Category: Travel

Lagom

A wet and windy day. An ideal opportunity to investigate a Swedish cookbook called Lagom by Steffi Knowles-Dellner that I received as a Christmas present.

Lagom is a word that is difficult to define but generally means “just the right amount , enough, sufficient, adequate, just right” but can also mean “in moderation and in balance”. Indeed in the introduction to her book Steffi expands on this and gives a wider appreciation of its meaning.

My interest in  Nordic cuisine followed a city break in Stockholm a  couple of years ago. Superb meals at Gastrologik and Ekstedt together with the tradition of fika (coffee, often with a piece of cake or pastry) left me in no doubt that the Swedes take their food very seriously indeed. So this book was a welcome addition to the book shelf.

Recipes are divided into six sections and I decide to try cooking from three. To start the day, breakfast. Buckwheat and lemon pancakes with berries and creme fraiche. The actual recipe in the book shows a savoury version for serving with smoked salmon but gives an alternative sweeter variety which I choose. I have to say that the addition of whipped egg whites gives an incredibly light but very tasty pancake. An excellent addition to the breakfast repertoire.

Next up Seeded Apple Bread. Part bread, part cake and made without using yeast so there is no kneading and prooving. Easy to make and really nice.

Finally Slow-cooked Pork with sweet mustard and root vegetables. You have to be patient here but it is well worth the wait. Four and a  half hours in the oven produces pork shoulder that falls apart and tastes devine. I will definitely be making this again.

In conclusion three excellent recipes which worked well and are relatively straightforward to follow. Whats more there are plenty more to choose from. Steffi Knowles-Delliner has produced a book which is more than a cookery book to flick through, it is one to use over and over again to produce some authentic Swedish food and yes there are recipes for meatballs.

 

 

 

 

 

Bletchley Park

As you hurtle through Buckinghamshire on the West Coast main line to London you are afforded the very briefest of glimpses of the town of Bletchley. Every time I tell myself that I must visit one day but the time has never been right. That all changed recently when a spare day in London provided the opportunity to finally pay a visit.

Bletchley is only a forty five minute train ride from London Euston and the trains are reasonably frequent. Once at the railway station  turn right on exit, walk a few hundred yards, cross the road (Sherwood Drive) and you are at the lane leading to the entrance to Bletchley Park, home of the World War 2 codebreakers. It couldn’t be easier travelling by public transport from London.

The grounds are large, well maintained and well signposted. The entrance fee includes a very useful and readable map which is really all you need to navigate the site but we also bought the guidebook but this isn’t absolutely necessary.

The success of the ongoing refurbishment of the park and exhibits is the balance that has been struck between modern interactive and informative displays and the exhibition spaces and huts themselves which give a real sense of time and place. Some of the displays are fascinating and make sure you have plenty of time to get fully absorbed in them.

The highlight for me was Block B which contains exhibits forming ” The Life and works of Alan Turing”, bringing to life the story behind the breaking of the German Enigma cipher during the second World War.

Slate statue of Alan Turing

The replica of Turing’s Bombe, built to help crack the cipher is astonishing. The highly impressive piece of machinery, containing 12 miles of wire, is manned by volunteers who are more than happy to explain its construction and operation.

Apparently all the original machines were dismantled at the end of the war for reasons of security so the  construction was from scratch.

Further exhibits showing the bombes in situ together with audio accounts of operators are located in the huts which are to be found between the larger blocks and the mansion house complex. The huts have been recreated to show what they would have been like in the early 1940s.

The Mansion was used as offices for senior staff and there are now some fascinating audio accounts from people stationed at Bletchley during the war as part of the displays on the ground floor.

It’s easy to spend a day exploring the blocks, huts and grounds of Bletchley Park. I’m glad I finally made the effort.