stockholm: östermalms saluhall
August 26th, 2006These photos are of Östermalms Saluhall, a gourmet food hall in the upscale region of Östermalm. The hall includes a variety of stalls, including a bakery, confectionary, greengrocers, fishmongers, butchers, and cheese shops. There are stalls that sell homemade goods like Swedish meatballs, quiches, potato puffs, pâtés, and fish spreads. Östermalms Saluhall also has restaurants, including both Japanese smørrebrød eateries. A coffee and tea shop offers an extensive variety of both purveyors of caffeine.
Fresh cloudberries in their own juice.
Cakes at a confectioner’s stall.
A fishmonger’s stall.
Crayfish
Havskräftor, of course. I’m guessing they’re langoustines.
American and Nordic lobsters, from the Atlantic and Northern Atlantic, respectively.
Fresh hazelnuts. Who knew?
Nuts (not sure what kind… anyone?). A few almonds thrown in for good measure.
A box of famously delicious new potatoes. The grocer said they need to be refrigerated for optimal freshness and flavor.
Cabbage plants for sale at an outdoor nursery right outside of Östermalms Saluhall. According to the Vasa Museum, growing cabbage is an old Swedish tradition.
August 27th, 2006 at 11:16 pm
I like your site, and was surprised to see you spent time in Israel. I live in Jerusalem, and I completely relate to what you wrote about arguments over the “right” way to make shakshuka.
Once on epicuriuos I saw a recipe for “Israeli style” something, and in the comments there was a long argument which included the accusation that Israel was a cultural imperialist, trying to take steal Arab food. And I sat there thinking to myself “Christians and muslims can base their entire religion on our bible, but we can’t make a salad?”
Anyway, I look forward to your future posts.
August 29th, 2006 at 1:02 am
Natural,
Thanks for your comments!
If there’s one thing I’ve learned about human cuisine, is that there’s no such thing as a self-contained traditional cuisine. Every culture borrows from other cultures, and those borrowed feaures become inseparable from the rest of the culture. An obvious example is American food, like pizza (Italian), apple pie (English? German?), tacos (Mexican). Koreans and Uzbekis both have a wonton type food called “mantu” or “mandu,” and Hungarian paprika originated in Turkey. Half the fun of eating is adapting someone else’s cuisine to your own climate and taste, creating something simultaneously old and new.
August 31st, 2006 at 10:53 pm
The round nuts are macadamians in their shells. They are native to Australia, although they are grown in Hawaii.
September 1st, 2006 at 12:25 am
Pene,
Ah, macadamias! I’ve never seen them unshelled. Thanks for the info.