Eat, drink, blog!
The 2011 CAS programme has just kicked off. It is hitting 5p.m. And I am already contentedly stuffed. I sit here in Albert & Jack’s at Skeppsbron 24, Stockholm, sitting in the corner, coffee in hand, bun in the mouth, and am staring out the door at a buzz of people and cyclists passing by and the ships floating past in slow motion.
The flight of journalists (is that the collective term? … I am sure other people might have other suggestions on what to call a bunch of food journalists, but I will stick to ‘flight’) have just left after a rather tasty fika. Fika? Yes. That national Swedish institution that is revered, savoured, and held dear to the hearts of office workers, family, friends and border-lining toddlers, where doughy buns are consumed with copious amounts of coffee, or milk for the kids.
Here at Albert & Jack’s, where the master baker has accolades from the national Swedish chef team, we had star-quality bulles (pronounced ‘boo-lez’) — the Swedish word for sweet buns of various descriptions — and then we had more bulles. There were chocolate bulles. Cardamom ones. Bulles with acres of cinnamon. And delightfully doughy bulles with almond paste and irresponsibly good amounts of sugar dusting. They also make handcrafted sourdough bread for their sandwiches and do a rather neat selection of homemade jams and mueslis.
What’s it like to fika here? Local urbanites are casually dotted around the two white-tiled rooms, sipping coffee, pecking at bulles and cakes, and just looking rather good in general. Such is the typical Stockholm fika break.
Go to Albert & Jacks for a fika Stockholm style. Just across the bridge on Norrmalm, they have another branch on Fredsgatan 6, Drottningatan 22 and if you are further downtown, the head bakery branch is on Engelbrektsgatan 3.
http://www.albertjacks.se
The next post is about lunch at Gubbhyllan. I am still digesting it. I shall finish my coffee first. But oh! Look at the time! Right then. Fika finished. I am off over the bridge to Matbaren. Hello Mathias Dahlgren!
Over and out.
Comments
David Lynch
you’re making me hungry. What do the journalists think of the day so far.
Karin Sjöstedt
A very good choice to start your trip with an introduction of the concept “fika”. It´s essential if you want to understand the swedish culture. It´s actually the first swedish word we always teach our visitors./Karin