Sea, sauna and a sunny lunch at Grinda Wärdhus
The sun is glittering on the waters around the island of Skeppsholmen. We board a boat and set sail into the Stockholm archipelago. We are Grinda bound. We have just finished breakfast at Hotel Skeppsholmen and discuss how Swedes like to do breakfast.
"Yes. Really. Swedes eat pickled herring for breakfast. And like it".
Stella from Germany takes notes. Saul from Spain soaks it all in. And then it is time for a quick fika. Fika is a Swedish national institution where one enjoys cookies or cakes (or even a little sandwich) with coffee (or tea for renegades). Sweden has a fika tradition of old where seven different types of biscuits are served. Any less and you might as well be an outcast. (But nowadays buns and pastry are perfectly acceptable).
A light snack on the way to lunch.
We are served a little box with seven sorts of cookies inside; the best cookies I have ever tasted in Sweden. I am not kidding. These artfully handcrafted little gems were sheer joy; crumbly, buttery, and freshly baked by Stefan Eriksson in his food studio or ‘Matstudio‘ where you can book cooking and baking sessions as well as private dining. “Not just a baker”, clarifies Ami Hovstadius of Matlandet, “but a talented chef”. Noted, Ami.
Ami Hovstadius at work: "Send in the helicopter. Grace has run out of cookies and it's been a whole hour since breakfast. We need good blogging today!"
We sail through the archipelago. Island here, boat there, sea and sun everywhere. We skip off the boat, have a second fika, and some venture to the sauna (and even Saul from Spain managed to fall into the archipelago waters in his enthusiasm).
Oh! You mean you take your boots off in Swedish sauna?
There is nothing quite like the 2nd fika of the morning.
Rush hour on Grinda.
Björn with a mushroom the size of a house.
One quick walk across the island later, and we are at our lunch destination, Grinda Wärdhus. Oh, and Björn the photographer found a mushroom the size of a house. Seriously. Look at the house in the picture. It is the same size as the Karl Johan (porcini) mushroom.
Hi ho. Hi ho. It's off to lunch we go.
Grinda Wärdhus on a glorious autumn afternoon.
Swedish beer. Helping millions of Swedes digest lunch daily.
Herring, toast skagen and foie gras.
Head chef Victor Rundquist provides an impressive starter with the best Toast Skagen I have had in Sweden yet. This is a good day. The best cookies and now the best Toast Skagen. And I have worked my way through quite a few. If work is the right word. Talk about taking one for the team. I am dedicated.
Taking one for the team
We have beer — Wisby Pils, from a microbrewery on the island of Gotland. Very hopsy. A nice bitter touch. And we have aquavit; schnapps flavoured with dill and caraway. You know, just to set the lunchtime tone. Then there is a bit of singing led by Ann-Charlotte Jönsson of Stockholm Visitors Board. She has a deep knowledge of Swedish drinking songs. And Stella from Germany seems to be enjoying it very much.
Look away Bruce. I did not just put the lunchtime bottle of aquavit in my handbag.
Main course is slow cooked pork that has been brined or ‘gravad’ in salt and sugar and water solution and let to meditate for 24 hours before being blasted at 200 C, let cool, sliced and re-heated. Never has fat tasted so good. In fact, head chef Victor Rundquist commented that it has a lot of fat. “But it is good fat” he insists. Indeed it is Victor. Have you seen my plate?
"It is good fat".
There is clearly evidence of finger-licking going on here. Hmmm.
Just close your eyes and think of Sweden.
Comments
Saúl Cepeda
Though with this photo gallery you have destroyed definitively (d-_-b) my hypothetical political career in Spain, I have to say that your posts are very very enterteining, with character, accurate information and freshness.
Best wishes and keep up the good work!
Saúl
NB: I didn’t notice the double sense (in my first reading of the post) on “Saul from Spain soaks it all in”. What can I say? JA-JA-JA-JA… You are a kind of Joanthan Swift of the food writing…-J