Kräftskiva - The Swedish Tradition of Crayfish Parties

Have you heard about this?


Kräftskiva, or Crayfish Party is a traditional summertime eating and drinking celebration in Sweden. Crayfish parties are generally held during August, a tradition that started because crayfish harvesting in Sweden was, for most of the 20th century, by law limited to late summer. The celebrations are now a vital part of Swedish summer where dining is usually outdoors and customary party accessories are comical paper hats, paper lanterns and bibs.

Crayfish have been eaten in Sweden since the 16th century. For a long while, only the aristocracy partook of these delicacies, but in the last 100 years, crayfish became a national delicacy and all Swedes began celebrating the occasion. In the mid-19th century, people started eating crayfish as they are eaten today. The very few who have private access, of course, catch their own crayfish. The little creatures are night animals, so fishing has to be done after dark. They are caught in wire traps and the bait is often rotten or raw fish.

A traditional Kräftskiva

The preparation of the crayfish involves the crayfish being boiled in salt water and seasoned with fresh dill — preferably “crown dill” harvested after the plant has flowered — then served cold and eaten with the fingers. Bread, mushroom pies, strong Västerbotten cheese, salads, and other dishes are served buffet-style. Akvavit and other kinds of snaps are served, as well as beer. At Madsen we stock two kinds of Aalborg Akavavit and the Swedish OP Anderson.You eat crayfish cold, with your fingers, and sucking noisily to extract the juices is perfectly acceptable behaviour!

Well, I am going to sample this at Madsen Scandinavian restaurant. Anyone wants to join me?
http://www.madsenrestaurant.com/

Party from August 19 to September 14, 2009. It's £29.75 and includes seven menu items, not just the crayfish, such as handmade smoked salmon canapes, dil marinated crayfish, Swedish Vasterbotten Cheese, New potatoes and mixed leaves, Seasonal mushroom quiche.


Best enjoyed with a shot of O.P. Anderson or Skåne Akvavit, not to forget the refreshing Nils Oscar beer from Nyköping.

A great recipe for Pannacotta

I spotted this recipe from John Rimmer, head chef at The Lambert Arms in Aston Rowant. It's for Strawberry Pannacotta and it's delicious. Hope you like it. Great for dinner parties. Yum.

Serves: 8-10 people
Ingredients: 1 litre double cream100ml semi-skimmed milk4 gelatine leaves400g strawberries2 tsp caster sugar10 x 150ml moulds or ramekins
1. Purée strawberries with sugar in a food processor, pass through a fine colander, leave to rest for 10-15 minutes in the fridge.
2. Slowly bring cream and milk to the boil, take off and add gelatine leaves, slowly mix for 5 minutes.
3. When gelatine has dissolved, pass the cream mix through a fine colander, leave to cool at room temperature.
4. Add strawberry mix (purée), mix well until smooth. You may need to add a little more sugar to taste.
5. Pour mixture into the moulds or ramekins. Leave in the fridge for 2-3 hours to set.
6. Once set, gently place the mould or ramekin into hot water to loosen the Panacotta. Tip upside down to release from the mould.
7. Serve with vanilla ice cream and fresh mint.

Paul Heathcote
One of the north's most high-profile chefs, Paul Heathcote opened his flagship Longridge Restaurant in 1990 and built it up to two-Michelin-star status. The Heathcotes group now extends to a dozen restaurants across Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Lancashire and Cheshire and includes his Olive Press chain of Italian restaurants and a flourishing outside catering business. Heathcotes took the award for best use of technology at this year’s Catey Awards. Paul has teamed up with Sugarvine to answer your cookery questions:Ask Paul Heathcote your question

Great Competition to Win Meals for a Year

I found this great competition on the BBC Good Food website http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/ - then go to competitions. Win Spaghetti House meals for a year. That means that once a month two people can go and have a meal at one of 11 Spaghetti House in London, from Fitzrovia to Westfield, and then go back to their favourite one. Worth entering I would have thought! Love the new Olive Ascolane, this speciality from Le Marche region, basically huge green olives, stuffed with a meat mixture, then fried and served hot. So tasty, great with good glass of wine.

The Horse & Groom Scoops Wiltshire Pub/Restaurant Award

I recently found this gorgeous place in Wiltshire, a proper 'pub' with great food, so I was not surprised to see that they had just won an award. Read this.

The Horse & Groom in Charlton, nr Malmesbury, Wiltshire has scooped the Wiltshire Pub/Restaurant award in the 2009 Wiltshire Life awards, celebrating the people that make Wiltshire great.

