeded (I used cantalope, but honeydew is fine too)
1 small cucumber or about a 6 inch chunk of English hothouse cucumber
1 handful basil leaves
olive oil
kefir or yogurt
aged myzithra cheese or ricotta salata
salt and pepper to taste
raw or toasted almonds

• Scoop out the melon flesh, cut the cucumber into large chunks and place in a blender.
• Pulverize the melon and cucumber until liquid. Pour into bowls.
• Using a blender, food processor, or stick blender, pulverize the basil with the olive oil.
• Pour some kefir into each bowl of soup, about a quarter cup, or more if you like. If using yogurt, whip the yogurt until smooth and then add it to the soup.
• Crumble some myzithra cheese into each bowl, and season with freshly ground pepper. Drizzle the basil oil on top.
• Taste and correct seasoning. You probably won’t need much salt since the myzithra cheese is plenty salty. Garnish with raw or toasted almonds.

Serves 3

Clotilde recently prepared a risotto style pasta dish, meaning pasta that is cooked dry with a little oil, and then simmered in hot broth or water like risotto. The sauce is cooked along with the pasta, including vegetables, meats, and so on.

According to Clotilde’s research, the absorption method is actually the traditional Italian way of preparing pasta, as opposed to the modern boiling method. This makes a lot of sense, actually, considering that the first pastas were probably small, more like couscous than spaghetti. Smaller pasta is easier to cook in a small amount of water, and it’s certainly more economical (and ecological).

Clotilde’s pasta dish sounded so good, I thought I’d make one of my own. My first attempt included little broccoli florets and parmesan with small, oblong, shell pasta. It was nice, but the pasta took much longer to cook than I had anticipated, due to its dense shape. As a result, the broccoli was slightly overcooked, which is no fun at all.

So I tried again, this time with a thinner, less dense pasta—a little twist shape called trofie—which cooked faster. I threw in fennel matchsticks towards the end of cooking, resulting in crunchy vegetables and slightly chewy pasta with the delicate creaminess of risotto. My pastasotto melds chickpeas, fennel, lemon, and laguiole cheese in a light summer dish.

risotto style pasta with chickpeas, fennel, and lemon

1-2 TBS butter or olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
250 gr (8.8 oz) small, thin pasta (I used Rustichella’s trofie, tiny little pasta twists)
4-5 crumbled dried mint leaves, stems removed
hot water
3/4 454 gr (15 oz) can chickpeas (invest in a good organic brand, or pre-soak and cook your own)
3/4 large fennel, cored and sliced into matchsticks
zest and juice of a small lemon
olive oil
minced fennel fronds
crumbly cheese (I used Laguiole)
salt and pepper to taste

• Melt the butter or pour the olive oil in an enameled cast-iron pot or saute pan on medium heat.
• Add the garlic and cook until transluscent.
• Add the pasta and stir to coat with fat. Crumble in the mint leaves and stir.
• Pour in hot water to cover the pasta, and cover the pot.
• Let simmer while you prepare the remaining ingredients.
• Check the pasta periodically for doneness, and add more hot water if it’s still underdone and looks like it might stick.
• When the pasta is still a little chewy, add the chickpeas and stir. Cover and simmer a minute or two.
• Toss in the fennel matchsticks and stir. Season with lemon zest and lemon juice, taste as you season to make sure you don’t put in too much lemon juice.
• Turn off the flame and toss in the minced fennel fronds.
• Crumble in small bits of cheese. I used laguiole, but grated parmesan would work, and I suspect feta might as well.
• Taste and correct seasoning, drizzle with olive oil.

Serves 3

Östermalm is a quiet, upscale district in the eastern part of Stockholm, hence the name Östermalm, meaning, roughly, eastern district. (It is also, apparently, the name of a Swedish rock band.) I wound up wandering around Östermalm in an effort to attend one of the food meccas of the city, Östermalms Saluhall. My abysmal navigational skills were indispensable in getting me lost. By the time I arrived at the general environs, the square outside of Saluhall was deserted. A chef on his way to work confirmed my suspicions that I had arrived too late. Saluhall was closed.

As a consolation, I wandered around the neighborhood taking photos of the serenely beautiful buildings while looking for a place to eat. I managed to locate Restaurang Elverket, a local restaurant recommended by a guide book or other that I had read. I really enjoyed my dinner here, which I ate outdoors in the warm evening sunlight with a glass of bubbly prosecco.

