I'm from a small town called Alesund in Norway.
I'm actually in love with all of Scandinavia.
Scandinavian-Danish cuisine was something quite rustic, mostly known for pastries and smorgasbord cuisine, which in itself has become a joke.
The traditional roots of Scandinavian cuisine are not that spectacular, to say the least. When we write about the traditions that we are inspired by, it's more techniques like smoking, preserving. Many of them are not made to make food delicious; they're just around so that you can make food last through the winter. There isn't a great deal of tradition to tap into.
Shetland's influences are far more Scandinavian than Celtic.
The geographical location of Sweden and, therefore, short growing season meant that the range of produce is not as abundant like say France, Italy or Spain. This influenced the cooking culture and forced cooks to be creative with a handful of ingredients. It's a very modern way of cooking.
My favorite country that I have visited would have to be Sweden. I'm such a sucker for the Swedish culture, and I learned Swedish in college, so I like to try and navigate my way around.
Swedish meatballs are to die for.
It's all trotters in Sweden, so that's what's always caught my eye.
No matter how far I travel from Denmark, I still miss the food, so ScandiKitchen in Great Titchfield Street in central London is an essential part of my life.
Glogg is a Scandinavian mulled wine, sweetened with honey, almonds, raisins and spices. Its name suits its purpose so beautifully.
We always had lutefisk for Christmas dinner, after which Dad read from the Norwegian Bible.
I'm obsessed with vinyasa flow yoga and Pilates. And since I live in Sweden, and we have good seafood, I tend to cook a lot of fish, preferably with oven-roasted veggies and a cauliflower mash.
I want to go to Denmark and Scandinavia. We've been inundated with their telly recently, and I've never been to any of those countries. I really want to get to know the people. I quite fancy living there for a bit if I could take a month off. They just seem like upfront, friendly folk.
I love the Swedish people for their detective novels, their archipelago, their sense of humor, their carbonated vodka, and most especially, for their wonderful hospitality.