The awards, set up by the magazine to recognise excellence in several different categories to put this ‘magnificent county even more firmly on the map’, were presented by Malmesbury writer and broadcaster Penny Junor, perhaps best known for her writing on the royals. The grand surroundings of the Earl of Pembroke’s home, Wilton House, near Salisbury, provided the ideal setting for the presentations.

The Wiltshire Pub/Restaurant award went to The Horse & Groom because they judges said ‘they have a clear passion for food and drink’. ‘

The chef is Paul Nicholson. He was previously at the Michelin-starred Bath Priory Hotel. His food is seductive and includes Diver caught scallops, fresh linguini, hand picked Portland crab & Saffron fish sauce; Cornish lamb, roasted garlic mash and baby vegetables in a piquant wine & rosemary sauce; and Warm poached figs in puff pastry with honey mascarpone. A rare treat is the Charlton bar, with its flagstone floor and roaring log fires in winter, where lunch is surprisingly affordable and very good.

Solidly elegant, this striking 16th century coaching inn, built in Cotswold stone with a secret walled garden where to enjoy fine wines, epitomises what a good country pub should offer: a warm welcome to visitors and locals alike, relaxed, comfortable interiors, award-winning food and a picturesque rural location. It's also listed in the 2009 Michelin Eating Out in Pubs and in the Restaurant Guide, and it was the 2008 AA 'Pick of Pubs'. Not bad.

Tossed Serves Healthy Food to the Stars

Tossed is becoming a celebrity hot-spot. Just today, David Hasselhoff of Baywatch fame, who is currently in London, popped into Tossed St Martin's Lane WC2 to buy a freshly tossed main course salad meal. He is obviously looking after that Baywatch body!.

Not long ago, the car of business tycoon Sir Philip Greene pulled out outside Tossed St Martin's Lane, because his daughter demanded a Tossed salad.

Tossed St Martin's Lane also get regular breakfast orders from nearby Capital Radio DJ's - especially from Johnny and Lisa.

Also today former football manager and player Dennis Wise was at Tossed Westfield enjoying the food there.

Food is delicious at Tossed, really big portions, really tasty, and all dishes display the calorie content, as well as protein, fat, sugar, salt and carbohydrate content. Not that Tossed adds any salt or sugar to its dishes, and carbs are slow releasing for maximum energy. Great stuff.
http://www.tosseduk.com/

New Spaghetti House at Westfield London

The latest Spaghetti House is located in 'The Loft', directly above the bustling communal dining area overlooking 'The Atrium' and just below the cinema complex opening in late summer. The restaurant has a 'contemporary retro' style first seen at the flagship restaurant in Goodge Street W1 in 1955, an eye-catching high seating counter leads you into the main restaurant boasting an impressive 'temperature controlled' wine display, with a combination of red leather banquette, booth seating, iconic Italian images and a unique Italian music profile; our latest restaurant promises a stylish continental ambiance. Theatre is provided by the chefs in the open kitchen preparing famous pasta dishes to order whilst pizzas are served from the flame fired oven. The menu offers sharing appetisers, classic dishes using the Lavarini family recipes and many new updated regional dishes such as Scottadita d'agnello ai carciofi e limone grilled lamb cutlets & lemon marinated artichokes. The menu offers something for everyone. Families are welcomed with the 'Menu per Bambini' for children under 10 together with a children's activity book to keep them amused! Food is great. Worth giving it a try if you haven't done so already. You may wanto to check www.spaghettihouse.co.uk

Wine Tasting on Monday 6 July

MONDAY 6 JULY 2009 – BRADLEY’S 25 WINCHESTER ROAD LONDON NW3 (nearest tube: Swiss Cottage)
I have enlisted the help of chef-patron Simon Bradley to create a taste of a ‘French Summer’ – whatever the weather. Simon will delight us with a delicious menu of summer specialities, matched by some great wines from the vineyards of Southern France. Taste the famed Mazul, a sparkling wine made in the champagne style, which will be served with mouth-watering canapés in the walled garden (according to the weather) before sitting down to a three-course dinner and three more wines. As Bradley’s is updating its wine list with new imports right now, I will soon let you know the new wine choices. This event includes three courses, a glass each of four different wines, canapés beforehand, coffee, service, VAT. For more information go to http://www.euposia.co.uk/

Join us to meet friends old and new and to discover a few new gems from the vineyards of Southern France. Please book soon. Looking forward to seeing you all.