I ordered:

• prosecco
• baked salmon
• potato salad with capers, dill, carraway seeds, herring in cream, garnished with red onion matchsticks
• strawberries with vanilla ice cream

“This salmon is like butter,” I exclaimed to the amused server. “Is it rich? Heavy?” he asked. “Not at all,” I replied, “it’s wonderful.” The flesh of the fish melted on my tongue like butter. It had a buttery flavor as well, which contrasted nicely with the crisp salmon skin and crunchy coarse salt lightly sprinkled on top. The bottom of the salmon fillet was lightly crisp and browned, a result of being slow baked in a 100° C oven and then quickly fried in a sizzling hot skillet just before service. The result was the most flavorful and meltingly delicious salmon I have ever eaten. No surprise, said my server, Scandinavian salmon is the best on earth, second only to an obscure Japanese variety.

The potato salad was, of course, delicious—I’m not sure, but I suspect it was prepared with freshly harvested new potatoes. The tubers were fresh and creamy, but still a bit al dente. The creamy herring dressing was the perfect foil. The herring was likely whizzed in a food processor, as there were no discernable bits of fish, just a light, briny, creamy sauce. Capers provided salty green crunchiness and carraway seeds added an unexpected touch of spice.

The potatoes and salmon were decorated by a “salad” of frisée, purple endive leaves, and dill. The bitterness of the endive and frisée complemented both the richness of the salmon and the mildly sweet creaminess of the potato salad. To my vegetable-happy Californian palate, the salad was more of a garnish. To the meat-and-potato Swedes, it was salad enough.

For dessert I had strawberries and vanilla ice cream. The strawberries were pleasant, but I think they’d only just come into season, which the server confirmed. They would have been sweeter a few weeks hence. The vanilla ice cream was wonderfully smooth and creamy, with a heady vanilla flavor. Indeed, the ice cream was generously flecked by bits of vanilla bean, forming a pattern of tiny polka dots. It was a little sweet for my taste, but Swedish desserts tend to be fairly sweet. Still, it was excellent the ice cream, tasting strongly of actual vanilla beans and fresh cream (I would guess it was ekologisk—organic).
Altogether, it was a very pleasant late supper.

Restaurang Elverket
Linnégatan 69
Stockholm, Sweden
tel 08 661 25 62

When you ask an Israeli how he’s doing and he replies “on the face,” that means things aren’t going very well. The expression is short for “falling on one’s face.” Usually, Israelis will tell you they’re “al hakefak” (great!), “eser” (ten, perfect score), “sababa” (great!). When they say they’re “on the face,” you know something’s wrong.

Sadly, things are very much “on the face” right now in Israel. I hope things cool down soon. To the readers in Israel: I’m with you, even though I’m way out in California. A and I have been glued to ynet, haaretz, and jpost, as well as channels 2 and 10. Hang in there, and stay safe.

At Place Pigalle the other night, I spoke to a lovely foodblog reader named April. April often tries recipes she reads about on her favorite blogs. Sometimes the recipes come out very well, while other times they’re somewhat underwhelming. The main problems April has experienced include incorrect measurements for ingredients, and the use of special ingredients that don’t substantially contribute to the quality of the final dish. If you’re cooking for a dinner party, or even just for yourself, these issues can mar an otherwise enjoyable meal.

The recipes I post here are the result of my own documented experiments in the kitchen. I try to keep track of measurements, and I often use whatever is in the refrigerator or cupboard, rather than buy exotic ingredients (although I do tend to pick up unusual items at the farmer’s market). But I may sometimes miss the mark, and I’d hate to ruin your dinner. If you try any of the recipes on this site, I’d love to get your feedback, whether rant or rave.

Last night, Parisian foodblogger Clotilde of chocolateandzucchini.com dropped by the Place Pigalle bar in San Francisco. (Hence the photo—it’s supposed to be chocolate and zucchini. Don’t laugh.) The place was packed with readers, forum participants, foodbloggers, the bar’s bewildered regulars, and their dogs. I met Clotilde, of course, Sam of Becks and Posh, and Derrick of An Obsession with Food, albeit briefly. I also met some lovely, enthusiastic readers and food forum contributors. It’s interesting to see the web-based connections between blogger and reader seamlessly materialize in real life over a glass of wine.

