Nordic Stew w/ Winter Root Vegetables
Some people get their kicks driving expensive cars, island hopping on cruise ships and gyrating to deep, throbbing bass in dark, underground raves. Not I. Oh no. I get my kicks reading about the different flavour profiles of cuisines from countries I’ve never been to, and what the people who live there eat for breakfast.
Fortunately, my pleasurable pastimes are significantly more conducive to recipe writing than an evening spent waving glow sticks in front of my eyes on the shores of Ibiza. (If you’re wondering, by the way, the traditional cuisine of Ibiza consists of meaty stews, spicy blood sausages, potatoes, peppers, artichokes and - on special occasions - seafood. Which is kind of amusing if you imagine the typical Ibizan tourist; rake thin with leathery skin, lounging on the beach in nothing but a gaudy g-string while eating a plate of potato and blood sausage).
Anyway, I digress.
On one particular evening my internet wanderings took me around the Nordic countries - broadly Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Here, the traditional cuisine is marked by flavours I wasn’t used to using in combination. There is no chilli to speak of; the only heat comes from black pepper. Instead, dishes are filled with flavours of saffron, cardamom, caraway, rye, allspice, nutmeg, dill, chervil, parsley and tarragon. There is plenty of salmon, there are hearty potato and meat stews and there’s a lot of cabbage. It’s subtle. It’s hearty. And it’s very, very good.
If you want to dip your frosty winter feet in the seas of Scandinavian cuisine, start with this stew. Admittedly, I’ve taken a little creative liberty with the addition of parmesan cheese and miso paste, but the result is rich, brothy and salty. Far from typical, filled with flavour and perfect for a chilly evening.
Nordic Stew w/ Winter Root Vegetables
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 Tbsp butter
1 leek, thinly sliced, thoroughly washed and drained
4 garlic cloves, finely diced
2 cups of milk
2 cups water
1⁄2 cup of parmesan cheese rinds
1 stock cube
1 Tbsp white miso paste
2 cans of butter beans, drained
1⁄2 a white cabbage, chopped into thick wedges
20 baby carrots, chopped into thick chunks
1 tsp caraway seeds
2 tsp cracked black pepper
1⁄2 tsp allspice
For the topping
2 cups rye bread, cut into bite-sized cubes
1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
4 Tbsp panko bread crumbs
A handful of fresh tarragon or thyme (to serve)
Method
Melt the butter in a large, deep saucepan, then add the chopped leek and garlic cloves. Fry until the leek starts to become translucent, then add the milk, water, cheese rinds, stock cube and miso paste
Cover and cook for 15 minutes, then add the beans, cabbage, carrots, caraway seeds, black pepper and allspice. Bring the stew back to the boil, then cover and cook for a further 10 minutes, or until the chunkiest carrot has just started to become soft to bite.
Once the stew is ready, serve it into four oven-proof bowls. Mix together the cubed rye bread, parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs, then spread evenly on top of all four bowls.
Place each bowl under the grill for 5-10 minutes, or until the cheese has browned and the edges of the rye bread have crisped. Serve immediately, topped with some fresh tarragon or thyme (or both!).