Andreas Viestad: Kitchen of Light

By JULIETTE ROSSANT January is cold in most places in the Northern Hemisphere. When the weather grows bitter and it's hard to think of food as more than fuel, it is time to cook from Andreas Viestad's Kitchen of Light: New Scandinavian Cooking (Artisan 2007). If any people appreciate the bounty of the earth, even in the bleakest days of winter, it is the Norwegians. Andreas, a skilled journalist and one of the hosts of New Scandanavian Cooking on PBS, not only explores modern Scandanavian cuisine, but includes marvelous essays on food and food traditions and stunning photographs by Mette Randam. If it is raining, read the chapter on Fish Soup: The Bergen Remedy: The warm comfort of a good filling fish soup is one of the few things that can make up for the lack of sun. The people of Bergen, Norway's second largest city, need that remedy more often then most. Situated at the end of a fjord, the city, known to most Norwegians as "the Rainy City," is trapped between seven ragged mountains. (p. 23) Bergen Fish Soup with fish dumplings (p. 26-27) is rich in root vegetables, cream and fish. The dumplings are made of fish and cream along with egg and cornstarch to hold them together. There's more on root vegetables, including an essay, an ode to the rutabaga, Rutabaga: What All Norwegians are Thinking About: But if we love the rutabaga, why don't we talk about it? (p. 197) Of the recipes that accompany the essay, the most remarkable is Home-Churned Butter (p. 199). Norwegians make many different kinds of butter, explains Andreas, the best of which is Kvitseid butter from cows grazing on summer grass. This recipe yields not only an excellent butter, but also buttermilk for morning pancakes. What better way to banish the blues? Kitchen of Light also explores the summertime glories of Norway's short but intense summer – keep this book to cook from year round and it will lure you to Norway. Previous articles: [Cookbook Review - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging --> back to Super Chef