Foodbloggers such as those I met last night have gone beyond disseminating information, as Sam put it. Along with their readers, they’ve created a food-based community that spans continents. There’s something you won’t find by reading the paper.

Today I thought I’d post some photos from Stockholm, the most beautiful city I’ve seen. Not that I’m particularly well-traveled. But Stockholm is certainly unique. Enjoy!

A gazebo in Skansen, a large park area featuring numerous museums, an amusement park, and lots of greenery.

The Nordiska Museet, or Nordic Museum, in Skansen.

The back of the Nordiska Museet.

This is a detail from the Vasa, a Viking ship over 300 years old that was salvaged from the Stockholm harbor in the 60’s. I think it’s a dragon’s tail.

A painted replica of a bust that decorated the mast of the Vasa ship. This bust represents death, the fate of any foe of the Swedish king.

She vants to be alone.

Street artist, or statue? Dare to touch him and find out?

My Swedish co-workers are a lively bunch. They were very kind to invite me to their team outing the first day I came in to work. And so at 5 pm, a very civilized time to leave work, off we went.

Our first stop was a restaurant in DjurgÃ¥rden, a pastoral area full of parks and museums, cafés and restaurants. The main attraction at Wärdshuset Godthem is the plank steak: a steak broiled on a bed of mashed potatoes atop a wooden plank, served on a hot copper tray. Since its inception in 1874, Wärdshuset Godthem has served 1.6 million plank steaks, with plaques to prove it. The wall in the foyer proudly displays numerous wooden planks proclaiming milestones from one hundred to over one million. My twisted American mind immediately thought of McDonald’s—”over one million served!”—a far cry from this staid old Swedish establishment.

As you can see, Wärdshuset Godthem is a charming, old world place with seasoned professional waiters who wear a waistcoat and tie. The atmosphere is a bit formal, a result of the regal, old furniture and just the sheer age of the place, I suppose. But a summer supper in Stockholm can never be too formal. With the sunlight streaming in through the large open windows, our dinner was more like an indoor picnic with really posh dinnerware.

Naturally, I ordered the planksteak, but neglected to specify my preferred level of doneness (medium rare, please!). I don’t care for cream sauces on my steak, so I ordered mine without the house béarnaise. Nonetheless, the steak was succulent and flavorful, basting the bed of mashed potatoes with its juices. The mashed potatoes were slightly browned from broiling, creating a pleasant crunchy contrast to the creaminess of the purée. The plank steak was fun to eat, and washed down well with a glass of Swedish beer. (More like half a glass. I do enjoy a good beer, but a full glass or pint is much too filling. Who has room for beer when there’s so much food to eat? Hmm… Swedish men, that’s who!)

With several more hours of broad daylight at our disposal, we followed up our meal with a visit to Gröna Lund, the oldest amusement park in Sweden. Gröna Lund includes typical fairground games involving shooting at something, or tossing a ball, earning points, and winning a stuffed penguin. (At a pistol shooting game, one of my hosts was surprised to find that I am a terrible shot. “You’re American,” he said, “you’re supposed to be good at this.” Amused, I replied that I am not, nor have I ever been, a member of the NRA.) It also features two roller coaster rides and several pubs (the park is frequented by people of all ages).

Stockholm is a beautiful city seen from the ground, but it’s marvelous to behold from a couple hundred feet in the air. The breakneck speed of Gröna Lund’s winding, loopy coaster is almost a distraction from the magnificent view of city and sea. Just when you think your liver fell out on that last sudden drop, up you go again, and out goes your breath because you just can’t believe the view. There’s something you won’t find at Six Flags.

We topped off the evening with a lovely little ferry ride around the archipelago. My colleagues kindly pointed out particularly noteworthy structures and their histories, which certainly enriched the experience. For those of us from the “new world,” almost every building in Stockholm is remarkable, in that the entire city is so very old and architecturally fascinating. It helps to talk to people who are intimately familiar with the history of the place, just to put everything into context.

After a really fun evening, we all went our separate ways at around twilight, or 11 pm. To all the guys on the Swedish team: Tack så mycket!

Nota bene: If you happen to go to Wärdshuset Godthem, bear in mind that the plank steak is enormous! I could have easily shared mine with a diner of a similar appetite.